With influences including Robert Wyatt, Phil Spector, Kraftwerk, the Beach Boys, Brian Eno, Timbaland, Devo and others, you can start to get a feel for Hot Chip's diversity, imagination and sense of humour.

Over their last two albums the South London five-piece have demonstrated a knack for crafting brilliant lyrics. Their latest album, The Warning, released almost six-months after the first single includes the catchy 'Like a monkey with a miniture cymbal' and the sensitively delivered threat of the albums title 'Hot Chip will break your legs, snap off your head'.

These lyrics are delivered over dancefloor consuming basslines, weird bleeps, skewed percussion, assorted guitars and deeper ambient sounds all played live. Even the new album with big-label backing, was made in one of the band members bedrooms like its predecessor; keyboards on laps, each person playing their parts. The synthesisers themselves are equally quirky including a Teisco 60-F (discontinued old school Italian) and a Casio MT70 (looks like a toy).

With the new album not a month old, backed by the DFA, remixes by Cosmic Sandwich and Erol Alkan, and a sea of postive reviews, Hot Chip appear to be just warming up. Joe from Hot Chip gave RA the lowdown...

"We have the cold, dead rhythms of a drum machine, he is a cruel master."

How many times have you been to Sonar?
Once, but I've been to Barcelona maybe five times.

Do you have a favourite festival memory?
Seeing Battles last year.

For many Europeans Sonar is the start of summer, does the warmer weather affect your sound at all?
Maybe if we had a human drummer it would make him play slower, but we have the cold, dead rhythms of a drum machine, he is a cruel master.

For people not used to a Spanish lifestyle, a siesta is not part of their usual day. How do you approach the afternoon break?
I approach my bed, it is difficult for a person living in London to understand the need for an afternoon break, but after a few days in Barcelona it begins to make sense.

Sonar is very interested in new frontiers, not just technology but art, music and social trends as well. What do you think have been some of the biggest developments of the last year?
MySpace has consumed our souls.

The Sonar programme is always quite diverse and innovative. Who are you looking forward to seeing?
CHIC with Nile Rodgers.

Between this years festival and last you have released a new album The Warning, reaching a wider audience including a lot support from the DFA. What has the year been like? And did you know the album would be so well received when writing tracks like Over and over, Just like we (breakdown) and Boy from School?
We thought those songs were good when we wrote them and we were excited about releasing them. This last year has been spent waiting for EMI to release our album and playing gigs. We have finally become a great live band I think, so I'm excited about playing in the next few months.

'Like a monkey with a miniature cymbal' is one of my favourite lyrics of the year. What's your favourite lyric?
'I like ice-cream kid, yeah caramel,
I read comics and books, you know, Marvel'
(Kool Keith from the Cenobites album on Fondle 'em records)

Do you have anything planned for the rest of summer? Loads of European festivals, 'Colours' is coming out as a single and then 'Booji Boy Hi' will be unleashed upon the world.

Hot Chip play Sonar Club on Saturday 17 June

Sonar 2006 Prologues

Sonar 2006 Prologues with Miss Kittin
Sonar 2006 Prologues with Isolee
Sonar 2006 Prologues with Jimmy Edgar
Sonar 2006 Prologues with Diplo
Sonar 2006 Prologues with CHIC
Sonar 2006 Prologues with Hot Chip
Sonar 2006 Prologues with Ryan Elliott
Sonar 2006 Prologues with Modeselektor
Sonar 2006 Prologues with The MFA
Sonar 2006 Prologues with Uffie