Original photo by James Caswell. Handmade mixed-media collage by B.
Dynamic Meanjin/Brisbane based pop duo Doggie Heaven pull from well-worn paths of new wave and post-punk to create a freshness with their expressive and magnetic sound. There’s twinkling magic offset by emotional lyrics with bite on latest release double single Berghain / Haircut. We’re premiering song ‘Haircut’ today. Gimmie caught up with vocalist Isobel and multi-Instrumentalist, producer Kyle.
How did you both first meet?
KYLE: We met back in early 2020, at a call centre we both worked at. We were both stationed in different sections of the office, so we didn’t actually interact with one another properly until we bumped into one each other at rave one time.
Did you grow up in a creative family?
ISOBEL: Not particularly, although I definitely have a lot of music enthusiasts/snobs in my family. Growing up, my mum, uncle and I would have discos in my living room with blankets covering the windows listening to weird electronic music. Mum is mental for Bjork. My Granddad is super into his rock and jazz so I spent a lot of time listening to records with him from a young age. I was basically not allowed to listen to pop, which is ironic because I love cheesy pop music now.
K: No, not at all, although my grandad was a professional jazz musician. I think he even released a few albums, though, I’ve never been close with him/ had much to do with him.
Is Doggie Heaven the first band/musical project you’ve been a part of?
K: yeah pretty much, but I’ve been producing music alone for years without ever releasing it.
I: I was in a punk band a few years ago that never really amounted to anything unfortunately. I never imagined myself making music until that point because I was basically just a huge drama kid who loved to write and perform and didn’t (and still don’t) know how to play any instruments.
What made you want to make music with each other?
I: Kyle and I instantly bonded over our love of New Wave music from the 80s and I think we just balance each other out really well in terms of our creative approaches and skill sets. Kyle is incredibly good at all the things I have no idea how to do. Without him, I would probably just be doing terrible stand-up comedy or something.
K: Yeah, I think me and Izzy clicked pretty quickly over our shared taste in music. Even beyond the new wave and 80s stuff; we both listen too many styles and genres and are always sharing new discoveries with one another. Aside from that, after meeting Isobel I very quickly learned how fun and unique she was. I remember her telling me she could sing early on, but even before we’d ever sat down to jam or whatever I knew there was something special about her; and then yeah, shit just kinda worked/clicked immediately.
Doggie Heaven’s name is a Simpsons reference; do you have a favourite character or episode?
K: Yes it is, haha. I love the Simpsons so much. I was raised on that shit. Tough question, I couldn’t tell you what my favourite episode is, but my favourite character is Mr. Burns.
I: There are too many brilliant episodes… but I definitely always go back to the episode where they go to New York. Mr Burns is for sure the best character, but also Marge is so hot and I love her sexy voice.
We’re premiering song ‘Haircut’; what inspired it lyrically and musically?
I: ‘Haircut’ is the tortured tale of having a crush on someone when you have an anxious-preoccupied attachment style. You just want to feel butterflies and excitement, but it’s clouded by an overwhelming feeling of stress. Having said that, this is undoubtedly a bop that you can dance that pain away to.
K: I did the instrumental for haircut around this time last year. I wasn’t really sure what our sound was supposed to be yet, (and we’re still figuring that out!) But I remember I was defs inspired and listening to a lot of 80s pop and new wave tracks (which you will still find me doing regularly). Think Madonna, Tears For Fears and New Order etc.
‘Haircut’ along with song ‘Berghain’ is out as a double single 7” on Colossus Records; what can you tell us about the cover art image?
I: So that’s a photo of me when I was around 6 years old dressed as Cruella Deville from 101 Dalmations. We thought it was very fitting for our band name. Photo credit to my Grandma, Margaret.
You’re launching your release soon; how do you feel when performing? What was the best or worst show you’ve ever played and what made it so?
K: I used to be a little nervous at first, but now I really enjoy getting into it and try to put on a show. The way I write/record music is maybe a little less traditional than your typical band, I kinda just sit down and record every individual part, layering everything as I go. And there’s also no real limitations when you’re in a studio environment, I can sit down and just do a hundred takes on a part to get it right if I have to. So it can get kinda tricky when It comes time to translate it all to our live show, especially when the part I’ve written is outta my reach skill-wise. I think I learned pretty quickly that I’m not at all the musician I thought I was in terms of discipline after performing regularly. Huge wake-up call there.
Hard to pick a best or worst show; a bad show can be a fun show and a good show can be a stressful one. It’s what you make of it really, and I’m just happy to be here. I think they’re all great.
