The Potbelleez: The Sole Fit One

By Alif Omar Mahfix  •  14 Feb 2012 in Interview

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You guys have some serious festival cred, what can we expect when you get here for FMFA?
Well you can expect a lot of energy. Our live performances are renowned for a great deal of energy on stage. Our music is positive and uplifting, and seems to have a uniting effect on the audience – a lotta hands in the air and good vibes to boogie to. Big sound, big vocals, big energy.

What’s it like being on tour every single weekend? Don’t you get burnt out?
It’s great! It’s exhausting but as an artist, you just love work. It’s great to have work, we’re very lucky that people want to book us that much (laughs). I love working every week.

‘From the Music’ got a cool a$s video, we love The Muppets. What was the inspiration behind that and were you a fan of Jim Henson?
Because it’s funny as hell. It works quite well for us because it appeals to the younger kids and teenagers, the latter thought it was hilarious. And yes, I love The Muppets, of course. Who doesn’t? I wanna see the new movie!

You guys played at the legendary Amnesia Nightclub in Ibiza. Every dance act who ‘made it’ has played there. What was that like?
It was amazing! It was just one of the best shows that we’ve done. It was so much fun, there was a massive crowd, the room was packed, and we got a really great response from the dance floor. People there were serious club goers, and they have never heard our music before, but they responded really positively to it and had a great time.

Gotta be honest with you, we are not very knowledgeable on the dance scene in Oz. Enlighten us!
It’s a very dynamic scene in Australia. The dance scene has been building here for years and years, it’s much more commercial now than what it was before. Over the last 5-6 years, dance has emerged as a very viable form of pop music through acts like Sneaky Sound System, Empire of the Sun, Cut Copy, The Presets, this fantastic new band Art Vs. Science and that’s just to name a few. There are many talented DJs and producers who are putting stuff out as well. Like Stafford Brothers, Tommy Trash, artists from the Ministry of Sound label as well as smaller labels. At the moment what we’re seeing is an influx of dance music in the pop realm. Music that was previously considered pop suddenly becomes dance, which helps out opening the genre but at the same time changing the genre as well. The style of dance is becoming a lot more commercial, there is still a lot more underground work happening in the clubs though. It’s a really interesting advantageous time for the Potbelleez because that is what we do; dance pop and radio-friendly songs.

We love Art Vs. Science! With you and Ilan in the band, you guys are not just DJs obviously. So what is a typical Potbelleez performance like?
We play live, Ilan plays the guitar and I play the piano. Johnny plays an electronic drum pad. Dave and him together play behind the computer consoles.

We can’t wait to see how that’s like when you perform in Malaysia! Anything to say to us here in KL?
We’re very happy to come to Malaysia and meet some new fans. We’re very excited about it and the festival is wonderful to be a part of. We hope to see everyone there with a big smile on their face. Let’s have a great show together!

Party, booze up, and grow a potbelly together with them at thepotbelleez.com.