INTERVIEW: THE SMITH STREET BAND ARE UNPLUGGED IN WOMBAT STATE FOREST
The Smith Street Band have announced their return to live music in 2021, with a series of full band, stripped back, semi-acoustic, seated shows in Victoria and New South Wales. Guest writer from Ambedo Magazine, Keely Millikin, had an e-chat with guitarist Lee Hartney to discuss all things tour, coffee beans, and what’s coming next!
Photo credit Ian Laidlaw
The Smith Street Band have announced their return to live music in 2021, with a series of full band, stripped back, semi acoustic, seated shows in Victoria and New South Wales. Guest writer from Ambedo Magazine, Keely Millikin, had an e-chat with guitarist Lee Hartney to discuss all things tour, coffee beans, and what’s coming next!
I wanted to start off with talking about your upcoming album, ‘Unplugged in the Wombat State Forest’ which is out on March 5th. What was the inspiration behind doing an ‘unplugged’ album per se?
During Melbourne's long lockdown we discussed the likelihood that if we were going to be allowed to play shows again they would most likely be seated... and none of us are keen on seated rock shows.
So we reimagined a set in a more acoustic stripped-back style that we think fits better for those shows and is something different and fun for us. Because this is so different and new for us we thought we should record and film it in the meantime and release it for this tour, especially for the people who can't make it to the shows or who we can't get to this time around.
I saw that you released coffee beans as a part of promotion for the new album, could you explain the motivation behind doing so? (I love the idea by the way, and had to pick up some up for myself.)
Thank you! I hope you liked it! Well, everyone's a coffee fiend in the band (except me! Ha ha), so just made sense! A few of the others knew Karon coffee as they are locals to the region where our studio is in Wombat State Forest and we wanted to support our local businesses.
You kick off the Unplugged tour in Bendigo, and all of the shows are seated, which is going to be a very different experience as a band. In what ways do you think that will change the dynamic of your shows, and how the audience reacts?
It will be a completely different experience to our normal loud, sweaty, rock shows.
We really hope people enjoy hearing the songs interpreted in a different way. It won't be for everyone, but we have enjoyed creating the set and hopefully that comes across.
What can we expect to see from your upcoming album release?
For the first time we're releasing a cassette tape & DVD. The CD comes with a DVD with a video of the whole album. Plus it's on black and coloured vinyl.
You recently announced some shows in Brisbane in May with the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra. Have you had the chance to rehearse with them yet and how has that changed your music?
We have just started discussions with them so far and organising a suitable setlist for the show. Once all the charts are written we shall be doing a few rehearsals I believe. It's all very unknown territory for us but super exciting! We are going to go in with open minds ready to do whatever we need to make it sound great!
How has the lockdown been for you all as a band? I saw you all spent a lot of time at your headquarters in the Wombat State Forest.
It's the most time we have spent apart from each other in 10 years! I think we have all enjoyed having a bit of self-imposed time off. It gave everyone a bit of time to work on other things and projects in their lives that usually get put on the backburner. And now it's just made everyone more excited to come back together and to get back to playing shows!
Unplugged in Wombat State Forest Out March 5th
on Pool House Records / Remote Control
Pre Order the album here
How has having your home base in the state forest affected your music and you all as a band?
It's great to have a place that we can all go to and just work on music with no other distractions. It allows us the freedom to record with no time constraints (which may not always be a good thing!) which hopefully means we can release better, more creative albums than we have in the past.
And lastly, what can we expect for the future of the Smith Street Band?
Hopefully lots of shows! We are gonna do as much as we are physically allowed to do. Hopefully we can record some new music as well real soon!
Follow The Smith Street Band on the rest of their tour and for our fellow local Bendigonians, be sure to check out the interview as part of the upcoming Ambedo Magazine issue! This interview was done as part of the upcoming magazine release, written by Keely Millikin.
INTERVIEW: PSYCHEDELIC PORN CRUMPETS TALK ’SHYGA! THE SUNLIGHT MOUND’
Kicking off her first interview for 2021, Tori caught up with Psychedelic Porn Crumpets frontman Jack McEwan to hear about their new album, SHYGA! The Sunlight Mound. Jack talked about the impact of COVID on the album, the highs and lows of touring and the battle of the aux cord.
Kicking off her first interview for 2021, Tori caught up with Psychedelic Porn Crumpets frontman Jack McEwan to hear about their new album, SHYGA! The Sunlight Mound. Jack talked about the impact of COVID on the album, the highs and lows of touring and the battle of the aux cord.
PPC were finishing up a tour of the USA and South America, jumped straight into the Australian Summer Festivals and squeezing in a couple of months to write and record their next album when COVID-19 pulled out their plans.
Was the whole album recorded during covid or pre covid?
It was a bit of both. I started working on it late last year when we got back from America, we got home about November and then we had a couple of months in between Falls Festival and Laneway before we were meant to go on tour with Ocean Alley, which was scheduled for I think last April, so the album had to be finished before that cos we were going to use that as a boost, then swing back into Europe. We had South America and stuff, but obviously that all got cancelled. I was actually so happy, like thank god I could become a human again and write and feel like a musician rather than some hungover Contiki traveller just being like, where am I. It was a chance to sort of reflect a bit and we wrote a lot of that material; I spent a lot of the time writing and didn’t finish the record until about the end of July. I gave myself an extra couple……actually four or five months of writing. It was definitely more of a covid album than the others, definitely a covid record.
It was a blessing in disguise then?
Oh yeah, it was a game-changer, It was the first time I ever felt like time had stopped. Do you know that show Bernard’s Watch? It was sick, it was good.
Speaking of shows, did you have any tv shows or movies that were inspiration?
I have always been a huge fan of Mighty Boosh and Monty python, that kinda like, strange, satirical world where everything is comedy central. A good time. Thinking laterally rather than give you a drama piece. Rick and Morty as well, I absolutely binged that when it came out as well. It felt refreshing, like something that had a twist on something that’s already solidified as an idea or a concept. Like Wes Anderson, he always kind of parodies his own movies. If you can get the joke, with Porn Crumpets, we are the most serious, non-serious band, just living in this mean world, so I was like, well let’s have fun with it and see where we can go rather than kind of take it seriously and be the butt of the joke, it’s like, of course we are. Let’s move on with it and have fun with it.
After listening to the album, I have to ask, Jack: What is a tripolasaur?
A tripolasaur? A friend was in a band called bipolar bear, so I thought rather than call it bipolar bear I’d call it tripolasaur, so it’s a man with three brains, or three personalities? Is bipolar multiple or two? I don’t know? If bipolar is two, then tripolar would be a three headed dinosaur. All the lyrics are about waking up feeling rough but you’re carrying on the same way of drinking each night and the audience kind of understands, and its easy to gather why he is feeling rough. Everyone keeps calling it trip-olasaur cos they’re like, this band is a ‘trip’ band, like trip-olasaur and you’re like try!
I also need to know, Is it Shy-ga? Or Shyg-a?
It’s Shy-ga. [Like tiger?] Shyga like tiger! There you go. I was listening to a lot of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. They had an exclamation mark in their name, and I was like, that’s fantastic, it already evoked an emotion before you even listened to it. I knew I sort of wanted an exclamation mark, and I was trying to think of an uplifting word that was like Eureka. I was throwing bits, Shyga, that sounds like something you would say if you get a hole in one! SHYGA! It was too interesting and ridiculous and stupid not to use it. I kept looking at it on my phone and thinking do I take the serious approach or the wonky way? But I’ve gotta do it, I gotta call it SHYGA!
I feel with a band name like yours you kind of need to say f*ck it and do it?
That’s it. I feel like we paved the way to be absurdist’s. But then if we ever tried to be serious, everyone would be like where’s the joke? We kind of ruined both angles now.
