The pair of Steven Marr and Indira Force formed in 2013 and have since released a number of singles to critical acclaim, two of which went to No. 1 on an alternative chart.
The band (adding an additional four people in the live setting) was also the support for Lorde at her post-Grammy homecoming show in Auckland and performed as part of this year's Laneway Festival.
The band is heading to the US in October for the CMJ Music Marathon, an industry platform for new music discovery. Over five non-stop days and nights more than 1400 live performances will take place across 80 music venues in New York as part of the festival.
''It's going be expensive and we're taking a sound guy with us,'' Marr says.
''There's seven people to shuttle round and every trip we make is twice as expensive, as we have to get two cabs and all that other stuff.''
The band is aiming to promote interest in their new EP, released on Auckland independent label Arch Hill Records and find US label interest for an upcoming album. The EP, released in June, is five immersive tracks. Showcasing Marr's production talent for glitchy trippy beats and deep baritone, as well as Force's phenomenal otherworldly vocals, it is sleek, poised electro that never loses a melodic pop focus. The EP has drawn comparison with a couple of heads, both Portis and Radio, as well as another UK trip-hop act, Massive Attack.
''That EP is actually a year and a-half old now,'' Marr says.
''I'm pretty happy with how it's going, but we're aiming to put out an album at the end of this year or the start of next. At the moment we've got about 20 songs to chose from that we're just deciding between.''
''[We're really focusing on overseas], that's why it took so long, but we'll be looking for a US label to license the album through.''
Help Doprah get to the US, tonight at Chick's Hotel.
• Jim Nothing, the lo-fi psych project of tireless Christchurch drummer James Sullivan (BNP, Salad Boys, Bang! Bang! Eche!, X-Ray Charles) visits Dunedin tonight to perform alongside Violet French and D & Swampy.
His first step from behind the drum kit, the self-recorded album Death Traps, released last year, is a fantastic, atmospheric and distorted listen. Bringing back memories of 2008's lo-fi explosion (Wavves, Times New Viking et al) and the four-track recording of New Zealand legends such as Chris Knox, it will be interesting to see how the blown-out songwriting transmutes into the live setting.
Catch them
• Doprah weekend funding extravaganza tonight at Chick's Hotel, Port Chalmers featuring Doprah with support from The River Jones (Chch), Shunkan (IVC), and Males. Presale tickets ($15) available from www.etickets.to/buy/?e=11697, $20 on the door. Doors 9pm. The Chick's Hotel Magic Bus leaves Countdown at 8.30pm, uni library at 8.35pm, returns to town after the show, and is free to ride with your 2014 Onecard.
• D & Swampy, Jim Nothing, and Violet French tonight at Taste Merchants (lower Stuart St) $10 waged/$5 unwaged from 8.30pm. RISING Christchurch duo Doprah perform at Port Chalmers' Chick's Hotel tonight as part of fundraising efforts for a trip to the US later this year.
