Brisbane-via-Toowoomba four piece Hound. are quickly becoming one of the more interesting and exciting acts in their fair city. It’s their unique blend of 80’s post punk and 90’s alternative they’ve developed that saw the release of their 2013 EP, Concrete as well as supporting slots for DZ Deathrays, The Love Junkies, Killing Joke and The Coathangers.
Fast forward to 2015 and Hound. are about to drop their debut album, Dying In The Sun. Their first single, titled God Is Calling sees them continue to develop their sound way beyond their experience, seamlessly combining an array of influences into something completely their own.
We had a quick chat with frontman Chris ahead of their latest tour to talk Brisbane summers, how God Is Calling came to be and what their wildest shows are. Be sure to catch the boys in action, with their tour dates below!
Congratulations on the single! I really enjoy it, I think it’s a great song!
Oh thanks! Yeah, we’re pretty happy with it!
How’s it all going? Are you finding it’s being received well?
Yeah so far, so good! We haven’t really had any negative reviews but I think it will really crystallize for me when we release the film clip in a couple of weeks.
Can you reveal any secrets for the clip, or is it all a surprise?
There’s no real secrets about it, in the sense that we’ve told a bunch of people about it already. We got a bunch of mates on board and went to a cemetery and played a game of cricket!
Oh yeah! I saw my friend after that day actually! Is that the one where you were all wearing eyeliner and stuff like that?
Yeah we got really in the spirit of things! I actually quite like 80’s goth music, so any time I get to do that shit and pin it on something else is something that I’m all for!
I have read a pretty funny story about how God Is Calling came about – can you tell me your version of events?
Well as far as the song title goes, that came from Gerald Kinney. We were both playing support for Killing Joke, and that was the first time he’d seen us play. He came up to us and was like, “I really liked the part where you were yelling out ‘God is calling! God is calling!’” We didn’t tell him then, but that actually didn’t happen. We thought it was pretty funny, and that it was a great idea for a song so we thought, “Let’s do it!”
But I guess, lyrically, it makes a little more sense than that. At the time of me writing it was the time when a couple of really important people to me passed away. It has that kind of message to it as well, but we don’t like to dwell on that too much because we’re all about having a good time. But it’s definitely got a bittersweet meaning to it!
So it does have that kind of spiritual sense to it as well?
Not spiritual in the religious sense, but in a more existential sense I suppose.
It comes off your album, Dying in the Sun which will be out soon! That’s a pretty interesting name – is that a description of our past summer here in Brisbane?
Yeah, it is really! Every summer in Brisbane, you think it’s going to be your last!
How did it all come together? You guys only released an EP in 2013, so is this an extension of that or has it been a long time coming?
It has been a long time coming because we weren’t able to afford to do it in one go. We released a couple of songs from it as we were working on the rest of the album just to keep people interested, and so that we could play some gigs to be able to afford to do it all. In a perfect world, we probably would have liked to have recorded everything at the one time, and released it at the same time, but this is how we’ve done it. It was kind of necessary to do it this way for us.
You have supported some pretty notable acts (DZ Deathrays, Drunk Mums, The Coathangers), but they’re also all pretty wild bands! What’s the wildest show you’ve been a part of?
The Coathangers gig was wild in the way we were totally not expecting how wild they would be. They really rock out, it was so awesome. Killing Joke was wild in the way it was kind of like a dream come true, but I guess our EP launch in Toowoomba would be the wildest. Lots of our friends came down and got extremely loose and jumped around everywhere.
I bet that Toowoomba show would have been crazy! I’m from Townsville so I know what it’s like partying when you go back home! Do you attribute growing up in a smaller town to some of your music style?
Toowoomba was pretty interesting growing up, especially in high school. For one, there is nothing else to do, and two, for some reason there was this really strong music culture around there from about 2004-2007. There was a really big emphasis on not so much following specific trends or styles, but trying to sound really different to the next band. In a more literal way, three of us are all from there, so we probably wouldn’t have met had we not all had that same background. There was a strong scene, but there wasn’t any push towards a specific genre. I think it was the push towards that originality at the time rubbed off on us a little bit!
Were you all friends back then?
It was more of a coincidence. We had lots of mutual friends but had never met each other until we’d moved.
You’ve got a pretty packed month with the tour kicking off on March 6! You’ve got 4 shows in Melbourne back to back – how do you think that’s going to go?
I think it’s the best possible outcome for us, really. When you spend a fair bit of money going down, you want to pack in as much as you can so this is really good. I’m really excited about it!
Have you learned any tricks of the trade from bands you’ve supported about playing night after night, or are you not too worried?
Not at all. Previously doing tours like this, we’d be driving everywhere the day after. Playing a show then driving the next day then playing a show that night definitely takes it’s toll because you’re probably hungover, but this time we’re flying down so it’s a bit like a holiday! We’re really looking forward to everything. ____ is jumping on for a few shows and last time we saw them play in Wollongong they kind of blew our minds a little bit!
What can we expect still to come from you guys?
We’re just keen to get out there and play some shows, and then eventually release this album!
Hound tour dates:
Friday, 6th March – Bar 303, Melbourne – VIC
Saturday, 7th March – Spotfest, Brunswick Hotel – VIC
Sunday, 8th March – Bendigo Hotel, Melbourne – VIC
Monday, 9th March – The Old Bar, Melbourne – VIC
Friday, 13th March – The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba – QLD
Saturday, 14th March – The Foundry, Brisbane – QLD
Friday, 20th March – OAF Gallery Bar, Sydney – NSW
Saturday, 21st March – RAD Bar, Wollongong – NSW