Well, it happened.
Darkside are over.
Last month, the duo of Dave Harrington and Nicolas Jaar announced that they were “coming to an end, for now.” Ever-so-slightly numbing the pain, they released two final tracks: ‘What They Say’ and the cruelly titled ‘Gone Too Soon’.
Last night, at Brooklyn Masonic Temple, we farewelled Darkside.
And like the desperate fools we are, clinging to every last drop, here’s a couple of iPhone-recorded snippets (the only time ever that I’ve been grateful for someone holding their phone up for minutes on end at a live gig):
Orphans Orphans, with members from Morning Harvey, The Belligerents, Moses Gunn Collective and The Jungle Giants, have quickly become one of this year’s most hyped, up-and-coming bands out of Brisbane. If you caught their set at BIGSOUND, you’d know why. Coming together to give a home to tunes they were working on that didn’t exactly fit in with any of their other projects, the guys have released their debut EP to unprecedented hype – and success. We caught up with Spencer, Lewis and Sam at BIGSOUND last week to get a bit more in depth with the latest “super group”.
So, how’s your BIGSOUND so far? Any acts you’re dying to see?
Spencer: Yeah it’s been good!
Sam: We just got in. I want to see Client Liaison!
Yeah I saw them last night! It was insane!
Lewis: Yeah I saw like two songs! It was really cool!
So before becoming a band, you guys were just friends jamming, right? How long was that going on for?
Sam: A while
Lewis: I think we had the idea for the band before we had a jam, didn’t we? I think we had the name first.
Spencer: It kind of started just in a room as a kind of joke, I think. Our friends had a creative space down the road where we were living, and they had a rehearsal room so we just walked down and had a jam in there. Whoever wanted to pick up an instrument could, you know? And it was born!
In terms of the song writing process, do you find most of the songs arise from jamming, or does one of come in and say, “Guys, I have an idea”?
Lewis: Usually, we will kind of demo them and we work on the demos with either a couple of us or one of us. So I’ll have an idea, then Spen will put something on it and stuff like that. Then we would bring it in and jam on it, and it changes a bit then.
Sam: At the start it was mainly just a bunch of old demos from our bands, and we mainly just complied them. But now, that we’ve been jamming together more, it’s more of a tightened thing.
So from the jams, you just decided that you might as well just release some stuff as an EP?
All: Yeah!
Lewis: We kind of recorded it over a couple of months.
Spencer: When we had all these little demos that we’d brought together, we then decided to spend a bit of time recording them. We recorded them in a few different places, like Sam’s old room, which was really good for recording drums for stuff like that. Some friends had a studio just near my parents’ place, so we did some stuff there. We left it for a while, and we were just kind of pondering over it a little while. All of our other bands were touring and stuff like that…
Lewis: We wanted to get a finished product – mixed and everything, before we did anything else.
Are there any specific inspirations for Orphans Orphans?
Lewis: There are a whole bunch of things we enjoy
Spencer: The whole reason we were so excited about it is we were kind of just doing stuff that we felt had no
Because initially it wasn’t like to start a serious band, it was like, “let’s write music that shocks us”
Lewis: with no kind of idea or direction
It’s kind of freeing, creatively, in a way – not pigeonholing you into respective bands?
Lewis: Yep!
Now that you’ve done that for a while, do you find that it’s become a more serious project?
Spencer: Hell yeah! Definitely!
Did you anticipate this reaction or hype?
Spencer: No!
Lewis: No!
Sam: And we thought we actually thought about it!
Spencer: We kind of thought it was a big thing, before it was a big thing. We were showing all our friends the demos and they were getting excited for us as well. We were so excited, but no one had heard it! But then it was picked up by our management, we decided to actually start pushing for it and taking it seriously.
Then suddenly, you’re supporting Temples!
Spencer: There ya go!
Was that pretty insane, getting that gig for such a new group? Were they really cool?
Spencer: Yeah it was so awesome. They were lovely!
Sam: They’re chillers!
Lewis: We’ve kept in contact with them as well – Sam hung out with them in Paris and I hung out with them in Tokyo.
Sam: They came back to our house after it! We had a massive party and they got wasted and showed us their demos and stuff.
Spencer: They’re all the same as us; they have a bunch of side projects as well. It kind of makes us a little more….
Sam: Validated? Horny?
Spencer: Percussion
Sam: Wet! I think that’s the word *laughs*
Spencer: *laughs* I guess a little more confident about how we’re doing all these bands, and giving time for everyone.
It shows that it can be successful! How do you manage all your commitments? Does it get a bit hectic?