You have always been related back to Tame Impala or King Gizz, is that the same inspiration or have you been listening to anything different?
We spent a lot of time when we were touring, passing around the aux cord was a big privilege and everyone trying to outdo the other person with some strange thing they heard. After maybe a year of passing bands that we had all known, we started going back to 70s rock, like T-rex, David Bowie, all those sorts of zingers who are dad rock now. It feels quirky, but funny, but I love this. So, we all started being dads on tour, on the tour bus. That 70s style. Something about it still felt so fun and vibrant and interesting. We wanted to, or at least I did personally, write a 70s rock record that kind of reflected that but kind of put a twist on it into now. So as I was writing, there was meant to be an album called ‘The Greatest Hits of Sir Norton Gavin’ and that was originally going to be a fictional character in the 60s and 70s who was really big in Margaret River or down south and his music got lost but folklorist. I dunno, be funny trying to do that as more of a spinal tap thing. I scrapped the heavy stuff and the folky stuff, we had Pukebox, Mr Prism and Mundungus and I really liked that flavour. So instead of doing it as a ‘greatest hits’, what if we did a 70s record? You know, Google ‘deep dream’, like deep fake where AI is predicting things. What if we could do that, but predict a 70s rock record. So, all these glitched-out guitars would be in there and sound more sort of like, technological and emulate guitars and real drums and real band. That was the sort of idea of Shyga, that with tour diary inserts. What’s my life? With supercomputer picking up synths.
You have been off for a while; how do you feel about touring with Ocean Alley if it *fingers crossed* goes ahead this year?
Yeah - I love those guys. We first met them in Hamburg of all places at a festival and they did our light show, because we played a gig at like, 12 at night, I think. It was sort of like Big Sound, but the European version. They came and watched us and we didn’t have a strobe light so they kept turning the fader on and off, really quickly. It looked great, it was hilarious. We became good friends, then obviously did Laneway together. I feel like that was one of the best Laneways, for me. I just watched King Gizz for five days or whatever it was. It was amazing.
King Gizz and 1975 every day is not at all terrible!
They actually pulled out of one of them, they got sick. Might have been the Sydney one? One of them got sick, so Gizz were like, we’ve got to headline so they did a two-hour set which was OH MY GOD! It rained too so it added to this, I don’t know, it was such a wicked night.
What is the biggest thing you guys have missed from touring?
Nothing at all. I like being safe and comfortable at home. I don’t know. I think having a good yarn with people and catching up, finding the strangest people in the cities that usually seem to be attracted to a Psychedelic Porn Crumpets gig. I would love to do more sightseeing rather than being hungover in the day. I think, not drinking as much and be planning to do something, but then everyone has to be in agreeance so it’s hard. It’s weird. It’s like being on a strange holiday but it’s not. I would like to go to a festival again though. When we are playing early and get the rest of the day off, I miss that. That’s a great day.
A few big artists have come out of Tik Tok and social media in the last year, do you think you still need promoters, labels pushing things for you? Do you think that’s still important or needed in the music industry?
Well, it’s always changing, isn’t it? I think some people find it easier doing the old school bits and pieces and I think for the younger artist or whoever sort of growing up on tik tok, I mean I would have no idea who they are but if they can pack out a venue, they are going to get big eventually and make people pay attention. I think if you can do all of it, it would be amazing. Try and utilise every angle. I am still the worst on social media, I am so glad we have a manager who deals with it. I can’t do it. I feel like an old soul. I feel like I need a Guinness by the fire with a border collie and I’m happy for the rest of my life. I don’t want to keep up appearances.
One of the songs remind me of a song Hocus Pocus by Focus.
I have heard of that song! I love that Hocus Pocus Focus! That’s so ridiculous. I was going to put it on, have the rest of the interview just Hocus Pocus Focus on. That’s great.
Did you have any special equipment or things you used when recording?
Not so much physical hardware, but I got really heavily involved in sort of the software and like how to warp a guitar and just working out how Ableton and all those features I hadn’t used before. All the glitch guitars and basically every single part and vocal is manipulated, warped or pushed up like an octave or even sometimes two or down to give it this strange visual sort of sound. I got so hooked on it I made it the whole flavour of the record but in hindsight I probably went way too overboard with it.
What can people expect from you this year?
I am working on the follow-up. I kind of have it finished, but I want to take my time. Having a month off to see, is this what I want to release or am I just writing for the sake of writing. But at the moment I am enjoying, it’s sort of different elements which is different to what I did with SHYGA!. SHYGA! was one sound and try and write as much in that frame whereas I am sort of going opposite of that now, how many different styles can I put into one record. I think hopefully more enjoyable. I am stepping up production again.
SHYGA! The Sunlight Mount is now available on all good streaming services. Check it out!
VOODOO BLOO’S TOP NZ VISITS
It’s what we like to call Australia’s little sister - but they definitely have a bunch of things over us - Jacinda Arden, Hobbitton, the gorgeous landscapes - the list goes on, and here it is! Leading up to his upcoming EP release, here are punk rocker Voodoo Bloo’s top 5 New Zealand faves
It’s what we like to call Australia’s little sister - but they definitely have a bunch of things over us - Jacinda Arden, Hobbitton, the gorgeous landscapes - the list goes on, and here it is! Leading up to his upcoming EP release, here are punk rocker Voodoo Bloo’s top 5 New Zealand faves;
Wellington CBD - “I couldn’t make this list without talking about the place I grew up. Honestly the coolest city in the world. Everything in the CBD is very compact yet it isn’t overcrowded in the slightest, some of the best pubs you will find anywhere (try and hunt down the secretly placed “R Bar” if you want some pirate-themed rum cocktails and a good time), and street food cheap yet beautiful. What more could you want out of a hometown?”
Rotorua - “Okay, we get it, it smells a little bit eggy when you get there (and when I say a little bit, I mean a lot), but it’s the closest thing we have to an amusement park (sorry Rainbows End, you don’t quite cut it) in our small nation. The Luge and hot springs are especially a highlight, one of the prettiest places to go in summer.”
Mount Maunganui - “Yet another beautiful town in the summer. I actually stayed in a bach up there for 3 weeks recently and like all good New Zealand towns, everything is right at your fingertips. I’m not much for hiking, but the view from the top of the mount is well worth the trek, and unlike my previous pick, no traces of egg can be found anywhere.”
Taco Bell, West Auckland - “If you couldn’t tell, I’ve already ran out of places I wanna talk about in New Zealand, though I would endorse the one and only Taco Bell in New Zealand in a heartbeat (if Taco Bell is reading this, hit me up with that sponsorship deal yeah?). I’ve spent many hungover Sundays from my visits to the busy city in this fast food restaurant, all the perils of uneasiness and post-rager recovery have come to an end as soon as I take a bite out of that beautiful 5 dollar burrito wrap. Am I a simple man for putting this on the list? Probably, but this is my list not yours, so yeah.”
Wellington Airport - “Okay, I’ve not given up on Wellington, and I’m not trying to imply I wanna bail by adding this, but I simply just wanna say that you cannot find a giant gandalf riding a bird in any other airport. Is that not enough for it to be on this list? How about a massive dragon head (Smaug’s to be specific)? No? Alright. Your loss not mine. It’s awesome, 10/10, would fly again.”
Check out the latest release ‘Ha Ha Ok Ok’ below and keep an eye out for the album - ‘Jacobus’ is released Friday, December 4th.
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HOT DONNAS TAKE YOU AROUND THEIR FAVOURITE LOCAL NZ HANGS
We spoke to the guys who were able to give us the run down on a few local spots in Dunedin that were never a bad decision for all the good foods, check out the must do’s below.
