In late 2018, in the lead-up to the release of their third album, Solace, I recorded a podcast with RÜFÜS DU SOL’s Jon George and James Hunt in a local recording studio. They were on the rise as one of Australia’s biggest dance acts back then, coming off the back of two consecutive No. 1 albums.
And then Solace scored the Sydney group their first-ever Grammy nomination.
Now, just over seven years later, I’m meeting with George and Hunt again, only this time we’re chatting inside the dressing room of Sydney’s 20,000+ capacity Qudos Bank Arena, just hours before the first of three sold-out shows at the venue.
How times have changed.
A little over a decade ago, George, Hunt, and frontman Tyrone Lindqvist were one of the many burgeoning acts at BIGSOUND 2012 looking for their big break, and now they’re embarking on their biggest-ever headline tour of their home country in support of fifth album, Inhale / Exhale, which brought them a sixth Grammy nomination.
It’s a feat that is not lost on the band.
Image: Mitch Lowe
“We’ve discussed this pretty frequently,” Hunt begins, “there are these linchpin moments where it is really apparent that something has shifted or there is some upturn or there’s some transition. We always talk about the first time we played Coachella in 2016 in the US and, up until that point, we’ve been laying the groundwork over there and we were discussing moving there, which we did a year later. I remember we were given a really good set time and we looked out at, I think it was the Gobi tent, and people were spilling out, thousands and thousands of people. We’d just released [second album] Bloom, three months prior and we were looking at each other, just like, ‘This is fucking surreal!’
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“I remember we played Falls Byron Bay back at the end of 2013. That was a similar thing there where it felt like Australia, this momentum was building exponentially and there are so many of these moments. We just played the Rose Bowl in LA. That was a really pivotal moment for us.”
Like many local dance acts before them, RÜFÜS DU SOL cut their teeth performing at bars, nightclubs, and intimate venues. (Even today, George and Hunt still perform DJ sets together all around the world.) But as the group’s status continues to grow, so do the crowds which means production must also go up. Anyone who has seen their recent live shows will know it’s a special sight. For the trio, the live show is extremely important to what they do.
“We made a choice to make it more about these analogue lighting moments and really use the lighting as a fourth band member,” George explains. “We made a solid decision a few years ago to chase that rather than doing anything visual on screens too much. So although we’re now inside in these big arenas, we’re still liking the analogue [arrangement]. It’s pretty sick watching lasers and everything in these little domes. It’s got a really good flow to it. We’ve had a lot of fun making the intro and transitions and having these moments of jams between us.
Jon George. Image: Jordan Munns
James Hunt. Image: Neasansucks
Tyrone Lindqvist. Image: Mitch Lowe
Hunt adds: “Another thing we’ve really enjoyed… even in these increasingly bigger stadiums and arenas that we’ve been lucky enough to do, is to bring the intimacy and the musicality out, highlighting more of what we’re doing through Leah, who’s our videographer on stage. She’s been capturing us writing out the whole last record and capturing us for the last six or seven years.
We have her even more as a feature of the show, really running around the stage and focusing on zooming in on the micro, little things that we’re doing. Even in bigger stadiums, I think for people in the crowd, they can actually see that we’re doing a lot of things up there and we make ourselves very busy. There’s a lot of chance for things to fuck up or some controlled chaos, and highlighting that, I think it connects the crowd to us a little more and brings the humanity out and we really like that. I think that’s a really cool progression for us.”
RÜFÜS DU SOL haven’t taken any backwards steps since the release of their 2013 debut album, Atlas.
2016 follow-up Bloom featured some of their biggest hits like “Innerbloom”, “You Were Right”, and “Say a Prayer for Me”; 2018’s Solace and 2021’s Surrender picked up Grammy nominations for Best Dance/Electronic Album; and 2024’s Inhale / Exhale is considered by many as their best work to date.
Coming up in Sydney during the 2000s, they were inspired by international giants like The Chemical Brothers and Booka Shade as well as Australian acts such as The Presets, Cut Copy and Van She — the Modular crop of acts who helped bring electronic music to the forefront in Australia.
“There’s live drums and guitars, and it’s like scuzzy and indie, but it’s also really dance-y. That felt like a bit of a North Star,” Hunt says. “It’s dance music, electronic music, electronica, but live with music, and songwriting in it. I think that concept was always there.”
RÜFÜS DU SOL have now reached a level where they have carved out their own sound in Australia’s dance scene, and are now inspiring the next generation.
Image: Jordan Munns
As it turns out, George had a similar conversation with Sneaky Sound System’s Angus McDonald, who he randomly bumped into while playing golf during this recent Australian run.
“I ended up having a good discussion and reflection with him about that period,” he recalls, “and basically he was just paying respect to us as well, saying, ‘Good on you for sticking to your sound, creating a sound.’ What I thought was cool to reflect on is that none of us have been pulling [the music] in a direction; it’s just been inherent. That happens because we are invested in what we’re making and everything that we’re sharing between each other and what we’re listening to currently.”
Following the 2000s breakout, dance and electronic music in Australia has arguably never been bigger in 2025.
As well as RÜFÜS DU SOL’s global dominance, Dom Dolla is having his own international moment, having recently sold out two nights at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden in March, headlined Miami’s Ultra Festival in April, and set an attendance record at Lollapalooza’s Perry’s Stage in August; FISHER is currently one of the most sought-after DJs in the US and Europe; and Ninajirachi is being touted as the country’s next big dance name, having just picked up three ARIA Awards last month.
For George and Hunt, it’s not only an exciting time for them but for many of their contemporaries, who they also consider friends.
“It was a lot easier to stay in touch when we were travelling around the country more and there was more of these travelling festivals,” George said. “We’re always curious and searching for new music and seeing what’s happening in Australia. Anyone that’s touring overseas, we see more like Dom and Cassian. There’s a huge respect paid to the Australian artists that are going overseas and having a go at it, and it’s cool to see it paying off for a bunch of us. I encourage everyone to try and do the same and fly the flag.”
It was revealed this week that RÜFÜS DU SOL now boast the highest-selling electronic tour of all time. Globally, the Inhale / Exhale world tour sold 750,000 headline tickets and played to 1.5 million fans worldwide across their festival and headlining shows.
Image: Boaz Kroon
If you think there’s a chance they intend to slow down from here, you’d be way off the mark. While they’re not currently writing a follow-up to their 2024 LP, they do intend to get to work when the tour cycle slows down. After the Australia and New Zealand shows, they’ll get a break before doing more shows in South America and Europe from next February.
But the time for new music is coming.
“I don’t know if it’s all announced just yet, but we can see exactly where [the break] is, and that’s a cool thing to keep charging towards,” George says.
“But look, we’re on top of the world right now. I’m not ready to slow down right now.
“The want and need to get back in the studio will happen, pretty quickly too.”
