Saturday, 25 February 2006 12:44

“We’ve never actually been to SXSW,” Hunt said. “Liverpool and Manchester Music asked us to come. It’s obviously good to show our faces, as well.”

They’re more than a mere track on the Party Monster soundtrack. Helen Marnie, Mira Aroyo, Reuben Wu, and Danny Hunt are the four fluid, protean musicians who form Ladytron. Each band member is also a prominent DJ. Their sound incorporates everything from techno, to neo-gothic northern soul, to Euro-pop, to recently surfaced indie roots. I spoke with Hunt from the band’s home base in Liverpool to find out about their upcoming appearance in Austin.

“We’ve never actually been to SXSW,” Hunt said. “Liverpool and Manchester Music asked us to come. It’s obviously good to show our faces, as well.” Unfortunately, a select group of SXSW attendees will only see two of four faces—a shame, considering that Ladytron’s live music attracts fans from countless spots on the globe. “Reuben and Mira are DJing some of the parties,” Hunt explained, speaking of the Pitchfork/Windish Agency bash at Emo’s Annex. “We really wanted to play live, but we’re coming [to the States] in April to promote Witching Hour Soft Power. We have a crew of ten people and it costs quite a lot to travel from Britain.”

I asked about typical and tentative play lists. “I can’t speak for Reuben and Mira; they’ll be pretty angry if I give wrong information. I can say that our sets generally use a mixture of electro staple with an eclectic mix that circles around that. We play some of our stuff, but it’s still a normal set. We try and avoid the obvious, such as the emergency copy of ‘Blue Monday.’”

He also assured me that blacklisted obvious stuff includes overplayed top-40 mixes. “As far as new music goes, it’s a select amount. We don’t play big tunes because they’re popular. We have to like them.” Their ability to remain so selective seemed curious. “I suppose that’s the difference between being an artist and a DJ. Unless a DJ reaches superstar status, they’re essentially just doing a job to keep people dancing and buying beer. If you’re in a band, it gives you much more creative license. You can DJ and do something more interesting with it.”