I: I’ve been performing basically my whole life so as cringe as this sounds, I think I feel a lot more comfortable on stage than I do off it. I would definitely agree with Kyle in that a bad show is kind of fun and hilarious. There has been a couple of times that we’ve played in front of like 5 people and we really just let loose and had a laugh. Obviously it’s just such a beautiful feeling to perform for a full house who are dancing and know some of the words though.
Photo: Jhonny Russell.
What excites you the most about music at the moment? What have you been listening to lately?
I: I’m loving discovering local music at the moment. There’s nothing like turning up to a show and not knowing what to expect then being blown away! Some local acts that I’m obsessed with would be Square, Scraps, Verity Whisper, Guppy and Naaki Soul.
K: I just loving writing new music. It’s so fun and fulfilling. It never gets old. I’ve been super into Show Me The Body’s new album, Alex G’s new one and also Dry Cleaning’s!
What’s your most precious possession?
K: I would say my cat but he isn’t exactly classed as a “possession” lol. Probably my bed or something. Idk. I really love sleeping. I would sleep more if I could.
I: I have this Teletubby toy that is the most munted thing you’ve ever seen in your life. She’s been mauled by a dog and out clubbing to the valley a few times but still going strong.
What’re you looking forward to and what’s in the works for Doggie Heaven in 2023?
I: Super keen to get an EP out soon. Our sound is already developing a lot and we can’t wait to show you how much it’s grown!
K: Looking forward to taking our live show interstate and maybe overseas. The Doggie Heaven EP is half done, aiming for a late summer – early autumn release!
Original photo courtesy of Display Homes. Handmade collage by B.
Eora/Sydney 3-piece Display Homes are back with new music! The asymmetric guitars, bass grooves and dynamic drums we’ve come to love on their previous two EPs are all there brighter than ever on forthcoming debut album What If You’re Right & They’re Wrong?. It’s raw but sharp, minimalist and danceable. Their pop sensibilities make it accessible while their post-punk leanings make it exciting. We’re calling it now as one of our favourite albums of the year!
Today Gimmie are premiering first single ‘CCTV’ with accompanying video shot via CCTV at a pub vocalist Steph King once worked at. We caught up with the band for a yarn.
We’re excited that you have new music coming out. The sneak peek copy of your debut full-length album, What if you’re right & they’re wrong? has been on high rotation at Gimmie HQ! It’s one of our favourite releases we’ve heard so far this year. How long have you been working on it and how does it feel to be releasing it into the world?
GREG CLENNAR: Thanks, glad to hear you are enjoying it! We recorded the album at the end of 2020 and the songs were written over the two years prior to that, so it has been a long time coming. To finally announce the album is very exciting to say the least. The delay caused by COVID and the subsequent delay with pressing plants has drawn it out as I am sure many other bands have experienced. It’ll definitely be a relief once it’s out.
What influences have shaped Display Homes’ sound?
GC: I’m not sure if there’s been any one collective influence for our sound, even though it may come across that way. At our first ever practice, none of us had any idea of what we wanted to do, except that Darrell had already declared our name was Display Homes, which Steph and I both wholeheartedly endorsed. We didn’t even know who was going to sing, which entailed a few failed attempts on mine and Darrell’s behalf before realising that Steph was clearly the best singer in the band. As we evolved and the sound started to make more sense, I think we started to draw more on influences from bands of the 80s like Delta 5, AU Pairs, Pylon, B-52s etc, who we all love.
How has the band grown from 2019’s EP E.T.A.?
DARRELL BEVERIDGE: In 2019 we all lived together in one of the most beautiful sharehouse in Marrickville. Seriously, this place was incredible, a true Display Home inhabited by us FRAUDS. It looked like one of those places that instagram bedsheet companies use to shoot their ads and people look at them and go, “If I get these pistachio coloured sheets, maybe I can live somewhere like that!” Unfortunately the owner dogged us and kicked us out because they wanted to move back in.
In terms of progression as a band, I think we’ve just tightened a few loose screws. When we were recording the album and I was doing guitar for one of the songs, Owen the producer stormed into the room on about the 38th take of a very simple guitar part and said to me, “You keep hitting that top string, do you even use it?” I replied, “I do not.” Owen: “Then take it out!” So now I only play with 5 strings (seriously). So technically, I’ve regressed musically.
Where did the album title come from?
