Ladytron Become A Rock Band

Ladytron may be all about austere synth sounds on disc, but according to singer Mira Arayo, their live show is getting "bigger and better."

"We've never experienced anything like this," she says of the shows supporting the band's recent album, Light & Magic. "Before people used to come and see us and like us because we were a bit weird, sitting up on stage and playing our synths. They liked the music because it was something different, but we weren't happy with the shows.

"Now we've had a chance to do stuff the way we wanted. It sounds more like a rock show now. It's quite different from what you hear on the record, but I think it works better in a live setting."

Arayo notes the core band — comprised of herself, Reuben Wu, Daniel Hunt and Helena Marnie — has been augmented live with the addition of a bass player and drummer.

"The live show is harder to pigeonhole," she adds. "It's rougher and edgier."

Pigeonholing is something Ladytron would like to avoid. The group has been inadvertently lumped in with the electroclash movement, even though they were formulating their stylish brand of synth pop before that term entered into the popular culture vernacular.

Arayo recalls that while working on the new album in L.A., "someone said to me, 'it's really too bad that you were ahead of the wave with your last album [604, released in 2001] and now you'll be too late with this album.'"

Not that it mattered to her or her band members.

"Our opinion is that we're doing our own thing anyway — we've never been big on collaborating or being part of a scene."

Arayo thinks the live shows help to distinguish the band from the electroclash hangers-on.

"We're very much a 'band' band rather than a DJ/producer project, although we do have our DJ projects that we like on the side," she concludes.

Ladytron starts a North American tour with opener Simian on February 16. Here are the Canadian dates and venues:
February 22 Montreal, QC @ Club Soda
February 24 Toronto, ON @ Phoenix
March 5 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom