Interview: Jon George from Rufus Du Sol
/Jon George (Source: RDS FB)
Rufus Du Sol is a live electronic music act from Australia that has received a lot of buzz following the success of their first album "ATLAS" (To be released sometime this year in North America) in Australia and New Zealand. Their music has a timeless quality to it as they manage to blend live instrumentation with electronic beats seamlessly together in studio and in a live setting. To get a sense of their live setup, check out Rufus Du Sol play live at the Triple J studio:
The group is composed of Tyrone Lindqvist (Vocals/Guitar), Jon George (Keys/Synths/Percussion) and James Hunt (Drums). EDM Canada had the chance to talk to Jon George while he was in Austin for the SXSW festival ahead of his 3 tour stops in Canada, enjoy:
Define the Rufus Du Sol style.
Jon George: We play with uplifting melodic tones that has a dark undercurrent. Our songs are pushing and pulling between the electronic world and the live acoustic aspect.
What's your role within Rufus Du Sol when you create new tracks within the studio?
Jon George: Like I said, I have a background in sound engineering and early on I was known more as the producer. But now we all produce together. On stage where we all have different parts to play, but in the studio we all switch that up and nobody has ownership of any instrument. We all sort of lay out different paths and see where we're vibing.
So you've only been around for three years, how did you get yourself to this level over such a short amount of time?
Jon George: We're working hard I guess. We love doing what we do as we just try to keep on making music that we want to hear. We've been playing in Australia a lot over these past three years and we've been growing pretty organically there. The past year has been pretty insane because of the success of the album “Atlas”. We were shocked by the success and we're really grateful.
(Source: RDS FB)
Do you associate yourselves with the whole DJ'ing world side of things? Or do you see what you're doing completely different and separate from that world?
Jon George: I suppose we haven't been a part of that thing and we don't usually see that type of thing in Australia other than from these big festivals. We have a large show with a full drum kit that sets us apart from other electronic acts. We got guitars and Tyrone singing every lyric in the show as well. I thin that's what sets us apart from other those big EDM artists. We keep the fusion with electronic music with our sequencer/mixer throughout the live set. We take influence from acts like the Chemical Brothers, who put on an amazing show live. We're influenced but then make it into our own.
With the popularity of Disclosure worldwide, do you see the general dance music public more open to what Rufus Du Sol is doing?
Jon George: Yeah, I mean, I hope so. (Laughs) It's funny that you said that because I had heard that a few times now so maybe people are chomping at the bit to hear a sound like this. So hopefully that's the case and we'll just keep on doing our thing.
First time in Canada?
Jon George: It's our first time as a band but I've been over when I was younger with my family actually. Had a great white Christmas over at Banff.
What can fans expect to hear from Rufus Du Sol when you come to Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary next week?
Jon George: Expect something that they have never seen before – that's definite. We're just trying to show the rest of the world what we've been doing and I think people will be really surprised by what we do live, in terms of our live setup. Really looking forward to warming it up up there.
What's in store for Rufus Du Sol in 2014?
Jon George: We have a pretty full on touring schedule as we are set to tour for the next 4 months. We're trying to find anytime we can to test out new ideas on the road. For the meantime we'll be doing a lot of writing. In the last few months of this year we're planning on moving to Berlin to start writing a second album to have new material ready for next year.
My thanks to Jon George for the interview.
Rufus Du Sol will be in Canada this week starting in Edmonton tonight at Central Social Hall, tomorrow night in Calgary at the Commonwealth Bar & Stage, and finally they'll be in Vancouver on Thursday, March 20th at the Fortune Sound Club:
