This relationship is best described in the following graph.

Point P1 was when I went to my first electronic music concert, circa 1999. I was enthusiastic, thought that what I was seeing was novel and plain neat.
Note that Line L1 has a negative slope. As I attended more electronic music concerts, the more disenchanted I became with them, slowly realizing that most of these concerts were essentially a guy standing around and pushing buttons on his laptop and sampler in a rather unsynchronized fashion.
Point P2 I had hit rock bottom, vowing never to attend another and realizing that the phrase “electronic music show” might just be an oxymoron.
Then, KABOOM! (note the shock waves radiating from Point P3) Point P3 was reached after one night of seeing Hot Chip in concert.

That fateful evening at the Horseshoe Tavern, I didn’t know what had hit me. Suddenly, I was flailing my arms around like a giddy teenager at A Simple Plan concert, doubled over in laughter from the sheer hilarity of 5 pasty British guys singing lyrics that would be more at home with Paul Wall. But they were not to be written off as a spoof band: their repertoire included a tightly wound set of R&B and pop hooks, genuinely heartfelt lyrics, and a killer set of three keyboards playing all at once. Read it and weep: three keyboards.

That night, my sour reaction to electronic music shows was replaced with a big, fat grin.

Hot Chip co-founder Joe Goddard helped me shed some light on the phenomenon that is his band, on the eve of their next tour in the UK with Goldfrapp.

Where did you guys grow up?
I grew up in Fulham, Alexis in Chiswick, Owen in Hammersmith, Al in Leeds and Felix in Holborn.

What is the secret to writing a killer pop song?
I think writing quickly and not thinking too much is important- not trying too hard to think of catchy things. I think you write good things when you're not concentrating and ideas just pop into your head.

For me, what helps with ideas is taking a shower. Is there any special ritual that helps you get those ideas flowing?
Travelling is really good, with or without headphones- or I like to listen to old 2-step garage because the basslines are so immediate and funky, they give you ideas for rhythms and patterns.

Have you been surprised by the reaction you guys have received so far?
Not really, maybe a bit - I've been surprised that kids all round the world have started getting into it, but I suppose that is the wonder of the internet.

I'm not sure if you guys read Pitchfork in the UK, but I think after you got a great review there, a giant chunk of indie music North America was completely sold on you guys!
We are playing at a party for Pitchfork in Texas in March, so hopefully after that they'll have to be nice to us forever, even when we get old and rubbish.

What have been the highlights of touring so far?
Playing in Iceland, Sweden, Romania, Canada- basically seeing other places.

Have you guys actually been able to take in a lot of sights of the cities you're in while on tour?
Actually no, that is the curse of touring. You get tiny glimpses of all these great places and you don't have time to check them out - so when I say I've been to Stockholm, I've actually just been to the airport, the venue and one bar.

Of the countries that you've toured, which has had the best dancers in the audience?
The people at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto have had the best moves and they clapped a lot.

Seriously? Toronto has a reputation as the "Screwface Capital" because they are usually rough on bands, especially newer ones. I think you guys really have some kind of special magical effect.
Other people have told us that - the crowd was great! I enjoyed the gig a lot because I could see people moving, but maybe they were just moving toward the exit....

What is Hot Chip's dance move of choice?
The Baby Dance. Just moving your shoulders up and down and sort of swaying to the music - the way babies do when there is music on and they can't help but move.

I hear you guys were into wrestling when you were kids - any plans to incorporate this into your live show?
No. That would be dangerous, and we need to stay focused on our keyboards most of the time.

Who was your favourite wrestler?
Mine was Jake 'The Snake' Roberts, I think Alexis liked Ted DiBiase the Million Dollar Man.

How about Hulk Hogan?
Too old. Although when he beat Zeus in the cage match that was good.

Since you've put out your music, has anyone asked you to produce anything else?
Yes, we've been working with friends and producing things with them, we've had a couple of offers to produce for money but haven't really done that yet - we're still learning.

Anything you can disclose?
Nothing too exciting - the best stuff I have done for others is a band called 'Oli'n'Clive' - look out for them.

For sure. A couple random questions - do you guys do "normal" everyday jobs outside Hot Chip?
Not at the moment, but when the money runs out we will have to. I used to work for a landscape gardening company.

In a producer show-down, who would win, Dr. Dre or Phil Spector?
Phil Spector has the edge because I think he's actually gone mad. But they both have guns. I reckon Dr. Dre would make a better rock track than Phil making hip-hop though.

I read in an article that you were the big hip hop aficianado. How did you first get into listening to hip hop?
I had an older friend who was basically my big brother, called Sam. He made me tapes of Cypress Hill, Souls of Mischief, EPMD, Black Moon, Wu-Tang. It was '92-'93, a fine vintage of hip-hop. Sam is dead now but I won't forget him.

Are you guys as nerdy as the press makes you out to be?
No. But I did go to chess club after school sometimes.

What instrument could you guys not tour without?
Our drum machines. They do most of the work really.

Do you guys have Kraft Dinner in England now?
No, but my Canadian-Scottish friend Bruce brought me one back from Canada after we saw Terence and Philip eat them in South Park.

What is the ideal Hot Chip ride?
Anything with a big bass bin in the back.

In what sense is it better? I was able to pick up Hot Chip: All Filler, No Killer, and it sounds more melodic than Coming on Strong. Is this new album going in this direction?
No - the tracks on 'All Filler, no Killer' are mostly from around the same period as the 1st album, the new album is harder rhythmically, the songs are better written and more interestingly produced, it's more adventurous and there is more variety, and you can dance to it better! And it was not produced by the DFA! It was produced by us in my bedroom! Sorry, we get a lot of rumours about the DFA producing it, we are proud of doing it ourselves.

Haha, with good reason. Thanks.

Hot Chip is doing another tour of North America in March with Stereolab and their new album, The Warning, comes out May 2006. More information is available at Hot Chip's website.