Spencer: We’ve got an iCal that all of our bands put into.
Sam: I think it will get pretty fucking hectic.
Lewis: At the moment, it’s fine though.
Sam: Our manager, Stu, blankets over everything and works with all the bands together. Stu is working with Morning Harvey, and Melanie works with us about our calendars, and then he also works with The Jungle Giants and so he’s making sure that no tours clash or anything like that.
You need someone really organised for that!
Sam: Yeah! We could not do that!
Spencer: They organise all of the releases and stuff as well, that’s just another thing to think about.
Lewis: We need to try and not release music in the same week and stuff!
Yeah, slow down guys! So, with your live show – you’ve got four front-men in one group, how does that work in terms of dynamics?
Sam: It’s easy!
Spencer: We tried to make it as seamless as possible, just in rehearsals. We tried to limit the amount of switchovers.
Sam: At first we wanted to switchover for every song. It was like, “You sing that one, and I’ll play drums in that one!” But after a couple of rehearsals we realised that was a bit much.
Well with a 30 minute BIGSOUND set, you’d spend the whole time switching around!
Sam: We’d just play elevator music in between songs!
Spencer: It keeps it exciting!
Sam: *singing waiting music*
You could just press a button and have a curtain close, and open again!
Sam: Between every song! Like a theatre show!
You’d have to have a two hour set every time!
Lewis: With an intermission
Sam: *sings Sandstorm by Darude*
Spencer: Sandstorm!
So what’s next after BIGSOUND?
Spencer: Our tour!
Lewis: We’re touring in October, with our friends The Furrs. It’s going to be pretty fun – 9 of touring together.
Sam: We’re all going to be staying in the same houses too.
It’ll be like a big slumber party every night! Anything you’re looking forward to most? The Blurst of Times looks pretty insane!
Lewis: Yeah that’ll be fun! It’s got such a good line up!
Sam: I’m just really keen to go on tour, I think it’ll be pretty damn fun.
Spencer: This is the first time we’ve been able to tour with our friends as well, and not have to worry about whether we get along with the other support bands and whether they’re cool or not!
Or if you have to pretend you like their music – “Yeah guys, that was really good…”
Sam: “Dude, that was good…”
Do you think you’ll get up to some mischief? Maybe some apology letters on the way or something?
Spencer: No… I think the management will keep an eye on us, but we’ll get up to some mischief!
Sam: Yeah! *sings Sandstorm by Darude again*
All: *laughs*
Originally posted to Scenewave.com
Seattle duo Odesza have been blowing my mind for the last few months, since I discovered them (which unfortunately happened about two days after they played in Sydney).
Their LP In Return came out last week, and what an album it is. A mesmerising release full of intricate polyrhythms, sublime soundscapes and guest female vocals on no less than eight of the 13 tracks. Odesza have by and large created a recognisable sound that is both celestial and dance-ready, while also ensuring that no two tracks sound alike.
The album opens with Always This Late, featuring a fiesta-style beat, deep synth and tampered vocal samples. As the tracks progress we begin to notice the common features in Odesza’s music – vocal loops, vibrato-laden synth, and angelic high-octave trickles and synth flickers. They atmosphere has been really carefully layered – for every helium-high tone, there’s a deep beat or a sonorous bass just around the corner.
There’s an eastern flair to a number of their tracks too, adding a really interesting, unique flavour. Sundarafeatures what sounds like a crystalline sitar, intertwined with synthy echoes and vibrations. Next up is one of my favourites,White Lies ft. Jenni Potts. While it may not be the most bass-heavy, complex or even interesting track on the album, there’s something SO enchanting about Pott’s impossibly high vocals. An absolute stand-out track for me.
Ambient Kusangi is a serene, languid synth soundscape. A welcome, tranquil moment in a sea of beats, before gently easing our way back in through the beatific groove that is Echoes ft. Py.
Zyra’s lilt features for a second time on the sensual, melancholy It’s Only, as we head towards the final tracks.
Singles Memories That You Call (ft. Moonsiren) and Sun Models (ft. Madelyn Grant) are completely different in terms of tone and beat, and once again, I love how Odesza can go down so many roads while maintaining an identifiable sound.
Final track For Us (ft. Briana Marela)has probably the heaviest beat on the album. It’s a glowing, multi-layered track with a great groove, the perfectly bittersweet way to end the album.
