We came across this understated little lez gem and wanted to
know more. So we chatted to the kool thing's video director Claire
Kurylowski who got us up to speed with the Berlin-based
hipsters.
The last year has seen the band traveling across Europe playing
in London, Paris, Copenhagen, Dublin, Vienna, Prague and all over
Germany with renowned artists such as MEN, Light Asylum, Aerea
Negrot, Maria Minerva and LCMDF.
After initial online buzz and word of mouth about their
seductive live performance, Austra handpicked kool thing as support
act for both their European tours in 2011 and have invited them
back to tour Australia in 2012.
Constantly evolving, Julie (featured in DIVA, a while back..)
and Jon most recently recruited a drummer to broaden the dynamic of
their live shows. Aside from performing on stage, they DJ regularly
in clubs, establishing new fans no matter what the context.
When not on the road, kool thing's efforts have been focused
mainly on the studio. Their first official release was a remix of
Austra's single "Beat and the Pulse", released on 12" by Domino
Records in August 2011
(http://www.dominorecordco.com/austrasparkle). Stream here
http://soundcloud.com/kool-thing/austra-beat-and-the-pulse-kool.
They are currently putting final touches on a full-length album
with Berlin-based production team Kaiku (Handsome Furs, K-X-P) with
an intended release for 2012.
kool thing (yep, all lower case) is the duo of Julie Chance and
Jon Dark, originally from Dublin and Sydney, respectively, who met
in Paris in 2010 at some side-street dive bar where Chance was
DJing. The girls quickly noticed their overlap in musical
sensibilities, swapped records, exchanged ideas and booked flights
to Berlin, where they got straight to work bringing their new
project to life.
kool thing's nocturnal sound weaves together textured washes of
guitar, shadowy synthesizers and driving beats with layered vocals
that deliver a strong visual narrative. The combination of Jon's
classical musical training and Julie's artistic vision balances
high production values with a tangible handmade quality, like a
junkyard jamboree with Teutonic precision. The duo reconciles
disparate influences like grunge and wave, prog and pop - yet
without any blatant retro fetishism, gazing not down at their shoes
but stridently ahead into an ominous future. We think they're
awesome, but what do YOU think? See video clip below.
Recommended if you like: mood rings, lunar eclipses, ghost
stories, cave paintings, good music.
Oh and here's some info about the uber kool director:
www.clairekurylowski.co.uk
Originally hailing from the UK Claire is a Berlin based filmmaker
directing music videos, fashion films and commercials. Previously
she has been in the official selection at the London Short Film
Festival and won the Daily Motion Prize at A Shaded View on
Fashion Film Festival (ASVOFF) and also bagged a Kodak Award for a
commercial she directed whilst still at film school.
