For those not fortunate enough not to be familiar with Hot Hot Heat, shame on you. Theirs is the stuff responsible for worn down stilettos the world over.

Hailing originally from Canada, this indie rock four-piece have been pegged as pioneers of the dance punk phenomenon. For close to a decade now, they have been bringing their delightfully spastic, insatiably catchy brand of goodness-knows-what to dance floors internationally. If you are still lost, they sound something like the lovechild of Sloan and Les Savvy Fav. While chronologically, this may prove problematic; categorically, it’s brilliant.

Paguin lives in LA part-time, and Vancouver some of the other time, and now he’s preparing to trek Down Under for the annual V Festival circuit. Here they’ll be kept company by the likes of Duran Duran, Smashing Pumpkins, Queens of The Stone Age, and The Presets. He jokes that he’s hoping for a very good car to make the distance, although acknowledges that the chances of that are slim.


Life on the Road

In the States, Hot Hot Heat have spent the majority of their time of late on the road. He tells Savvy horror stories of driving through snowstorms and blizzards, confessing that he’s “definitely happy to be back on the West Coast.”

He said there are many things he would never go on tour without, among them a pair of sensible shoes and a toothbrush. 

Such a sensible choice for someone to whose music so many have misbehaved. When we put our disappointment to him, saying that sensible shoes are not mandatory on a rock ‘n rollers checklist. This, it seems, is no deterrent. A Dodge Neon – maybe. Sacrificing dental hygiene and negating firm footwear – never.

Last time they hit Australia, Panguin admits to being “thoroughly knackered” as a result of hitting the country on the tail-end of a year and a half of touring. Still, his enthusiasm has not as yet been curved – this time around, he was hoping for more shows but will have to settle for the tightly-packed handful that is currently on his schedule.

“I think we’re going to be spending a lot of time in airports and not necessarily sleeping much at all,” says Panguin. “I don’t know if we’re even going to stay in hotels, we might have to get on an airplane the following morning after each of the shows…” Savvy assures him that Australia has very lovely airports.

“As long as I can get a coffee and some sensible shoes,” he laughs.


Festival Faves

No strangers to the festival circuit, Hot Hot Heat are ready for round after round. When asked what makes V Festival different to all the other festivals, they are more than qualified to answer.

“I love playing the festivals just because you get to play to so many more people than you normally would,” says Panguin. He considers V Festival to be more organised than others on the circuit. Organisation, Savvy imagines, is a massive plus in the book of someone who treasures sensible shoes above all else.

“We did Reading and Leeds, and we thought we were in Beirut,” says Panguin, assuring us that this is nothing new.

“I’ve seen all those old documentaries about the Isle of Wight festivals. Every one of those show the riot squad coming out with their tear gas and the police dogs, and it always ends up being some kind of bloody disaster…”

Here it should be noted that he means ‘bloody’ literally, not figuratively.

“…Whenever you get that many people in one space there’s always going to be a few, um, incidences..”

“I’ve heard some pretty bad stories,” Panguin continues. “What about Woodstock? There were riots, and people dying. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen at the V Festival in Australia,” he laughs.

While Panguin assures Savvy that the riot police have to make an appearance for the festival to be a good one, there are other contributing factors that should be considered.

“There’s always the weather,” argues Panguin, allowing V Festival organisers to breathe (slightly) easier. “Last time we played the Leeds festival, it was pouring rain. When we played Glastonbury, it was something like the worst flooding in the history of the festival – we couldn’t even get in to the festival grounds to play the show until the very last possible second they had to come out with these all terrain vehicles that looked something like military tanks because our bus couldn’t get through. It can be a bit of a disaster sometimes.”

Savvy questions whether the crowd’s behaviour relies on the line up, to which Panguin laughs.

“I don’t know. Who played? The Red Hot Chilli Peppers? I thought they were one of the most adored bands in the world.”  Here, Panguin coughs. Ironically, at a previous festival, their schedule clashed with the much-revered Peppers.  “I was a little bit upset about that.”

Savvy questions Panguin - upset because he couldn’t see the Peppers, or pissed that he didn’t get the main stage?

“Just to have to listen to that crap in the background while I’m trying to play,” he laughs.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. The punters have proven it – with sell out shows in Australia.

Ticket To Ride

“I’m waiting for a beautiful Dodge Neon or something…,” Panguin covers the phone whilst making enquiries, “… it’s not going to be the classiest ride I’ve ever rolled in.”

When given the hypothetical chance to own (not rent) any car in the world, Panguin hesitates with his answer.

“I think the politically correct thing to say would be some kind of hybrid, like a Prius or something,” he says. “As artists we’re supposed to be all eco-friendly and stuff, but let’s be honest, I’d rather have an old Camaro or a Firebird or something.”

The irony of this statement is not lost on Panguin. This year’s V Festival is a green festival – while organisers admit that ‘No-one’s tree huggingly perfect, and we don’t profess to be!’, they are set to make this festival a lean, mean green V machine. They have even gone to the effort of making the Sydney leg of the festival coincide with Earth Hour, a global campaign to reduce emissions by 5%.

So even if the riot police are called, V-Festival punters can put their minds at ease that they are doing their bit for the environment.

FREE STUFF!!!

Thanks to the kind folk at V Festival, we have a double pass for each Australian Show!!!

To score you and a friend this honour, in 25 words or less, tell us what Panguin’s perfect ride is and why. Shoot this to us in an email with the subject line ‘The Heat Is On’, which city you’d opt for, and your address, to: getlucky@savvy.com


Savvy’s Gig Guide

Sydney - Centennial Park, Saturday March 29th
Gold Coast – Avica Resort, Sunday March 30th
Melbourne – Showgrounds, Saturday April 5th
Perth – The Esplanade (City) Sunday April 6th