Hot Chip, Pictish Trail, and The Bug Club

They are a band of multi-instrumentalists, who work complex rhythms and layered effects into their driving sound. The line up since they formed in 2000 has been Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard on vocals, and splitting synthesizers, guitar, percussion and piano between them; Owen Clarke on guitar, bass, synthesizers and percussion; Al Doyle on guitar, backing vocals, synthesizers, percussion, bass, flugelhorn and steel pans; and Felix Martin on drum machines, synthesizers, programming.

After getting signed with Moshi Moshi in 2003, they released their debut LP “Coming On Strong”, before moving on to DFA Records in the US and EMI in the UK to put out their breakout second album, “The Warning”. With “The Warning”, Hot Chip gained mainstream appeal, shimmying their way up the charts with the singles “Boy From School” and “Over and Over”, both of which reached UK top forty. The album made the shortlist for the 2006 Nationwide Mercury Prize and was Mixmag's Album of the Year.

The release of “Made in the Dark” in 2007 saw their reputation swell even further with the club-hopping classic, “Ready for the Floor” getting to number six on the UK Singles Top 75 and being nominated for the Grammy for Best Dance Recording.

The follow up, “One Life Stand”, had a more soulful, earnest feel to it, embracing a kind of lush simplicity in lieu of the upbeat complexities of their earlier works (“I Feel Better” was apparently written by Goddard inspired by Susan Boyle’s Britain’s Got Talent performance of “I Dreamed a Dream”).

Their Latest, “In Our Heads” snapped back to the party vibes, albeit more pared-back, faster, dancier and lacking any pretension, and debuted at No. 14 on the UK Albums Chart.

On top of the foundation set with their albums, Hot Chip forays into the club scene with extended house mixes, and Joe Goddard’s remixes of the likes of the Dirty Projectors, Disclosure, Breach and Nneka, as well as his side project The 2 Bears with producer Raf Rundell.