At this stage of their career, Cut Copy are well and truly a household name.
Launched into the international spotlight with their 2008 feel-good second album In Ghost Colours, the quartet of Dan Whitford, Tim Hoey, Mitchell Scott and Ben Browning successfully followed it up with the Grammy-nominated Zonoscope – a record that flawlessly combined tribal beats with Cut Copy’s breezy dance sound.
Three years on, guitarist/sampler Hoey gives Tone Deaf an insight into the process of making the band’s fourth album Free Your Mind, due out November 1.
“The beginning of Free Your Mind started out with this idea of making a new song every day,” explains Hoey.
“We’d start an idea, and by the end of a day’s work, we’d put it aside and start on something else the next day. So we did that for about two months, and by the end of it we had a good 60 or 70 ideas for songs.”
It begs the question, was having such a loose flow of ideas the inspiration for the title Free Your Mind?
“No, but that’s actually a good point,” continues Hoey. “Looking back on it now, you could certainly get that from the title.
“But where it came from for us was, we kinda noticed that Dan [Whitford, Cut Copy frontman] had this recurring lyric – ‘Free your mind’ – and that happened in three or four songs, and he didn’t really remember saying it.
“When we started, doing a new song every day, there was no concept of Free Your Mind, it was all about the process of trying something new.”
The record was produced by living legend Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, MGMT), and Hoey was very enthusiastic about the process.
“It was everything we could have hoped for. We were huge fans of his back catalogue, pretty much all the records he’s worked on,” Hoey admits.
“We really took a lot away from working with him … He was just so supportive of the artist. He was basically like, ‘I’m here for you guys. I’m going to show you some things, but at the end of the day, I want to do what makes you happy,’ so it was a very collaborative process.”
The first two singles from Free Your Mind have been the title track – which has the traditional weird and wavy Cut Copy sound – and ‘Let Me Show You’, with its deep house/trance vibe.
“The idea of releasing those two songs first certainly gave an indication of the themes of the record and the musical references, especially the early ‘90s house scene in Chicago, and the acid house scene in the UK,’ says Hoey. “That’s an era of music we’ve always held very dear to our hearts.
“But there’s also some right turns that people wouldn’t expect hearing,” he continues. “There’s a few songs on there that I’m super proud of, some areas we’ve never explored before that might take people by surprise.”
“There’s a few songs on there that I’m super proud of, some areas we’ve never explored before that might take people by surprise.”The recent video for ‘Free Your Mind’ – featuring True Blood hunk Alexander Skarsgard as an imaginary-basketball-winning, lover-drowning cult leader – was also an interesting move for the band.
“We actually met Alexander about two years ago when we were touring Zonoscope in Rio,” Hoey recalls. “We just stayed in contact over the years and when Chris Hill, the director of the video, was putting together the treatment, he said ‘We should ask Alexander, he’d be perfect for this’.
“We didn’t want to exploit our friendship, we knew he was really busy, so we just sent him the song and the treatment. But he got back to us, said that he loved it and wanted to be a part of it. “
“To see how seriously he took it, and how hard he worked on the role was amazing, because it was about a 17-hour shoot, and he did it purely for the love”
In the lead up to the release, the band took the unique approach of cutting 12-inch singles live, and handing them out to attendees of the Pitchfork Festival. As Hoey reveals, it was another way for Cut Copy to keep things interesting.
“Last year, when we were making the record, we had this idea of releasing music to the world differently to how we have in the past. After working so long and hard on a record, it’s such an anti-climax to just put it up on YouTube and Soundcloud, and then people go listen to it and that’s it.
“The Pitchfork idea, we actually knew this guy in Seattle who had a record cutting machine, so he just went to the festival and set up his equipment. People actually had to go up to him and ask what was going on, and he’d say, ‘Well, we’re pressing the new Cut Copy single, do you want one?’”
“We just really liked the idea that the only way this song existed was through the 120 people that actually had these pieces of vinyl. They were always going to put it online, but we like the romantic idea of a reward for people actively seeking out music.”
“…we like the romantic idea of a reward for people actively seeking out music.”There were also billboards put up in six different locations, sporting the title Free Your Mind.
“It was the same with the billboards,” says Hoey. “It was all about people making this journey to a location, and they were rewarded, not only through listening to the song, but also through sharing the experience with other people.
“Billboards are an outdated model of advertising, so I thought it’d be cool to make these billboards for remote areas around the world, places you actually had to make the journey to.”
However, billboards weren’t the original idea…
“The hilarious thing was, when we were putting the idea together for this campaign, we were going to strobe the Free Your Mind text on various monuments around the world,” laughs Hoey.
“And then Kanye released his projections around the world, we couldn’t believe it. So we had to completely scrap that idea because of the Kanye thing.”
Free Your Mind is out November 1 through Modular.
Future Music Festival 2014 Lineup
Deadmau5 | Macklemore & Ryan Lewis | Phoenix
Hardwell | Knife Party | Eric Prydz
Rudimental | Tinie Tempah | Chase & Status
Sub Focus | Netsky| 2 Chainz |Kaskade | Dada Life | Porter Robinson
Naughty Boy| Paul van Dyk | Markus Schulz | ATB | Chuckie | Arty
R3Hab | Martin Garrix | Baauer | Monsta | Helena | Adventure Club Carnage |
Stafford Brothers | Timmy Trumpet | Walden | Tenzin | Will Sparks | Helena
Sven Vath | Dubfire*| Maya Jane Coles* | Paul Kalkbrenner*
Gesaffelstein Live | Brodinski | Kaytranada* | Gorgon City | Guy Gerber*
Bassjackers | Deniz Koyu | Dannic | Dyro | Cut Copy
Future Music Festival 2014 Dates & Tickets
Saturday 1 March Brisbane, RNA Showgrounds **NEW VENUE**
Sunday 2 March Perth, Arena Joondalup
Saturday 8 March Sydney, Royal Randwick Racecourse **MAJOR RENOVATIONS**
Sunday 9 March Melbourne, Flemington Racecourse
Monday 10 March Adelaide, Adelaide Showgrounds **NEW VENUE**
FOR TICKETS AND INFO HEAD TO: www.futuremusicfestival.com.au
PRE SALE STARTS: Thursday 26 September @ 12noon local time
TICKETS ON SALE: Tuesday 1st October
$160 + bf and service charge; Adelaide only – $155 + bf and service charge