STEPH KING: I always find it hard to give anything a title. I couldn’t think of a title for one of the songs on the album and I asked Darrell and he named it ‘Neenish’– which was the name of his cat at the time, probably because he remembered he needed to feed her. It worked out surprisingly well as the lyrics very much matched the behaviour of a little kitty cat.
I was struggling to think of an album name and was rewatching season 1 of Fargo during lockdown. What if you’re right & they’re wrong? is the quote on the poster in the basement that Lester reads moments before he loses the plot. It just stuck with me. I asked Greg and Darrell what they thought, and they liked it, so we went with it. I think if I asked Darrell for an album name he probably would have suggested ‘Beans’ – which is the name of his current cat. But cat names can only go so far.
Photo courtesy of Display Homes.
We’re premiering first single ‘CCTV’ as well as the video for it, which is your first music video. Tell us about the writing of ‘CCTV’.
SK: The lyrics were inspired by a game that I’d play when I was bored on long car trips using letters from number plates. Using the three letters I would add one more letter to make a word. I came up with a drum beat and brought it to practice and then Greg and Darrell added their parts. I think it was one of the quickest songs we have ever written. Over time I have found that if I bring an idea to practice that has the drums and vocals already aligned it makes it a lot easier. Playing both at the same time means they really need to work together, and if it isn’t written with that in mind, it can be a struggle to play live.
The album was recorded and mixed by Owen Penglis; what brought you to working together? What was recording like? What was one of the most fun moments for you? What was one of the most challenging?
DB: I met Owen close to 10 years ago and was actually going to record one of my old bands EP with him (we were called Sucks) but we ended up going with someone cheaper for the same reason one would drink cask wine over bottled wine. Sucks were cask-punk, Display Homes is more bottle-punk. It’s still cheap but it’s in a bottle at least.
It was all fun except for this satanic devil dog in the studio that had it in for me and wanted to fucking bite me all the time. I find recording really difficult and uncomfortable and while I enjoyed the process as a whole, actually doing my parts made me pretty self-conscious on many levels. Why am I self conscious? Why do I keep fucking these parts up? But Owen was great, he could really pull you out of your head. Just as you’d finish a song and convince yourself you had nailed it, you would look up and see Owen with a big smile and he would say, “Tune your guitar and do it again!” He really encouraged us to get the best out of the recordings.
The video was made using the CCTV cameras at the Cricketers Arm Hotel, a pub, that Steph used to work at. Steph, what were some of the best and worst bits about working there?
SK: The Crix is a very special place. It’s the best pub in Sydney! It’s like the clock stopped in 1995 and everything is the same. It was my first job when I moved to Sydney and the overwhelming sense of community with staff and locals was very welcoming. Worst bits – hmm, it’s near the SCG so maybe on game nights when rude men would buy three Jack and Cokes at a time. It always felt weird, kinda like the outside world was entering the pub for a few hours and then leaving again.
What do you remember most about the day of filming ‘CCTV’?
SK: It was an interesting music video to ‘shoot’ because there wasn’t a great deal of shooting involved. As it was all done on the CCTV cameras, we would set up in front of one of the cameras with the help of our very good friend Luke Smith who brought along some lights and his handy cam to get some additional footage. I would yell out to our friends who we coaxed into coming along with a couple of free beers “Ok everyone we are doing it now”, often without anyone hearing me, and then one of the bartenders would start the song on the speakers so that we could try and play along to keep the footage in time. We couldn’t hear a thing and every take we would finish a couple of seconds before the recording ended. The whole day was very much an experiment and even by the end of it we didn’t know what was caught on the cameras. It wasn’t until we got home that we could really try and figure out how we would put it all together.
What was it like putting together the downloaded footage for the clip?
SK: The first hurdle was downloading the footage. After we finished up for the day I was told by the pub manager that “the security camera guy is coming in the morning and last time he came he wiped all the footage from the system”. Panic mode kicked in at the thought of losing it all and involved me arriving at the pub at 7.30am the next morning and contacting several different people to get a hold of the key that opened the cupboard of the security system. I kid you not, there was about 10 seconds remaining on the last piece of footage as the camera guy was walking up the stairs at 10.30am. Then came sorting through the thousands of files of footage, which was very tedious, but also very fun at times. It was my first time editing and I obsessed over it for months – but we got there in the end and we are all really happy with it.
Which is a favourite from the album?
DB: I liked recording ‘Proof Read’. When Steph was doing the vocals, me and greg were standing in the other room looking through the window psyching her up to make her get as tough and intense as she could. Jumping up and down yelling “GO STEPH!!! FUCKING BELT IT OUT!!!!!! YESSS !!!! IT’S A HIT!!!!” Steph nails it in that song I reckon.