What I love about this album is that not one beat, rhythm or melody seems to be repeated. There’s so much going on, but it’s coalesced into something so charming, beautiful and truly impressive. Easily in my top ten albums of the year so far, I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Sydney’s Spookyland are unlike anything else I’ve heard recently, and that alone draws me in. Their four-track EP Rock and Roll Weakling was released earlier this year to critical acclaim, and they’ve been a radio-staple, as well as playing to packed venues ever since. Title track “Rock and Roll Weakling” is a soulful, emotional and seriously powerful folk-influenced track.
Singer Marcus Gordon has an incredibly unique voice, I imagine it’s a love-it-or-hate-it kind of thing. I, for one, love it. Blending together harmonica and twangy folk guitar work with a huge beat and churning guitars, the overall tone is one of hope, intensity and a little nostalgia.
The bluesy track is tinted with a country twang at times, while the ever-growing beat peaks at a rock-anthem heaviness. Oh, and don’t forget to listen out for the lyrical fragility, cleverly disguised under the swingin’ beat and the mesmerising melody.
The EP was produced by Tony Buchen (Andy Bull, Megan Washington, Tim Finn), and has been making its way around Australia on a huge headline tour. The group have recently been signed to US label Canvasback (Grouplove, Alt-J, The Orwells) and UK/Europe label Play It Again Sam (The Pixies, Editors, The Jezabels) – so it’s pretty safe to say that this is only the beginning for Spookyland.
By now, you’ve probably (or hopefully) heard “Higher” SBTRKT’s (second) newest single, which dropped earlier this week and features young gun Raury on vocals. Between his husky rapping and soulful crooning, Raury makes the track as breathtaking as it is, creating what will undoubtedly be a standout track on SBTRKT’s forthcoming sophomore album.
At a mere 18 years of age, the singer-songwriter-rapper-producer etc has been championed by everyone from Kanye West to Diplo, from Lorde to Danger Mouse – and it’s easy to see why.
Raury’s voice is outstanding, and his songwriting skills easily match that of artists far older and more experienced. He sings in a mellow and breathy tone, with a strength and dominance that immediately demands your unfaltering attention.
Released earlier this year, “God’s Whisper” is his debut single. I can’t stop listening to it. The track begins with claps, vocal riffs, and some distant whoops and cheers as embellishment.
The vocals kick in, and I’m instantly mesmerised. Slow and steady, simple and powerful, this track makes one hell of a statement. Without warning, extra layers of rich vocals make up the chorus, hype-building licks and more cheers. The prominence of almost acapella-style vocal layers is really interesting and pretty rare, but I love it. Towards the end, the track grows even more powerful, with Raury’s voice soaring on high above chants, claps and a rumbling beat.
Raury has recently released 13-track-mixtape “Indigo Child.” In particular, watch out for second single “Cigarette Song” and the similarly stompy “Chariots of Fire.”
If you have the internet (which you clearly do), you’ve heard of Jillian Banks, aka Banks by now. The dark and stormy 26-year-old Californian has stormed the musical stage in a whirlwind of hype (ironic, considering her adamant anti-social media stance), and, in the aftermath of her debut album release, absolutely deservedly so.
Goddess is an incredibly impressive debut. Melting together elements of soul, trip hop, electronic, hip hop, pop and more, Banks has created something not only unique, but something really, really good. From electro bangers to heart-wrenching ballads, from sparse minimalism to raspy, sexual rhythms, this album has it all.
There’s common motifs throughout the album. Banks knows her best angles – and flaunts them well. Almost every track opens similarly – choral, bordering on angelic melodic openings, before the bass, beat and vocals drop it. She’s also really embraced the often-difficult-to-grasp concept of contrast, and the use of space. Her voice fluidly moves between those low, husky notes to a high falsetto – and the music polarises accordingly. While her falsetto doesn’t waver for a moment, I think that the real soul can be found in the deeper tracks which feature her lower range.
Opening with the top-heavy electropop tune Alibi and playfully traipsing up and down her vocal range during Goddess, it’s during Waiting Game that we first get a feel for her darker side. The melody is darker, more sensual and emotional. An almost impossibly delicate falsetto comes through, before the rumbling bass drops in. As the bass forms that muffled, thumping beat, the melancholy track grows darker and denser. Turn up the volume to get the full effect of that muffled, womping synth.
Brain is one of my favourite on the album. Opening as a minimal, incredibly subtle track, Brain champions the rawness of Banks’ lower range. As it flourishes and grows, her voice suddenly rises a couple octaves. PHWOAR. Those effects are phenomenal. I can’t get enough of it. I think this is my favourite track on the album. Stop here for a tick and watch this video clip:
Fuck, You Should Know Where I’m Coming From. I’m spent. This ballad is so goddamn gorgeous. A track nearly 100% vocals and piano, both the delicacy and power of Banks’ voice are never showcased stronger than they are right here.
