Wellington-based electronica-pop trio Minuit has been busy lately, playing a range of summer gigs including Wanaka's Rippon Festival. It returns to the South next week, playing in Timaru on Wednesday and Dunedin on Friday.
But perhaps the biggest news is the recent inclusion of one of its songs, I'm Still Dancing, on the soundtrack to influential US television series Grey's Anatomy.
"It's amazing, huh," says member Paul Dodge. "Grey's is one of those programmes that prides itself on its soundtrack. There are forums and blogs where people tweet and type about the tracks that appear on the show each episode. The Grey's FaceBook page has two and a-half million fans, all actively adding their two cents. So you never know what being on those forums could do.
"But, having said that, they have hundreds of songs a season, and it's up to the sixth season. And our track is quite obscure it's not a `pop' song as such; it's quite intense, so I'm chuffed that it was even included."
Asked whether the soundtrack had resulted in invitations to play stateside, or increased sales, Dodge replies: "Ha, well we haven't been invited to play McDreamy's 40th birthday bash in Hollywood yet. Though my little sister watches the show religiously and she thinks it's pretty cool that we're on it."
(For the record, McDreamy is the nickname of character Dr Derek Shepherd.) Dodge says Minuit plans to road-test some of its newer material on its southern visit, the band having sampled and sequenced songs from third album, 2009's Find Me Before I Die A Lonely Death, into a form that can be played live.
"Some of these tracks take a lot of getting your head around. They're not as straightforward as you might imagine most dance music to be. There has been lots of spontaneity and improvising in the practice room, and we've been blown away by the results on the road.
"We've been together a long time and played in a lot of clubs round the world, and seen lots of fads come and go in the electronic scene. We all want to make music that isn't so obvious, that challenges you a bit. And I think that's the appeal of the band: it's not a predictable sound or lyrics.
"There'll be equal moments of when the whole crowd is heaving and singing along, and others where they might stop dancing and just watch. I used to hate that but now I take it as a compliment."