Album closer ‘Aufrutschen’ was on the E.T.A. cassette; how do you feel the album version has changed?
DB: Part of me didn’t want to do it, but then I remembered growing up hearing multiple versions of the same song from bands I liked – I really liked that. Like a live recording, EP version, and then an album version or whatever. I always thought there was no bad that could come from that. If people like it they’ll listen to both, if they don’t they’ll listen to neither. It’s like if you put $5 in the pokies and got $10 credit, or put nothing in there and got nothing. Everybody wins! Or no-one wins! Take your pick!
We love the album art; who did it?
SK: We actually had a completely different cover that I did on lino. We were sitting on it for a while and I just wasn’t sold on it. I am studying architecture and almost every semester I always partnered up with my friend Allyson because we worked so well together. We always managed to produce our best work at the last minute. Five minutes before a presentation we both grabbed pastels and started scribbling our building on the page. I asked her if she would mind if I used it for the album cover and she said go for it (thanks Allyson!). It reminds me of a time when my studies and hobbies were at peak productivity. Sometimes it’s crazy how much you can get done in a day.
Can you tell us a fun fact about Display Homes?
GC: When we supported Real Estate at the metro the official run sheet said ‘Display House’. As Darryl Kerrigan of The Castle says, “It’s a home not a house”.
What do you do when not making music?
SK: I think I can answer this one for all of us. We all work 9-5, enjoy swimming laps, and eating delicious charcoal chicken.
What’s next for Display Homes?
GC: The record will be out on Erste Theke Tontrager this European Summer and then we will look to play some album launch shows. We have played Melbourne and Brisbane before but we are excited to play some other cities/towns this time round. We have started writing some new music too, so maybe another album!
Original photo by Jamie Wdziekonski. Handmade collage by B.
Naarm/Melbourne band The Stroppies check in with Gimmie from the road, where they’re currently on a 20-date tour across the UK. May 6 will see them release new album Levity through Tough Love Records. Levity is darker than previous records, with their exploration and experimentation pushing the pop song even further than before, culminating in 10 focused tracks of their strongest work yet. Latest single ‘Smilers Strange Politely’ dropped overnight with an accompanying clip filmed on a phone while on tour. Gimmie caught up with guitarist/vocalist Gus Lord.
You’re on tour supporting Paul Weller; how’s everything going? How are you feeling? What’s been the highlight so far?
GUS LORD: Yes, we are. It’s all going disturbingly well. We are having the pleasure of playing some lovely old Victorian era music halls and have been enjoying taking in the English countryside each day on the drives. Because we are support, we generally finish work at 9:00pm so It’s been very leisurely! The highlight of the tour has been the trip we took to Stonehenge on the way to Cornwall.
What’s it been like watching someone as legendary as Paul play night after night? Have you learnt anything or observed anything really cool?
GL: It’s been awesome. I don’t know if there’s anything that I’ve observed that sticks out but there’s a level of professionalism that permeates the whole experience, from the production to the performance and that kind of rubs off on you. I think we’ve become a better band. He’s a generous guy with his time and his words so that’s been nice too. Certainly, we have been made to feel very welcome and appreciated which is not usually the experience I’ve had when supporting larger artists.
Do you have any tour rituals?
GL: Tour is pretty banal so this is a bit of lame answer. We generally try and sniff out a Pret A Manger each morning. Pret a Manger is an English food franchise that deals in baguettes and coffee. It’s reliable.
Which track from the new record have you been most excited to perform?
GL: I’m looking forward to performing a song called ‘Caveats’. It’s a moody, crooner type pop song. The song is about technology, modern channels of communication and the commodification of the self. We’ve been playing a song called ‘Entropy’ on this tour which is kind of similar and it’s got me pumped to do some more songs like this.
It’s almost time for The Stroppies new album Levity to be released into the world; in a nutshell, what’s the album about? It feels a little darker than previous releases.
GL: It is darker. It’s been a dark time! I think it rocks harder than our previous records which is good. I don’t think there’s a grand statement to the record it’s just a continuation of our artistic development, utilising the pop song as a conduit for personal reflection. If I had to point to anything though I would say the answer is in the album title. Levity means to treat a serious matter with humour or a lack of respect. A lot of the songs on the record have heavy themes but they are intentionally obfuscated to make something more palatable through the music.
Album cover by Jamie Wdziekonski.