Singles Drowning and Beggin For Thread are catchy and sensual, with a husky, sexual depth. Someone New is the most delicate song on the album. Another ballad, it’s meeker than anything else on Goddess.The gently plucked guitar accentuates her vulnerability. It doesn’t last long though, with Warm Waterretaining the subtlely, but none of the innocence. As the album comes to an end, the final minutes are soft and mellow. Piano ballad Under The Table is an angelic, heartbreaking way to end the album.
Not only does Banks have an incredibly vocal range, but a stylistic one, too. The ability to cover such a myriad styles in one album – and to do them all so well – is worth the praise alone. Add to this the fluid beats, the sensual melodies and precisely arranged soundscapes, this album takes you on one hell of a journey – and it captivates you every single step of the way.
If you aren’t yet familiar with Many Things, let’s stop right there and change that:
I just want to listen to this track over and over. It’s such a wonderful blend of ’80s style neo-goth synth-rock (Depeche Mode, anyone? Maybe a little Blue Oyster Cult thrown in for good measure?) and modern indie-rock beats, sounds and vocal roars. I love the use of space between those HUGE beats and those gorgeous vocals. I can almost detect a hint of Nick Cave here and there – not the tone, but the way he sings, if that makes sense.
Formerly known as MT, London-based Many Things have had a pretty insane year, receiving massive international radio play, as well as supporting the likes of The Polyphonic Spree and Panic! At The Disco
If you recognise those vocals, that’s probably because Brisbane-born frontman Michael Tomlinson was last seen at the helm of now defunct indie darlings Yves Klein Blue. We wanted to know a little more about the man with that lush voice, so we asked him what some of his favourite songs are. (Hint: they are really good songs.)
Mark Tomlinson (Many Things): My Favourite Tunes
1. My favourite track to wake up to is… My Sweet Lord, George Harrison
When I was living in Melbourne when everything was falling to bits a few years ago I had this song as my alarm. Every morning I would wake up to it. It was a weird time because it was so sad, there was such a feeling of freedom like a weight was being lifted after so long. Everything was changing so much and I was growing a lot. This song seemed help it all make sense and to trust that no matter what happened it would be for the best.
2. The best track for cooking is… The Album of the Buena Vista Social Club
My Father loves to eat and he loves to cook. He also loves the Buena Vista Social Club. I’m always going to love this record and assume that everyone else in the world loves it as well because of my Father.
3. The best track for spring cleaning is… Django Reinhardt in general
It’s the lively rhythm, it helps you to stick your hand into the bin and remove that banana peel that’s been there since last spring.
4. The ultimate road trip track is…. Thunder Road, Bruce Springsteen
OBVZ
5. My favourite love song is… You Can Never Hold Back Spring, Tom Waits
It’s such a beautiful song and it really captures how I feel about Love. Love is magic, natural & inevitable. It’s always there just waiting for you.
6. The best track for sweet love makin’ is… Fade Into You, Mazzy Star
There are many tracks that a good for sweet love making and this is one of them.
7. The track that always gets the party started is… Inspector Norse, Todd Terje
Yup.
8. The best track to wind down a crowd is…Ghost Town, The Specials
Ask Sean Cook about this one. Suffice to say that it was not my intention to wind the crowd down. My DJ skills have come a long way.
9. My favourite drunken karaoke track is… Still D.R.E, Dr Dre
I just love this song. I enjoy to sing it. Incidentally, my number one tip for having a good house party is to play the songs of The Chronic 2001 in a different order. Now you know.
10. My favourite song to sing in the shower is… Holiday Road, Lindsey Buckingham
An important woman in my life & I used to sing this song in the shower. I insisted on taking the falsetto part. It was just hilarious.
11. A song that always makes me cry is… I don’t think any songs make me cry. Only ‘The Notebook’… Theme from ‘The Notebook’
12. I love going to sleep listening to…..Soon To Be Innocent Fun, Arthur Russell
Again this was shown to me in Melbourne by Gareth Parton, a wonderful producer YKB were working with at the time. Gareth gave me a lot of gifts in the short time I was living in the same city as him and this was one of them. You should check out this video. Arthur Russell is so beautiful, sad and meditative as he plays this on the Cello. You get a sense of what in incredible musician he is and just how immense his soul is, or rather, how immense everyone’s soul is. He’s like a lightning rod.
