Igniting dance floors all over the world has become a common part of everyday life for New Young Pony Club. Tonight they're at a warehouse party at Sheffield's Plug, along with Foals, Liars and Hot Chip DJs.
New Young Pony Club guitarist Andy Spence has spent all year creating an indie-electro sound full of colourful tunes that simply demand to be danced to. Accordingly, excitable people swarm together in a chaotic huddle and wave glow sticks frantically round their heads to his music.
But now a tired, hung over Spence has taken the short walk from venue to tour bus through the dark, cold Sheffield night.
"Oh, someone has tided up," says Andy, surprised, as we step onto the tour bus. This glorified, luxury form of transport has been the home of NYPC for several months now, as they have guzzled diesel from city to city, town to town. "All the touring has gone really well, it just keeps getting bigger and better. People tell us that."
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"We're very tired after a busy year, but that is where the crowd come into it. They are excited to see you and that keeps you going. The response has been incredible, the crowd literally throw themselves about. It blows your mind."
The group is dominated by females with disco Queen Tahita Bulmer fast becoming an iconic figure, full of energy and life, bounding around the stage to every beat. With the elegant Sarah Jones battering the drums behind, and the graceful Lou Halter stood static behind a keyboard, as they crash out saucy numbers such as Ice Cream and Tight Fit. But Andy thinks that too much emphasis is put on gender.
"We don't even think about it. What makes them different to anyone else? There was never an agenda to put women on the map. It's just a media thing." At this point, Sarah climbs aboard. "He's just asked the female question," Andy laughs.
Andy is equally dismissive about the coined genre that the band have found themselves moulded into. At the start of the year, New Young Pony Club went on the NME indie-rave tour along with Sunshine Underground, CSS and the Klaxons. "The indie-rave tour was a lot of fun, but as a genre I don't think (nu-rave) really exists." Andy insists.
"As a genre I don't think it really exists." - New Young Pony Club's Andy Spence on nu-rave
New Young Pony Club's album Fantastic Playroom was released way back in July, so Andy is thinking about the next record. It will be a new experience in the making of the second album, he says, as the debut album was largely put together by founding members Tahita and Andy. So what can we expect next time around?
"This one will be created as a group. We are always inspired in the recording studio so we will see, we just create a sound that excites us and one that people can connect with."
Howsoever that sound is defined, it has created a party environment where venues light up with glow sticks and ecstatic fans. New Young Pony Club have been at its vanguard from the very start, generating excitement and fun wherever they go. For their growing fan base, the next chapter can't come soon enough.
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