HOT DONNAS TOP DUNEDIN EATS
Well we know a few things for certain… Since making their debut in 2017 with the Greek Yoghurt album, Hot Donnas have been releasing music and touring consistently throughout NZ and even out to Australia in the three years since. Their energy on stage is unmatched and with their new music ready to go, the band is champing at the bit for their return to touring. The Dunedin four-piece have been creating music primed to get bodies moving, heads banging and brains hooked on their infectious melodies and fired up rock attitude. Having just released their latest single ‘Two Brains’ the guys are gearing up to drop their EP ‘The Adventures of E-WAN’ on Friday the 13th of November. The last thing we know is that they love food. We mean all of the food. Plus a sneaky bev or 10.
‘Two Brains’ is the sort of track that could exist in the same sonic landscape as early Arctic Monkeys as it could Queens of the Stone Age. A song about indecision, overthinking and figuring out which way is best to proceed, ‘Two Brains’ is three minutes, fifteen seconds of shredding guitars, thrashing percussion and strangely hypnotic vocals. The perfect dose of rock serotonin for any fan.
“I wrote the hook for ‘Two Brains’ in my head at the end of a big night of foolishness, when I found myself facing a decision of what to do next. The ultimate suggestion throughout the song being that whichever choice I make throughout my life, I will face the nagging pressure from both good and bad influences. And forever be lost bouncing between the consequences of my judgement.”
Jacob King, Hot Donnas
We spoke to the guys who were able to give us the run down on a few local spots in Dunedin that were never a bad decision for all the good foods, check out the must do’s below.
Mornington Tavern
This pub is the local watering hole for the Hot Donnas and a very quick 5 minute stumble from their flat. The taphouse is the perfect place to start your weekend with large pizzas and cheap pints.
Eureka Cafe & Bar
This bar is for when the Hot Donnas lads are feeling fancy. Eureka supplies an ever changing range of the best New Zealand craft beer and cider. Their food is also some of the best you can buy in Dunedin. If it’s a business meeting, it’s a Eureka meeting.
Cafe Tokyo
This Japanese takeaway is God's gift to the human race. Their crispy chicken rice balls are a thing of beauty. This team never disappoint and are a must-have whilst stopping into the city of Dunedin. Jacob has spent many hundreds of his hard earned dollars at this fine establishment, with not one regret.
North Dunedin Dominoes
You know what it is. It's cheap, it's nasty, but boy does it fill a gap on a sunday after you've spent your last penny in catacombs. hawaiian with a peri-peri swirl is one of the boys' go to choices. The wings here are a thing of beauty too.
Location classified
Last but certainly not least is our good mate and neighbours house. This is one of the greatest spots that Dunedin has to offer. Whether you're starting the party or kicking on at the crack of dawn, this is the place you want to be. DM the boys for the address!
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INTERVIEW: SKYWAY CHAT ‘CUT THE TIES’ AND UPCOMING EP ‘HOPE FLOATS, LOVE SINKS’
Skyway’s Rupert Muir recently got back to us with a quick chat about their most recent release ‘Cut The Ties’
Skyway’s Rupert Muir recently got back to us with a quick chat about their most recent release ‘Cut The Ties’
Listening to ‘Cut the Ties,’ I got the impression that it was about needing to break away from something holding you back, but struggling with that potential loss. What was the inspiration behind the song?
Disconnecting from things in your life that hold you back from your true potential.
I imagine that after a long break, you must all be excited and ready to get back into it. How does it feel to be working together again?
Yeah we’re stingin’ to do some gigs to play some of the classics and new songs. It feels normal, like riding a bike or rolling up a durry. A lot has changed in all of our lives but when we’re all together it’s all familiar.
Looking through social media, it’s safe to say that all of your fans are super keen that you’re releasing new music. Did you anticipate this type of response?
We didn’t really think about it to be honest. It’s very humbling to see some of the responses and that people have been listening to us over all these years. We owe some new tunes to ‘em and a gig or two.
Can you tell us a little more about your upcoming EP, ‘Hope Floats, Love Sinks’? What can fans expect?
5 tracks including intro and a cover. It’s pretty lit, it sounds like Skyway after a long hiatus. Some fast stuff. Some slow stuff. Some fun stuff. Good clean fun.
Can you walk me through the creative process that you went through to produce ‘Hope Floats, Love Sinks’?
Had a couple of Jams together and thought why not? Had a few tracks up the old sleeve so we finally hit the studio and the rest is history
With the current state of the pandemic in Australia, the music industry has definitely been put on the back burner. How has this impacted you, both musically and mentally?
I’ve been a hermit for years so I was mentally prepared for isolation and not much changed for me except for not being able to go to the gym or gamble. We’ve been pretty lucky in QLD and all of our respective industries were mainly unaffected. So we’re in no spot to complain. If anything its made us more hungry for gigs.
At the beginning of isolation, creatives were expected to create more and there was an immense pressure placed on them. Is this something you experienced with the production of ‘Hope Floats, Love Sinks’?
We had the foresight of the pandemic so we took that hiatus all those years ago to prevent any sort of creative pressures placed on us...We were mostly done with recording before C ‘Rone got skitz, luckily.
Who are some of your favourite Aussie acts?
Loser, Speed, Smash, Polaris, Violent Soho, Aversions Crown, Thy Art Is Murder,
INTERVIEW: GOOD NEWS EVERYONE - I’M NOT EMO (BUT THE SONG IS)
Ash chats to Good News Everyone (yes, that’s a reference) about their latest release ‘I’m Not Emo (I’m Just Sad)’ - and working with Pierce The Veil’s Jamie Preciado!
1. You’ve just released a new single, I’m Not Emo (I’m Just Sad), can you describe the song for me?
I’d say that Emo was our version of a sad boy pop punk song that would’ve come out back in 2015 from a band off of warped tour.
As a whole, I would say the song is definitely a good mix of an emo and pop punk song, although instrumentally there are a couple of times, such as the second verse and the bridge, where that changes up. Lyrically, the chorus is basically a description of the point I was at when I wrote this, talking about how I’m not the person I want to be and more and more frequently I would just reminisce on the past. But then there’s also that duality throughout the chorus saying I’m not going to let the past define who I am and that I’ve already come so far from where I was and I can’t let that go to waste.
If I look at the song broadly, I would say that it’s not a song about being sad but more about being hopeful for what’s to come
2. What was the inspiration behind the track?
At the time we started piecing Emo together we were listening to a lot bands like Real Friends, Moose Blood and Pierce the Veil so just naturally we began writing things that were more in that vein.
As whole though, we all really enjoy the vibe that you get from seeing bands up on warped tour so I think that played a big factor in influencing the song, being that we listened back to it and could see it being something a band on warped would play
I think coming into Emo, we wanted something that was a bit more upbeat that we could have some fun with and I think we achieved that pretty well.
Right as this was coming together though, Victoria went into its second lockdown which was rough because we weren’t able to catch up with our friends which put me in a really negative place. That’s why there isn’t anything especially complicated about the lyrics, it was straight from my mind to my paper on exactly how I was feeling listening back to the demo
3. As you’re in Victoria, I imagine it must have been challenging to work on new music. How did this single come about with the restrictions in place?
The way that we normally work as a band wasn’t really affected that much by the restrictions. Typically what would happen is I would demo a few songs, have the boys come over and listen to it, pick out parts we wanted to change or fix up and then decide what to do with it.
With these restrictions all that changed was instead of having the boys come around, I’d just send them a google drive link to the song and we’d go from there.
Once we knew we wanted to put this out, we recorded our parts and sent them off to Jaime Preciado from Pierce the Veil to mix and master and we couldn’t be happier with the result!
4. The music industry has definitely been hit hard with the pandemic. How has this affected you, both mentally and with your music?