13. I can’t stop dancing when I hear…. Praise You, Fatboy Slim
We have this routine here in London where we put this song on towards the end of the night and coerce as many people as possible into doing an interpretive dance with us just like in the music video.
Some nights it works ok, but others we achieve our goal: Everyone riding invisible bicycles upside down on the floor for the duration of the final chorus.
The hugely talented Nicholas Allbrook (Pond frontman, founding member of Mink Mussel Creek, ex-Tame Impala bass-player, one half of Allbrook/Avery, drummer with Peter Bibby, the list goes on!) has decided he’s still got more to give, and has just released his debut solo album. The album titled Ganough, Wallis and Fatunah is as crazy and out-there as you’d expect from Allbrook, and first single 100K’s Round Carmel is no exception. We spoke to him recently ahead of his BIGSOUND set (he’s one of our top acts to see) to talk the decision behind the solo album, CCTV, and what the hell Ganough, Wallis and Fatunah means.
So your debut solo album is coming out this Friday! Nervous?
Nah!
Excited?
I guess I’ll be excited when I see some physical thing in my hand, maybe?
Why the decision to release solo material?
Well, all the other guys were away from a while, and I had suddenly just finished stuff. It was pretty fun just recording by myself completely…
Does your creative process differ much writing solo stuff, as opposed to, say writing a Pond song?
Nah, nah it’s exactly the same.
Oh really?
I mean until you decide where it’s going, and then the other dudes would get involved – the other chaps in Pond. But with me, it might just get involved with just me! Or, maybe someone who’s not in Pond. Or maybe someone who is in Pond, and it just gets a different name on the iTunes download and there is no difference at all.
You said of your song Whispers in Beauty that it can, “Diminish the pains of being crushed by the horrific pointless viciousness of humankind”. What ELSE can we expect from this record?
*laughs* Well, more bloody mopey bullshit like that! *laughs* Nah, it’s full of nice stuff. It’s just me being… I don’t know, I probably had my Weet-Bix upside down that morning!
Was there any specific inspiration behind the new material, or did it just kind of come from playing around?
Oh yeah, you know, it’s a whole bunch of different songs and a whole bunch of different thoughts and feelings and stuff. I guess it’s like anybody else – it’s all lyrics and ideas. It’s just kind of a vaguely melodic diary.
I’m curious about the name of the record! Where did that come from?
I think Wallis and Fatunah are two small islands French Polynesia or something. Ganough; I don’t know what that is. I just kind of woke up and had a dream, and the first thing I thought when I got up was Ganough, Wallis and Fatunah. Eventually I looked it up on the super web and it told me that Wallis and Fatunah were these islands, which was pretty weird because I didn’t think I knew that.
And then you just went with that!
Yeah! Well, I don’t know, it seemed important in some way because it was in a dream. But I guess not because you dream about a lot of stupid shit, like going to the shops or something.
100K’s Round Carmel has some pretty interesting lyrics! Can you tell me about what’s going on there?
Yeah! I guess it’s about being guilty I suppose. Being generally guilty about everything, and making great plans to not let that happen again, and to be a good person for the rest of your born days and all that sort of stuff.
It’s got a pretty insane video clip too! Where did the idea come from for that?
Well, I just chatted a bunch with my friend, Alejandro, who’s a really good artist and he does visual stuff for MGMT which is where I met him. He’s a total nerd and legend and we just talked about stuff and had a bunch of ideas. I like those repetitive looking patterns that make your eyes hurt.
So it was a collaborative process with him?
Yeah! Of course he did all the cool, hard stuff like the animations.
That’s cool! So can we expect any more whacky film clips for any of the other songs?
No! *laughs* Nah, I haven’t made any. Maybe I’ll do something crazy whacky today and it’ll get caught on CCTV. Do they have CCTV here yet? When are they going to get that?
You could get it in your room or something to film all your whacky behaviour…
They’ve got video cameras in Coles and stuff. Maybe I’ll go to the shop and ask them if they can just give me the tape…
I’m really curious to find out your opinion on the music industry. I’m a huge fan of yours and you’ve been in the biz for a while. What are your thoughts on what’s going on at the moment?
Oh man, it’s so hard to say anything because it’s given me so much. But, you know, of course I’m constantly full of negativity and pointlessness. It’s sort of this beautiful, insane thing that’s happened. What are meant to be just pure little sing-songs to make you and people around you happy, and make your soul grow has become bureaucratic wheels that keep a lot of people alive and from doing really menial work every day. I don’t hate it, and there is nothing intrinsically wrong with it. It’s just bizarre to think how that’s happened, and how that’s something that occurs today. And people can get angry! People can get angry about music and people can HATE stuff. Hating music is like punching a bowl of cereal!
I like that! Now, with a Pond show, it’s always so incredibly energetic, and you’re pretty full on too… What can we expect from a solo Nick show?
Less energy and less people… Sorry, that’s totally just made it sound like a great big pile of turd! *laughs* Oh you know… There will be lights and there’ll be dancers; I’ve got a full troupe of dancers… On rollerskates… I got them from the roller derby crew… And I’ll have a guitar. It’ll be red and it’s got little Japanese alphabet stickers on it. I don’t know – that’s a small idea!
What will you be up to after your BIGSOUND set then?
I think I’ll come back home, and I’ll check my roster at work. Then I will keep recording stuff in my room. I think I’ve got some shows with Pete Bibby which will be awesome, as usual!
Nicholas Allbrook will be performing at BIGSOUND on Thursday September 11 at The Underdog 8:00 – 8:30pm
Originally posted to Scenewave.com
Brisbane’s Holy Holy make riveting, emotionally-charged music, and are currently celebrating the release of their latest single, History. The band, at the core of which is duo Timothy Carroll and Oscar Dawson, are set to embark on a run of shows in support of Boy & Bear, before embarking on their own nationwide headline tour. In the midst of all this, Holy Holy will be appearing at Brisbane’s BIGSOUND showcase in just over a week. Read our feature with them here.
The two composers met while working in South-East Asia and have had a fascinating, somewhat serendipitous journey to finally become Holy Holy. We picked the brains of guitarist Oscar, to find out what songs inspire, enliven, relax him and so much more… and the results are pretty hilarious.
HOLY HOLY Presents: Favourite Tunes
- My favourite track to wake up to is… the news. Sorry – boring – but need a few moments to inject pure adrenaline into my heart before listening to music. IF I was to go through the violent trauma of waking to music… Jump by Van Halen.
- The best track for cooking is… Well, what am I cooking? Cooked a roast the other week and listened to The Best of The Hollies. Comfort music for comfort food. Was making breakfast the other day and listened to an old Split Enz record. I forget how good that band was. Spent some time over winter listening to Sharon Van Etten, to relax. I feel that cooking ought to be relaxing and sometimes listening to the wrong music leads to an undesirable culinary outcome.
- The best track for spring cleaning is… Jump by the Pointer Sisters – from the ‘Love Actually’ soundtrack – anything to force me to do it faster.
- The ultimate road trip track is… Although this isn’t a ‘track’, been listening to ‘90s Radio on Spotify lately – not sure if this is particularly enjoyable for reasons of nostalgia, or if it’s because the ‘90s are kinda trendy now. But the drive whizzes by.
- My favourite love song is… 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover by Paul Simon. Perhaps that isn’t quite the sentiment you are after though.
- The best track for sweet love makin’ is… Choke Me, Spank Me, Pull My Hair by Xzibit. Have you ever read the lyrics to that song? What a pile of shit.
- The track that always gets the party started is… Let’s Get Retarded by The Black Eyed Peas. This one really separates the wheat from the chaff and I know who my true friends are (please see next question).
- The best track to wind down a crowd is… Let’s Get Retarded by The Black Eyed Peas – this one clears out the party and I can finally relax with my only true friends (please see prior question).
- My favourite drunken karaoke track is… Boys Of Summer, Don Henley – mainly because the chorus vocal is so high – it’s basically impossible to hit for a singer such as myself (caveat: I’m not the vocalist in Holy Holy). Dutch courage will give me the gumption to give it a proper go.
- A song that always makes me cry is… Hard Out Here for a Pimp, by Three 6 Mafia. The daily struggle to make ends meet; the dangers of inner-city living in a modern dystopia; negotiating business deals with parties who might have conflicting interests. A tragic insight into the pitfalls of urban life.
- I love going to sleep listening to….. a podcast. Sorry. Can’t sleep listening to songs. Sleep and music have a funny relationship.
- I can’t stop dancing when I hear…. Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen. Ohhh Fredddie.
We couldn’t collate this into a precise tracklist unfortunately, but we did our best! Enjoy!
HOLY HOLY: THE HISTORY TOUR
THU 09 OCT | THE NORTHERN, BYRON BAY NSW – FREE ENTRY SHOW
FRI 10 OCT | THE BRIGHTSIDE, BRISBANE QLD – Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au
SAT 25 OCT | THE DUNSBOROUGH TAVERN, DUNSBOROUGH WA – Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au
SUN 26 OCT | THE AVIARY ROOFTOP, PERTH WA – FREE ENTRY SHOW
THU 30 OCT | TRANSIT BAR, CANBERRA ACT – Tickets available from www.moshtix.com.au
FRI 31 OCT | RAD, WOLLONGONG NSW – Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au
SAT 01 NOV | NEWTOWN SOCIAL CLUB, SYDNEY NSW – Tickets available from www.newtownsocialclub.com
FRI 07 NOV | JIVE, ADELAIDE SA – Tickets available from www.moshtix.com.au
SAT 08 NOV | NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB, MELBOURNE VIC – Tickets available from www.northcotesocialclub.com
In between playing bass for Tame Impala, drums for Pond and being one half of Allbrook/Avery, scoring films, and whatever else he manages to find the time for, Cameron Avery has been up to something special. Ahead of the latest release from his own solo project, The Growl, he will return to home soil for a string of intimate solo shows to showcase his latest efforts. After the successful debut LP, What Would Christ Do??, Avery has been busy making a name for himself in his own right – and was even named in NME’s Australian Acts to Watch 2013. Now, after extensively touring the world, including multiple festival appearances (Laneway, SXSW), the project has gone onwards and upwards. We got to chat to him whilst he was across the pond (haha) in Iceland to discuss string sections, Australian crowds vs the rest of the world and potential loyalty cards for Tame Impala shows.
This round of shows is pretty formal, I feel. What was behind the decision to premiere the new material as a solo performance? What can we expect?
I was doing some shows, like I did one solo show back in Perth, and I was doing some others in LA, and Joe was like to me, “Why don’t you do a solo tour, because it’s nice to hear your new songs without all the bells and whistles?” I guess the songs are a bit more… song-y? They’re a lot more accessible and structured than the last stuff. They’re pretty much all love songs. We thought it was really great last time we did it, so I’m gonna do a one-off solo tour, then hopefully later this year or earlier next year we will do some full band shows!
What can we expect from the full band shows? Anything different?
Yeah, very different. I’m going back to Perth to do a whole bunch of pre-production and organise all this other stuff. There is anew member in the band, and the band has grown outward as in there are more bells and whistles than the last time – believe it or not! I’m still sort of fleshing out ideas, but on the record there is an 8-piece string sections, timpanis and horns nearly in every song. I’m figuring out the best way to do that, along with whether to have a quartet or an octet with you. It’s kind of like a bigger show.
The new album is featuring collaborations with artists from all around the world – who are some of these?
Well the string have been arranged by a guy called Owen Pallett, who plays in The Arcade Fire.
Wow! Awesome!
He’s an incredible string arranger. I met him on the Big Day Out tour that Tame was doing with Arcade Fire, and I went for a beer with him and to watch some show. He asked me what I do, and I told him I was making my record and I showed him a couple of tunes. He was like; “I would love to do the strings on this if you wanted me to,” so I was like ”Uh, yeah! If you would!” *laughs* Then I saw him again at Coachella, and he was still really keen to get onto it, so he’s done five songs, and he’s doing another four this week.
Other than that it’s just been close friends. My best friend since I’ve moved away is this guy called Benji Lysaght, and he is the most incredible guitar player. He’s sort of become my best pal. He wrote a piece of music which has this beautiful classical guitar, and I wrote the rest of it. It was kind of freeing a little bit, where I wasn’t having to think about doing everything all on my own anymore.
Yeah! Does your creative process differ much when collaborating as opposed to working alone?
Well generally I’ll write the song, and I’ll write all the parts, and play most of them. But on stuff like this now – I had Jay Bellerose play on one, he’s the drummer from the Alison Krauss record, Raising Sand. I saw him during the week when I was recording the last bit in America, and I wanted to get him in to do some double drums. It’s been kind of nice having a few “voicing boards”, as far as creative stuff goes. It’s been great sort of letting go of those four little sections of the songs!
Why the decision to expand out and incorporate all the new elements? Did you have a vision and go from there?
Yeah, totally! They were the kind of songs I was writing – kind of ballad-y stuff. They’re all love songs pretty much. I wanted to have strings on them so much, and then Owen and it all went from there.
You described your songs as “an outlet” – I take it song writing is something of a cathartic process for you then?
Yeah! Definitey! I’ve been working on some other stuff which isn’t as involved in my own experiences – I’ve been doing some film score stuff. It’s great because it’s not all just about stuff that’s happened to me. But, yeah it’s definitely been an outlet for whatever. It keeps me sane.
What are some influences that affect your writing? Is The Growl strictly Cam Avery, or is it others involved too?
It’s just all my stuff. It’s a moniker for my solo thing because I didn’t want to call it Cam Avery. It’s literally just all love songs. I think one of them goes on about something else a bit more, but apart from that, love songs. *laughs*
*laughs* That’s nice though!
They’re my favourite type of song! I think they’re the trust form. I think you can hear the most in music when it’s a love song. People care about politics and people care about, you know, things that happen in the world, but there is nothing more direct and passionate when someone is head over – or when they’re heartbroken. There is no filter there!
Totally! When they’re just pouring everything out…
It can bring something out in someone that they didn’t even know they really had, I think. If you listen to some of the best love songs of all time – it doesn’t sound very calculated.
How do you think crowds abroad respond to The Growl compared to Australian audiences? I feel like The Growl would actually be more relatable to American crowds?
That’s what I’ve felt too, playing in America. It’s always been crazy every time we play a show there. Maybe it’s that romanticism about having a band that’s not from America, or whatever. But as far as sonically and feeling goes, we’ve always had a packed house. Every show we played in America last time was a packed house. They also like the slower stuff as opposed to the heavy stuff. America, and South America, and even when I played solo shows in Europe, it’s always been surprisingly beautiful crowds.
How do you find that compared to Australian audiences? Do Australian audiences get into as much as overseas?
Yeah, but in a different way. It’s so hard to put your finger on! Australian crowds do go mental very easily. When you play the single, or the one they know, they go buckwild. It’s just a different thing. It also depends on venues too – I could play at The Bakery or the Astor, but sometimes I’ll play the Ellington Jazz Club. It’s a demographic thing. Actually, in America, they have an older crowd. I will have people in their 30’s or older coming up to me saying how much they love the music.
Cool! I’m so fascinated with how all of these bands – like The Growl, Tame Impala, Pond, even Gum and Shiny Joe – work together? How the hell do you find the time to manage everything you’re in?
Well, we do have one of the best managers in the entire world. I guess, you find time, but everyone wants to do a lot of music all the time. We’re all trying to secretly outdo each other.
Kind of like a healthy competition?
Yeah, fully! I guess, in the time off from the bigger bands – mostly Pond and Tame – you work on your own stuff. As far as Nick, Joe and Jay go; they just have an overflow of songs. Some aren’t going to sit on a Pond album because they all write 7 songs and they have to pick the best three or four to go on the record, so they use the other stuff and go on and they have the solo records!
Okay, yeah that makes sense! I really love Tame Impala… I’ve seen you guys play nine times, in two different countries.
Woaaaah! We should give you a rewards card!
I should get the tenth show free!
Yeah! *laughs* Maybe you should. I’ll talk to Kev! Actually, I should talk to Kev – he’d be well into that idea! We can do rewards cards for coming to gigs.
For the devoted fan! We can get a shirt or something…
Or you know how you get frequent flyer points, we could get someone to send you like a gold Tame Impala card. You can buy merch with it instead of headphones like on QANTAS.
I could do that! So, what’s next after this?
Well after the solo tour, I’m back in Perth. Clint Oliver who’s from GUM and The Growl is getting married, and I’m the best man. I have best man duties, so I have to throw a buck’s party and finish my speech. Then there is the AFL grand final, so that if the Dockers make it… After all that stuff is done, I have about two and a half weeks to do pre production. I’ll go into my studio in Perth and build a new drum kit, with a new sound, and sort out all the new keyboards sound – all that stuff. Get it all ready for the guys to rehearse. I’ve always done it like that – organized all the sounds and they come in and rehearse once I’ve done it. I’ve finished mixing the album, so that’s pretty much done. I have to go for a short trip back to LA to record the last four songs of strings, and by then it’s mid October. There has been a whisper of a Growl show maybe… I don’t know yet. There have been talks of doing one for people who are keen; sort of dusting the cobwebs off. Then I’m back in America – I’ve been working on this other film score stuff so I’ll go back to America early/mid October and start working on that. Then it’s November, and there is a Tame Impala tour for two months!
Pretty booked up!
Yeah, I’m pretty booked up until March next year! I’ve been trying to squeeze holidays in somewhere!
Hopefully! Sounds like you deserve it!
Cameron Avery Tour Dates:
Sept 3 – The Vanguard, Sydney NSW
Sept 4 – Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane QLD
Sept 5 – The Workers Club, Melbourne VIC
Sept 13 – Mojo’s, Fremantle WA
Originally posted to Scenewave.com