Bassist Nat Hinckley is on a mission: to get Madison concertgoers to stop slouching and start dancing. To achieve this goal, she's bred dance-punk and surf rock to create Venus in Furs, a party of sound in the vein of !!!, Death From Above 1979 and the Rapture.
"I didn't want it to sound just like [those bands] but be something that's very rock and very dance at the same time, full of energy, and that no one else in town was doing," Hinckley says.
Finding a good, dancey drummer took time, but when she discovered a former Jazzercise instructor who goes simply by Marlo, everything began falling into place. Just as they'd established a tight-and-punky rhythm section, they heard that Vic (just Vic), who used to play in Connecticut ska-punk band Golgo 13 and currently doubles as Elle Machete of the Unholy Rollers roller derby team, was looking for a new guitar gig. The three joined forces, adopted a saucy name and hit the Willy Street venues running this spring.
Reaching outside their collective comfort zone is part of the mission, too. Though Venus in Furs are probably best known among fans of derby parties and the Madison punk trio Damidol, Hinckley's band is playing the indie-pop-loving Project Lodge on July 20, hoping to gain inspiration and new fans.
But can the cool kids shed their inhibitions? The only way to know for sure is to check out the show and egg them on.