For us, we were just starting to get organised to do some gigs and all that so it definitely set us back a long way when it came to what we’d want to be doing right now. Right now though we are going to be getting into a rehearsal studio in the next couple of weeks so at least now we can start making some progress and hopefully get out there and start playing some shows soon!
Mentally, the first month or so of the lockdown left me reflecting a lot on better times and had me thinking about a lot of people and memories that I hadn’t for a long time. It put me in a bad head space and I realised that there was a lot of thing I hadn’t properly worked through and I think that’s probably going to reflect a lot lyrically in our songs that we’ll be putting out later
5. I have to ask...is the band name a ‘Futurama’ reference or just purely coincidental?
Yes it is! One day it got thrown around and we thought it was funny but eventually we couldn’t agree on a name so we stuck with that one
6. What are some of your current favourite Aussie artists to listen to?
Right now I know that Alex is listening to DMA’s, sticky fingers and dune rats. Adam is listening to a lot of Thornhill, Windwaker and Stand Atlantic. I’ve been listening to a lot of The Beautiful Monument, Eat Your Heart Out and Columbus
7. What can fans expect to see from you next?
We’re currently working on our next EP that’ll be coming out between February and March of next year so that’s always exciting. We’re also now going to be able getting into a rehearsal studio to get ready for some gigs whenever we can so that’s gonna be fun once we can!
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INTERVIEW: SKYWAY TALK COME BACKS AND MACHINE GUN KELLY
After quite a few years out of the scene Gold Coast pop punk outfit Skyway are back. I missed these guys first time around but that will be changing this time! I caught up with Daniel last week to talk about the new single, making a come back during a pandemic and Machine Gun Kelly…..
After quite a few years out of the scene Gold Coast pop punk outfit Skyway are back. I missed these guys first time around but that will be changing this time! I caught up with Daniel last week to talk about the new single, making a come back during a pandemic and Machine Gun Kelly…..
So after all these years you guys have chosen to release a new song during a pandemic!!
Yeah, they say there’s no better time right! It’s been a crazy year. A lot of things have happened, and people have had a bit of a hard time. We recorded this last year with no indication that this was what 2020 was going to involve. But it’s here and rather than wait and bide our time we just got excited. We want to put it out and we want to start playing. We want people to hear it so here we are.
I missed you guys the first time around; I was off being a mum. Is it still the same line-up? Yeah it’s still the same line-up. We are still hanging, making music and keen to play shows. Have you guys still been making music together for the last 8 or so years?
No not really. Individually we have done a few different things musically. A few different projects here and there but nothing together. Last year was kind of the first time we all came together. I mean we have shot across a few ideas here and there and had a few little jams over the years. Last year was when we got serious about actually doing something substantial and recording to release something.
There was a reason for that, or you all just decided now was the right time?
Over the years we have entertained the thought, going back and forward with we should do this and that. One thing or another always stopped that. Last year we had a few jams, and we were like this stuff is sounding really cool we should record it. Commit to it and stick with it and see how we go. And here we are. Nothing is really planned; I think it is what it is. Something things just happen, and some things don’t, and it just happened for us last year. We are excited to be here.
I saw all these posts pop up of social media and I had no clue who you were, so I’ve been jamming your old stuff to catchup!
It’s been awhile so I can’t blame you there. Obviously it’s been awhile between making music. 8 years is a long time in the music world to kind of stop and start. I’m sure there are a lot of people exactly like you that haven’t really heard about us.
You better give us a quick rundown of who Skyway are then.
We’re a pop punk/punk rock band from the Gold Coast. We are releasing a new EP on 20th November. It’s there, it’s raw and it has a bit of energy which is what we are all about. We are looking forward to putting it out. If you’re keen have a listen.
You’ve obviously got a few people keen because your Spotify for the single is sitting on 7.5K.
It’s going pretty well. It’s always hard to try and predict anything in this industry, especially after having so much time off. I’m really happy with where it is at and how it has been received and everything else is a bonus. If I can make one person get a little bit of joy out of it then that is a massive bonus. The number one thing for us was that we were happy with it.
Pop punk seems to be making a bit of a resurgence lately.
It’s weird. It seems like a lot of different genres of music always come around full circle. It dies off for a bit and then there will be some popularity again. Have you heard Machine Gun Kelly’s pop punk album?
I have! I didn’t ever think I would listen to MGK let alone be singing along to it but here I am!!!
I know. I think that has done a massive for that kind of music because he is getting a lot of ears on it that haven’t really listened to that and that is only good for it. It’s back in the mainstream. I think his album was number one on the Billboard Charts which is frigging huge. It’s majorly dominated by hip hop stuff so for that kind of music to break through again and get the number one spot is massive. I think you are going to start seeing some more of it around. Some more new bands pop up and stuff like that. I think there are sub genres of it now. It seems like back in the day pop punk was Blink 182 or New Found Glory. It was encapsulated I that sound. But now you have more kind of emo pop punk or the more punk rock pop punk. It’s so broad now.
It’s becoming harder to put a lot of bands in a specific genre full stop. Especially across metalcore.
I think that is the way of the future of music really. It’s just the way things happen; things evolve and if genres get melded together that means you are experimenting with different stuff and I think that is great. That’s what it is all about.
I do too. I’m not a fan of genres. I think bands are playing for themselves again, not so much for the audience. This is seeing some amazing songs get released.
That’s it. That is what it should be all about, it shouldn’t be about pleasing anyone besides what you are doing and that’s exactly what we have done. We made the EP we wanted to make. I think these days you have more freedom.
People can do the entire thing themselves now and get it up onto all the platforms. You don’t actually need a label to get your music out there.
Yeah that’s right. You don’t have the outside pressure of people telling you what you should be and what you should do. It’s so much easier these days to get your music out there and not have to rely on any other outside sources.
I know Spotify isn’t the best place to put your music with the return that you get but when you are a new band starting out and you think what you have to outlay to produce a cd or record, then tour it and all the other added extras…
It’s hard to make a dollar on the streams with the way it is set up. I think that is only a matter of time before that changes. I think that there is going to be an uproar, a revolution or something like that amongst musicians. It is what it is and that is the landscape that we are in at the moment. In regard to getting your music out there we are in a much better position now than we were 10 years ago. Obviously there are still issues to iron out. Hopefully that happens. I think the freedom the musicians have these days to be able to get your music out there is amazing.
Definitely. So tell me about ‘Cut the Ties’
This is the first one that we decided to release. It’s a faster song, a bit more punchy. There are a few themes. It’s a song about disconnecting, whether it be anything in your life I suppose that you consider not healthy. That can range from a few different things; alcohol, substance abuse, abusive relationships. Anything in your life that you think is not good for you or not contributing in a positive way and you are cutting yourself away from that. That is what the song entails. There’s a few personal themes in there for me. I’m just coming up on two years sober now, I decided two years ago not to drink anymore or do anything like that. So there was a bit of personal input there for me. It’s just my lifestyle now and that’s the way I wanted to change. I’m happy with how everything went and with my life. I mean it works for me. I’m not one of those people that go out there and try and preach to people to be sober and do this and that. If someone is happy doing whatever then I’m happy. It’s just what worked for me. That’s my interpretation of it, people obviously have their own interpretations, and this is just one of the themes that added to the song.
What about the title of the EP ‘Hope floats, Love Sinks’
It was a lyric off ‘Cut The Ties’ in the bridge. I just think that it really fit with all the kind of lyrical and musical themes on the EP. I mean it speaks for itself really, especially with the goings on of 2020. I think everyone could use some hope and to remember that there is always something to hope for. Sometimes the love can sink but if you keep the hope hopefully you can resuscitate it. I just thought it was a good little hook and it explains and summarises the EP.
