Rüfüs Du Sol

Maintaining a creative work flow is key for any musician, and many have their own unique techniques to do just that. According to Rüfüs Du Sol band member James Hunt the key for them is getting out of their comfort zone when writing music. City Hub spoke with Hunt recently about how this mindset has impacted their latest release, Solace, ahead of their homecoming tour of Australia.

In order to foster their creative energy Rüfüs Du Sol chose to work in an entirely new city and environment when they decide it’s time to write and record new music. For their previous release Bloom this meant heading to Berlin to “soak up the electronic music” there, then for the follow up Solace they chose to relocate to Los Angeles.

“We like to shift our workplace up because it feels like it makes you a little bit more creatively open because your in a slightly uncomfortable space rather than being somewhere you’re used to,” said Hunt before explaining the decision to choose Los Angeles, “LA simply made the most sense because we’d been touring in the US a lot.”

Not only did the band change location for this record but they also brought with them an array of new influences and inspirations.

“After touring for two years you definitely get hungry to start writing music again, so when we moved over to Los Angeles to write the new record we brought a bunch of new synthesises and toys to set up this playground for ourselves.”

As they were playing in this new “playground” the group were adamant on not being overly regimented because as Hunt explained, “often some of the best ideas come out of experimenting and playing around rather than a calculated approach.”

Whilst this sense of fun and playful experimentation can lead to some of the best music it can also negatively impact the work life balance, a problem which Rüfüs Du Sol encountered during the making of Solace.

“We were so excited about the process but it became a little bit unhealthy after a while and we were working until 6am every night.”

Battling through this tough period for the band inevitably manifested itself in the music.

“I think some of that exhaustion and emotional turbulence came out inherently in some of the lyrics as everything became a little bit more introspective. It was a little bit cathartic, looking back on it now each song is like a snapshot of a point in time.”

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