You shared the stage with some pretty impressive bands last time around.
We played quite a few shows back in the day in our short time. In terms of our lifespan we kind of went pretty hard out the gate. We played with some amazing bands, a lot of amazing local bands too. We were really lucky to be able to share those experiences.
Hopefully it won’t be long before you can jump back on the stage.
That’s the thing isn’t it. Live music has taken a hit this year but hopefully 2021 can bring it back on track and we can get the scene thriving again.
I think the scene is still thriving but just in a different way at the moment. Fan bases have gone up, bands are interacting more on the socials with fans. Music is still being released and people are looking into bands a bit deeper.
That’s definitely something that has been happening. Obviously people are online a lot, I mean what else is there to do. Being locked down and listening to music, checking out your favourite bands. But I am sure that there are a lot of people out there that just want to hear some live music again too. I mean people love live music; I do. There is nothing better than going to a show where a band that you really enjoy is playing. I’m really hoping it’s not too far away before they lift some of these restrictions, like the seated restrictions. Obviously it’s good that there is still the ability to have a live show even with those restrictions, but nothing beats a mosh pit! Especially for the heavier music.
Any last words?
‘Hope Floats, Love Sinks’ is out on 20 th Nov. We appreciate everyone that is checking out the new single ‘Cut The Ties’. The people that have sent messages, or like stuff we have put online. We really appreciate it, and we can’t wait to play our new stuff live. Hopefully we will get to Adelaide when everything is back to normal. Until then the EP will be out online, and people can check it out via Spotify, Apple Music those usual outlets. Also thanks for having me.
SKYWAY ARE:
Daniel McMaster – Vocals
Rohan Chant – Guitar
Daniel Hawkins - Vocals & Guitar
Rupert Muir – Bass
Ben Hallett - Drums.
Roll on normality and gigs because these guys will be on my list of bands to see. Check out Skyway’s new single below and hit up their socials.
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INTERVIEW SERIES: SUBCULT & X PROMOTIONS
subcult are a young energetic alt/rock band from Melbourne who I think are about to take on the world. Having released their first single Suffocating back in August the band are releasing their second single Medicated on Thursday. You will also be able to watch the band play it live Thursday night at AND WE ARE LIVE
subcult are a young energetic alt/rock band from Melbourne who I think are about to take on the world. Having released their first single Suffocating back in August the band are releasing their second single Medicated on Thursday. You will also be able to watch the band play it live Thursday night at AND WE ARE LIVE https://bit.ly/2FV8QOz
I caught up with Declan to talk all things subcult.
Who are subcult?
Well we had our first rehearsal as a band almost two years ago. We’ve all been in a band with Ben before, that’s how we all really know each other. Ben met Lex through school, Adam through a Facebook page and me through a holiday program. We tried playing covers, I think we did an MGMT Kids/Untouched by the Veronicas/Replay by Iyaz cover for our first thing, like all the songs in one! It wasn’t good but it was fun. Three or four months in we finally wrote the first song, that we still play and love. This time last year we decided we were going to record. We put together this big plan, we released Suffocating in August and we are about to release our next single Medicated on Thursday. We’ve been lucky enough to play gigs with Ruby Fields, Crywank and Bakers Eddy. It’s been fun.
When I first went and had a listen to Suffocating I got Terra/Yours Truly vibes straight away.
Fuck yeah. I love Yours Truly and Terra. Shout out to Cassie (Terra) for being the biggest legend. We tend to align ourselves more with the indie/alt rock scene than the pop punk scene, but we get that we are very pop punk, and we all love it.
Tell me about Suffocating.
We were sitting around outside. I brought a guitar out because I just thought why not as we had been trying to write something. I had Ben’s acoustic guitar thinking that it would give my something different, and it did, it gave me that riff. I was like I think I’ve got it. Ben got his other acoustic guitar out and came up with the chords. Lex came up with the vocals. We ended up singing it around the fire pit. The next week we got Adam in because he wasn’t there, and we put it all together. Instead of being the prettiest song we had it was probably the heaviest song we had at that point. Which it definitely didn’t start that way.
Suffocating is about being in a relationship or almost relationship where you are the person who is doing all of the work and it feels like the other person doesn’t really care. You’re constantly waiting on them and you just want them to show that they are actually in, you can’t tell.
I’m digging it. More people need to hear it that’s for sure.
Hopefully our new single will help with that. We’ve got set goals that we want from this song. We don’t have video clip at this stage for the single due to Covid. We have an idea for it but due to restrictions we haven’t been able to do it.
How did you guys get involved in AND WE ARE LIVE?
X Promotions asked if we wanted to be involved. Also I’m mates with the Teenage Dad guys and Boler’s manager. And Velvet Bloom are from here as well.
I spoke to Maddy a few days ago.
Maddy’s a legend.
I just want to watch her sing live!
She’s amazing, that entire band is. I work at Wrangler Studios
AH! That’s why your face looks familiar… photos from the Wrangler FB page!
Yeah Dean has put up enough photos of me. That’s how I know Maddy, from Wrangler.
You guys would be so excited to play live together
Omg don’t even get me started. We’re going to be so under practised though because obviously we haven’t been allowed to get together. The gig starts at 7.30pm and we are allowed there from 12pm so that’s the time we are going to have to practise together. Last time we came out of lockdown we smashed out our songs without any problems. It will be fine.
Have you played many gigs as subcult?
Our first show was actually at the Frankston Art Centre on the same stage that we are going to be playing. Funny little loop back around it was a show with two other bands Richard and The Twins and Plastic Pash who is name is now Tabloid TV Darlings and they are amazing. They’re awesome, they are like a grunge band.
Who influences you musically?
Before we started writing faster songs we thought that we were Slowly, Slowlyesque. I still that we are. I know the others are really inspired by Neck Deep as well. For me Jeff Rosenstock 100%. We are also influenced by a bit of hip hop which you might not be able to tell. Waxx, Press Club, Crywank, Ruby Fields and Bakers Eddy. There was one point when I was seeing the Bakers Eddy boys every couple of days, they are my mates, I was going to their shows and thinking ‘Fuck I want my band to be this energetic’. So now we are writing songs like that as well.
How does your writing process normally go, obviously not around a fire pit!!
Usually Ben or I will come up with a riff, then depending on who is there at the time, if it’s all of us we will usually do all the instruments first. If we aren’t all there then it’s just whoever is, something will happen. Then we build it up from there. The one exception is a song that Lex wrote on her own and then we brought our stuff in. It’s a really pretty song, I’m excited for people to hear that one day.
What are your post Covid plans?
Well personally I really want to tour. I’ve already put together a little tour plan because that’s what I do, I’m an events guy I’m a booking guy! We are going to record as soon as we are out of lockdown, go back to Wrangler and put some tunes down. Release those, mostly as singles but also an EP. Then we will try and get into the studio again as soon as we can. We’ve already got some songs that we reckon are better than Suffocating and Medicated. We love them, but oohhhh wait until you see what we’ve got coming up!!!
Keep your eyes and ears on this young band because they are going places.
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INTERVIEW: PSYCHEDELIC PORN CRUMPETS TALK TALLY HO AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS, AND A LOT OF OTHER MUSICAL ARTISTS AND THEIR BEST BITS
Fair warning: it’s a long one. Dan chatted to Jack from Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, for an in-depth convo about the creative process, their latest release ‘Tally Ho’, visual art inspo, and a lot of other musical artists and their best (and worst) bits. We’re talking The Beatles, Oasis, Queen, Ariel Pink, King Gizz, the lot.
Fair warning: it’s a long one. Dan chatted to Jack from Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, for an in-depth convo about the creative process, their latest release ‘Tally Ho’, visual art inspo, and a lot of other musical artists and their best (and worst) bits. We’re talking The Beatles, Oasis, Queen, Ariel Pink, King Gizz, the lot.
Dan: Let’s talk about the single first. I read that Tally Ho is a song that springs from Pseudo-ground-breaking late-night conversations, ideas that seem great in the heat of the moment but aren’t quite that solid later. On that note, what's the most 'Tally-Ho' idea you've had on a night out?
Jack: Man we’re always coming up with them. We had one the other day wanted to create a football fantasy league for bands. Went into like the whole thing how it could be paired with Spotify streams and get Taylor swift up front, Kanye in defence or something. Then we were like, but people would be competing on music and we were like should we make music competitive? We passed on that one. We wanted a voting app idea, so every morning you wake up, rather than having parliament, which is like fifty people to do it, whatever goes through parliament that day you’d have to basically say yes or no to which bill you’d want to go through. You can’t start work without doing like five…I reckon that one would work.
D: To me the song sounds like a hybrid between the vulnerability of 'high visceral' and the classic rock and roll of 'whatchamacallit'. What influenced the song from a sonic perspective?
J: We listened to a lot of t rex on the road, a lot of Creedence as well. It started off kind of cheesy and then we just started getting hell into it. We put together all these playlists, after a while we listened to all of the albums of Yousef Gamal, Flying Lotus, and we couldn’t show each other any new music so we were like what old school bangers have we got? And then it just went full zeppelin, t rex, kinks. So that kind of chuggy beat, the triplets, we listened to that for a while, so as soon as we got home that was just drilled into my head about writing an old school rock record but adding some modern elements to it, getting kind of glitzy with it on Ableton, get those guitars sounding strange enough so it doesn’t kind of relate to those bluesy records.
D: What inspired the digitally abstract cover for Tally Ho?
J: This guy was called Sergeant Slaughter Melon. He’d done some stuff with Sam and Matt designs as well, they’re really cool. They look new age; it’s almost got this style that feels contemporary. You watch it on sports now, all the players will come on and do their pose and it’s almost mainstream? It’s hell weird. I was playing around in Ableton and sort of randomly ran the guitars through the DJ patches at the bottom. You can transpose it up a few octaves, but you leave it in beats rather than keep it in complex. I just ran with that and made an album of it. Rather than be like that sounds bad I thought let’s use that as sort of the main instruments, like the guitar tone. It sounds like spaceships a lot of the time, almost like a Mario kind of style. Had a real arcadey vibe to it, going back to old school games like Atari and stuff, the eight-bit kind of tone. Got really carried away with that probably more than I should of.
D: who are some visual artists that you enjoy?
J: I watched that Van Gogh documentary, Loving Vincent? That things so sick. I really liked Scanner darkly and Richard Linklater when he did Waking life. But actual artists? oh man diving deep, jean Michael Basquiat has his old head crashing’s on art and stuff, but also like Alfonso Mucha, I think he’s French? He had all those old women on cigarette tins, has that cool style that flows really well…I follow those Instagram pages that are like abstract (@minute6) so many people on there that are doing weird stuff. It’s gone back to paintbrush strokes which I suppose is the same idea as what a guitar distortion is. Rather than having one paintbrush it’s like let’s add this to it or that, it’s like a pedal I suppose. Also the collage art, Winston hacking, I think he did Andy Shauf the magician and I think he did one for flying lotus as well. So that kind of vibe.
D: Did you record the entirety of the upcoming album in iso? If so, what effect did doing that have on the overall project?
Allows us to develop on it more. There was a point basically were we had to hand over all the finished stems and get the mixing and mastering done by either April or May. And the album at that time, I don’t think one song that is on that record now was on it…. We had all this heavy music. I was listening to loads of Korn and slipknot, and there was so much Nine-inch nails. There were all these heavy guitars and fucked up sounds. But then there was also like Mr prism, so I had to go back and sort of find what the album was about and run with it that way. It’s almost worked out now that I’ve got a couple of different projects on the go. Rather than working on it for one record, it’s like I put it onto this bank, rather than make the one album sound so all over the shop, it needs that flow, it needs that sort of theme.
D: As artists it’s what we leave out as much as what we put in. Hardest lesson I‘ve ever had to learn.
J: Still trying to learn that. You’ll hear all these guitars fighting for places and I’m like why did I leave them in?
D: What's the best place you've played, and if you’re feeling it, the worst?
J: Oh man…All the ones we had in Melbourne were really cool. The early shows seemed to be really good, when we were just sort of coming up and getting our name out there. Over in England we did one at electric ballroom, 1200 people which was so sick…Japan was so sick. We got told they don’t clap or cheer or anything and then as soon as we went there the fans were like, mate, it looked like an apocalypse zombie movie. They were crowd surfing, just a wall of people, and no one would of heard of us there and it was like eight thousand people in this huge stadium. The worst? We played a gig in phoenix were we were all sick and it had taken us 20 hours of driving to sort of make it to the middle of America and we rocked up to this pub and we were so dead. All of us were on antibiotics and we got there about six hours too early for load in, so we were like fuck it let’s have one beer which turned into the messiest we’ve ever been. All of us on antibiotics. All of us so drunk. I couldn’t even remember a word or how to play my guitar and it turned into one of those Jim Morrison sort-of moments. It was bad and I felt really bad for the 30 people in the room. Frankie and the witch fingers probably played the best set of their tour and then we went on after them so it was just like, oh god…yeah I still have cringe moments about it aye.
D: It’s always either when someone’s sick or when you’re playing to like three grandmas in the back isn’t it…do you find that playing a show is just as exciting as when you started or has that feeling changed?
J: Definitely...we just played a run of shows here. Did Badlands bar. It’s a 400-cap room and I think the last time we played there was like three years ago. It almost felt like being a band again (this has been the longest time we’ve ever had without touring or playing). When we came to it we were so keen. The nerves came back…even though we sold it out we were still nervous no one would show up and it was just some elaborate prank that our parents were pulling, that it’d get to there we get to the point where they really think they’ve made it and they’d be like ‘surprise, you’re actually shit’.
D: You guys just keep getting bigger and bigger. Is there a pressure to put out a certain kind of sound?
J: I thought that for ages. There was sort of a moment when I was writing whatchamacallit where I was like do you chase what people wanted and I was like nup. I record the music and then we learn it as a band so sometimes there’s a strange sort of mix over part when we’re like shit this doesn’t sound as good when we play it. Cause recording you can go so many different ways of being like just basically drums fill the room but when you’re jamming they don’t at all…now I just really want to focus on the heavy music side again rather than writing slower stuff and getting into that kind of mode. Even though I do like writing those kinds of pieces I still don’t feel I’ve cracked really good psych rock yet. Rather than being like I’ll change now I might give it five years to find that perfect riff and then we can go off. I feel like we’ve got more to explore in that genre before we move on.
D: What made you become a musician in the first place?
J: I always remember playing guitar. There’s not really a memory I have without playing music. Even at year five at school in England we had a band, and I was playing bass. My parents would go to the pub and then their friends would have kids my age that I would go to school with…and we were pretty good for like nine years old. Did a song called Peterphilia. It was a riff man, it was a big riff, at the best of our abilities on one string. But it was about this paedophile that was chasing kids and we had this thing where we were like “you gotta ruuuun” and it was so hectic. I’ve listened to it sometimes and I’m like what the fuck was going through our ten-year-old brains.
D: Have you ever thought about doing a cover of that song?
J: oh man...it’s a definitely a positive song?
D: What would you do if you weren’t a musician?
J: I did graphic design at uni, so something art based, I think. But even then, I was working on a building site as well, so doing all sorts. Bit of carpentry. My brothers a sparky, we were just basically doing the groundworks for a lot of stuff. I managed to make a surveying degree from my graphic design course to get myself a surveying job. Then I was like from there...I dunno, I was working at a bar. I think something with beer would be good, maybe starting a brewery.
D: A lot of celebrities do that. Matthew McConaughey has a bourbon.
J: He’s always on the whiskey, isn’t he? I have no idea. I would always do music though. It was a hobby; it’s always been my sort of escapism. Now it’s almost ironic that that escape is almost becoming a job, well it is a job I suppose, but I don’t think about it that way cause it’ll just lose its fun.
D: Was there a point specifically where you said okay, now, I can sort of not work bar or carpentry, and when was that?
J: It kind of coincided with me getting fired from indie bar
D: Generally does…
J: It was kind of serendipitous. Yeah, I basically got kicked out of an open mic night for trying to trying to sing Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody and they just turned the mic off and I was like fuck no! I was so sloshed. You know when you wake up in the morning just like fingers in eye sockets…I had that and I was like well I’m not going to look for another job I’m going to really try and do music now. I just gave myself the time to sort of write. Doing that I was like sweet this is what I’m going to try to attempt to do at least.
D: Would you recommend that to other aspiring musicians? Maybe not with Queen?
J: I was pretty poor for a long time. Yeah if you really wanna do it though then you’ve gotta give yourself a chance. That’s what someone said it’s like there’s no point taking a safe option and failing at that so you might as well take the hard option and fail at that and then go back to whatever.
D: A lot of people are focused on a sense of security but even now with Coronavirus and how it’s affected the workforce that security is less than it ever was before. If there ever was a time to be creative, it’s now.
J: The bar I worked at everyone was at uni there was like lawyers and whatever and we were like we’re all working at a bar, what’s going on with the world?
D: Do you think that as a musician you have a certain responsibility on how you influence your audience?
J: I dunno I think on one hand if you think about what you’re saying or what you’re doing or what you’re writing it’s almost not worth saying? If you’re thinking about it too much. It’s way better I think just being like here’s the song and then think about it, that sort of train of consciousness or stream of attacking a song will sort of lose its grasp and you’re always thinking in the back of your head about how people will perceive it before you’ve finished it. Muse is a great example. What a solid band doing music for the first two or three albums, but they’re kind of going back through their catalogue going like ‘that works’ and re using this and this and this…It’s cheap, it’s not honest. Me and Sam (the guy at tone city) we were talking about honesty in music and it’s something like maybe if you’re like ten you can’t hear it but as soon as you start getting older and you listen to a lot of music you can really hear how honesty kind of comes through. As soon as we had that it all made sense it was one of those opening moments where I was like that’s it that’s exactly what I need to do, just write honest music.
D: I was writing my own stuff and thinking well I need to shred this way or rap that way or do a certain thing, but what sort of came down to what a good song really was, at the end of the day, was honesty. If someone’s being sincere or being themselves even if they’re wacky, it works. Plenty of artists are weird and strange until they become commercial.
J: It’s like when everyone heard Conan Moccasins first record and it was honestly strange. There’s so many Conan Moccasin rip off bands where it’s like you’re doing it cause you heard Conan.
D: Same with Ariel Pink, some songs you never would have expected it to become commercial.
J: I don’t think anyone expected psych rock to become mainstream. We started making it six years ago when we were recording at home, and it was almost because it was the underground thing not many people were doing it, I think there was like Oh sees, tame impala, king gizzard was sort of getting into it but even before then it was like Wolfmother was the last rock band. It was a weird time where rock music had hit a strange stagnant wall. And it really was almost like Kevin parker that was like ‘and here’s this ep and here’s this record’ and it opened the door for really honest rock again, even though now what he might be making is the complete opposite to what he first did. And from that you’ve got the entire L.A psych scene with Wand, fuzz, Frankie and the witch fingers, levitation room, Vinyl Williams, Morgan Dealt. Even here king gizzard have their little group, but then was babe rainbow and orb, bits and pieces. I suppose Melbourne had a lot of bands coming up. Now (in Perth) it’s gone back to jazz and hip hop.
D: Sort of like we’re going back to the eighties now in 2020; everything goes in cycles.
J: It does go in cycles.
D: I guess if you’re thinking about the audience…I guess it’s about putting that aside and giving them something pure otherwise you might not release it.
There’s so many tracks we’ve recorded where there’s like one tiny bar phrase of word of a four minute track and it’s so good until this one little shit part but you can’t change it because it’s almost like you enjoy that change. Music’s weird. if you keep it to you, like you’re saying, if you keep it sincere and honest then it’s gonna work. We sound like Hemmingway talking about it.
D: Good.
J: I saw him on what do you call it? Midnight in Paris.
D: Do you think those small intimate and vulnerable parts, that leaving them is essential despite you thinking okay it needs to sound perfect? That leaving them in is what gives you character, right?
J: Yeah for sure. I think that now it’s funny. If it wasn’t the fact the record has been pressed to vinyl and it’s sitting there waiting to go I’d just keep working on it man. There’s bits I just wanna do this and this and this, but I don’t know if that’s because I’m at a point where I wanna make it perfect and you just almost have to…I remember there was a time where we finished it and I was like that’s it. And I probably didn’t listen to it for a week or two. When I bought different pairs of headphones, I’d been switching around my headphones, so the left pan was in the right ear and I was like this oh god this is so different now! That’s why I was like maybe we should release these really bad headphones with all the vinyl so I could be like listen to it! It sounds good through these headphones!
D: Have you ever achieved perfection? Now I’m wondering have you ever sat down, given it a week or two and then said; ‘I wouldn’t change a thing?’
J: I don’t think that’s ever happened.
D: That’s a very comforting thing for our readers to find out, I think.
J: The closest I got to that was when we had about three months to mix, we spent a month and a half working on Mr Prism to the point where I wanted to re-record all the drums again and Danny was like well you two are going mad, it’s fine, it’s absolutely fine. And now I can’t listen to it anymore. It was 99% there. I’d get home and listen to it and be like alright that’s the song that’s it and in the morning we’d be like no we’ve got to put cymbals in, oh god, we gotta change it all around. It almost got to the point where I didn’t wanna record guitar anymore…I think that’s with everyone. Sometimes I feel you get a happy medium. Ty Segall I always go back to. He’s brilliant. But do you think he realized he was aiming for lofi or do you think he happily wandered in there and that’s the way the song sounded good and that’s his first attempt at recording it?
D: Yeah well, it’s garage. There’s a whole different set of ‘rules’ that go into making that kind of music.
J: It’s almost better to find something that you’re good at doing. Some people are aiming for Rick Ruben-esque production on everything and you’re not going to get that. You might as well be like I want my record to sound like Ty Segall because you probably can do that in your bedroom cause he did it in his bedroom.
D: I realized recently with my band and our budget that we needed to look at bands like GIzz and the way they did 12 bar-bruise among other low budget recordings. That really helped us.
J: It would just be so cheap. I’d say he gets someone to mix it but then they’d probably just be like nah chuck it all back through like, the master’s an iPhone.
D: Garage sounding records are back in fashion.
J: I think it’s always been there. Lofi just got swept under the rug for ages. There’s always been like Fugazi or whatever. Even modest mouse’s first couple of records, all kind of diy stuff and it sounds great. Every band finds their sounds through that but then they go back through or get better. If you’re not learning or trying to progress, then it is going to be more difficult. It’s probably why bands first records are the best they just didn’t think about it and they were like ‘sweet that’s what I can do.’
D: Those bands as well probably think fuck, if they can’t listen to their fifth record they certainly can’t listen to their first.
J: I was listening to Deerhunter talking about how they can’t listen to micro castle. And I was like that’s one of the best albums ever, start to finish it’s amazing.
D: Just goes to show how different our perception is to our audiences’ perception.
J: Exactly. I don’t know what you can do. There’s nothing you can do
D: Release whatever? Do something I suppose…What's your view on the current state of music?
J: Man, it’s the best it’s ever been to be honest. Every festival we go to there’s always ten bands I wanna watch, usually not on the main stage. We went to desert daze when we played there in 2019 and every single band was a bucket list band, it was insane. Stereo lab, wand, flying lotus, black angels, temples…krrum played, so many bands that I’ve wanted to see forever playing on two stages and I was like, maybe it’s cause I grew up recently with that kind of style of music like tame Umo king gizz or whatever but this is like for me this is the best music’s ever been cause they’re taking on an older artist and making it contemporary.
D: It’s a resurgence.
J: Exactly. And even If I had the choice of watching king gizz or grateful dead or something I’d go watch king Gizz. Pink Floyd are obviously brilliant but because everyone’s sort of ripped of their sound over the years it’s almost like that twelve minute extended jam thing they do you’re almost just like come on boys…It’s not dated well. But there’s bands like Beatles and shit…that music doesn’t age, it’s so weird. There’s nothing else like it’s horrible. The Beatles are like what the Simpsons are to all other animators.
D: Yeah except The Beatles didn’t suck towards the end.
J: Exactly they got better.
D: Who’s your favourite Beatle?
J: All of them combined apart from Ringo..
D: Do you ever watch someone on stage and find it affects your recording because you start to compare yourself to someone else?
J: I definitely find people inspiring. When I watched tool recently, I was like oh man…it just made me want to go back, drop d again and get back into all that sort of heavy music. Probably more so when I was younger like now, I have the opposite where I watch someone and I’m like oh god I hope I don’t look like that. Even though that’s probably a bad way to go about it but you kinda get cringed out sometimes. People doing something that you know doesn’t work. Even if they’re not whole heartedly into it, it’s gone kind of gimmicky when they’ve got a four year old bass player, do you know what I mean?
D: It can sort of bleed into your own work
J: Just a really misplaced band that are there for the wrong reasons. Not that there’s anything wrong with that if they’re getting together and playing live but they’re always like ‘we’re the best band in the world’.
D: Are you a fan of Oasis…
J: Dude…I never used to be. I sort of went back into it. It came almost from nostalgia cause it wase everywhere in England. They are absolute dicks but I dunno I love them for it. I reckon Noel Gallagher would be a great night out.
D: I loved the Claymation in Mr Prism. What are some of your favourite animations, and can we expect to see more of this?
J: Yeah man we just got the trailer for the new one from Ollie, so that’s coming with tally ho. It’s like a movie. It’s literally like Wallace and Gromit ins pace. Wallace and Gromit meets star wars. It’s fucking nuts! Claymation is something you don’t see a lot of people doing, one it’s kind of time consuming but also I had a point ages ago where I kind of wanted music videos to be scrapped altogether, like unless they’ve got a sort of budget or whatever, telling a band, especially when they’re up and coming it’s like sweet, you’ve got this really great song then no money to put together a music video and then everyone judges you your shit music video. Why is a music video still a thing? It shouldn’t be. It should be once you have a thought or something and you want to release a music video-cause there’s no such thing as MTV anymore or V where you used to go and watch great videos…When we first started out I was like don’t need do a music video, and then obviously everyone’s like you have to. It’s a thing; you’re literally throwing five grand at something. But then as soon as we got a bit bigger and there was budget for it we could afford to be like sweet we have this idea to do this animation or something that then it became more interesting. We can actually afford to do Claymation or pay like Mike who did the cornflake video and it’s just like fuck that’s actually movie worthy. It’s sick. Now we’re at that fun stage where we can create what we want whereas before it was budget oriented and a bit annoying. I’m not really a fan of bands in the music videos. When they’re like playing guitar and strumming.
D: Well I can already hear the song and I know what you look like…
J: Exactly. It’s almost like a chance to put a movie together or something.
D: Do you write the script or a bunch of ideas and give it to the Claymation guy?
J: We usually have a skype or a zoom and throw together ideas. The last one with prism me and Ollie we were back and forth about how it should go, It’s a lot easier when working with someone that creative to let them go to town on it. If he’s got an idea and he’s really excited we rarely say no. When someone is in that mode it’s gonna be a lot easier for them to work till eleven/twelve at night when they know it’s their idea rather than being like oh now I’ve gotta do whatever jack wants and all these changes…you’re gonna pretty quickly give up because you’re not enthusiastic anymore. It’s much better if you work with people to let them do what you know they do and you just stick to being like ‘sweet’ and when it comes back in the end say it’s shit! Nah…
D: Yeah if there’s too many cooks in the kitchen it can cause issues. What’s your fave animation? (besides Wallace and Gromit)
J: Tim burton was kind of cool…He had a style going. Now animations got to the point where it’s fucking nuts like Pixar or whatever the studios creating it. There are some really cool independent stuff on YouTube. I really don’t like the cartoony side of it. There was a Claymation one where it’s the Simpsons and they’re at home and they get hacked up by the bullies, have you seen it?
D: Can’t say I have…
J: that’s where we got the idea for prism. The Simpsons are like Claymation cows and I think like moonlight sonata is playing in the background and it’s hella dark. All the bullies are there in Halloween masks and machetes. They literally hack off homers hands and marge ends up with a rifle and just scalped...it’s so gnarly
D: Very happy tree friends.
J: Yeah all that cartoon gore. it was terrifying but funny as fuck. So we were like we gotta try do that with prism…but now It’s with almost like with dog the bounty hunter. But he’s old now and he’s got this beer belly hanging out, so that’s the new video.
D: What hobbies do you have outside of music?
I literally do everything. I love sport, like football, soccer. We were able to watch the local league here cause that was the first thing to come back up and they do beers and they got a stand. I was like why does no one go and watch the local teams anymore? It’s brilliant. The level of football is pretty good the beers are exactly like they are in the pub but they’re cheaper. You go and sit in at three o’clock and you can go out afterwards. Going to play golf tomorrow, enjoy playing a game of golf.
D: Yeah it’s back up. I’m trying to get a golf membership just to have something to do.
J: Golfs sick. It’s like the most annoying sport. And then I kept thinking about it too much I’m going to get really good at golf and the only thing I could potentially do is get to the point where I’m like good enough to beat someone else? I can’t be professional anymore…I have this thing where if I can’t get to the stage at being the best at it then sometimes I don’t try, but I play it as a hobby?
D: Have you heard of John Daly?
J: Yeah. He is good. I mean it’s funny watching all the old 80s opens and they’re all drinking and smoking. But yeah I like all sorts of things, also movies, beers…
D: Finally, what’s something u can tell us about the next record that you haven't told anyone else?
J: The whole idea of it was it to the be the same time as a line of coke. It starts slow, gets to the point where it’s like aaaah! and then it comes down again just at the end. It was supposed to be Shyga the sunlight mound, but the album cover was just a giant mound you know like with jack black when he’s in tropic thunder? We had the other labels like you probably shouldn’t do that and we were like alright…. It’s a Coke and alcohol record where it’s just gonna be fast paced and kinda back down. I really like the intro track cause I haven’t wrote anything like that before and it’s fucked up. I don’t know if I should have put it at the start. It’s almost like a weird nursery rhyme with a really scary guitar tone
D: Well people who have never heard of you guys before are in for a treat
J: I love how they’re gonna put it on and it’s just gonna be this weird like…There’s a Russian simpsons with that song at the start, it’s like all these weird soviet sounds, it’s nuts. So if everyone can get past the intro track and onto Tally Ho then sweet, we’re away.
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