The band’s creative process is usually to create open ended music, quickly and haphazardly, this time around due to the global pandemic, as you were in Naarm, you were working within the confines of one of the longest lockdowns in the world; how did you navigate this? What new approach did you come up with to bring these songs to life?
GL: Well the quick part still rings true. We started recording in December and delivered the masters by February. Haphazard not so much, because in order to meet the deadline we had to focus and rehearse a fair bit. Due to Covid we couldn’t be present for the mixing of the album which was interesting. The inability to be present meant we had to hand this thing we were working on over to someone else and let them handle it without our influence. When we got the first mixes back, we were kind of overwhelmed cause they were quite bold. I don’t think it would have gone that way if things had been normal but I’m glad it did. I think the mix John did really added something special to it.
What did you love most about the process of making Levity?
GL: Just having an excuse to put time aside and have something to focus on. Everything was very diffuse and confusing during lockdown for me, and I lost a bit of enthusiasm for music making. It was great to have a project to work on.
You’ve just released single ‘Smilers Strange Politely’; what inspired the song?
GL: I’d had the title for the song kicking around in my notebook since the early days of the band. I was always trying to stick it to something a bit weirder but when me and Claudia were workshopping a poppy chord progression it slotted in nice and found its home. It’s a play of the phrase strangers smile politely and it came to me as I was standing at the train station during peak hour, awkwardly face to face with a stranger.
Photo: Jamie Wdziekonski.
The clip was shot while you’ve been on tour; where was it shot? Can you tell us a little about the shoot? It looks like it was really cold!
GL: It was shot in Cornwall on my mobile phone during a short stint of pre tour relaxation time we had. It’s a magic part of country with rolling hills joined together by little roads that are flanked by high stone walls cut into the earth with lots of little villages dotting the coast. The field we were in was adjacent to an old church dating back to (I think) the 14th century. It’s full of gravestones including one of a poor man who was “blown apart by cannonball” in the 18th century. Claudia’s father shot the video and in a nice bit of symmetry, he had actually made his own horror movies shot on Super 8 film as a teenager at the same church with his friends when he was 15 years old. The movies were full of fake prosthetics and practical effects. There was talk of combining some of his old footage with what we shot but we ended up opting for the simpler single shot because it doesn’t make much sense to have Dracula in the video clip.
What’s next for The Stroppies?
GL: We will launch Levity in Melbourne 28th of May at the Curtin. There will be some regional/interstate dates too although those are TBC. Beyond that, hopefully just make another record and soon. The last 6 months have been inspiring so looking forward to getting into it.
Photo courtesy of Adele; handmade mixed-media art by B.
Meanjin/Brisbane trio Adele & The Chandeliers play jubilant pop with post-punk energy, full of charm, playfulness and sparkle. Before forming the group, vocalist-bassist Adele Pickvance was a member of The Go-Betweens plus solo work with Robert Forster & Grant McLennan, and did multiple albums with The Dave Graney Show. Gimmie interviewed Adele about moving to Brisbane from the UK as a teen, beginnings as a musician, a love of Pete Shelley, the band’s debut LP First Date and of what the future holds.
You first moved to Brisbane from Bury in Lancashire as a teenager; what were your first impressions of Brisbane? What was the music scene like? Was it an exciting time for you?
ADELE PICKVANCE: I was 15. The smells of Brisbane’s flora and the bugs and creatures… and the heat and humidity really threw me. There were a lot of changes to get used to. My school uniform for one… suddenly I could, and everyone else could, see my white hairy legs. They seemed to glow in the sunlight. My parents promised me a pony in our back garden so I could ride to school, but it ended up being a bicycle to ride to Sandgate High and that was bloody hard work as we lived at the top of a hill.
I think we all watched too much Skippy The Bush Kangaroo as prep for immigration.
In England, I was listening to music by Depeche Mode, Visage Fun Boy 3, etc and anything on Top Of The Pops and sometimes The Old Grey Whistle Test if I stayed up late enough. My world was BBC radio and TV. The only experience of Aussie music I had was Men At Work. At the time, I had heard of The Go Betweens, but I thought they were a punk band from Germany, not Australia, probably because they were spending a lot of time touring there.
When we landed in Brisbane, it was Radio 10 and commercial radio again. Cold Chisel, etc… I didn’t quite get it… so I was happy to continue to listen to my old mix cassette tapes.
I know that you come from a musical family, both your father and grandfather were musicians. Early on you played violin, who or what inspired you to switch to playing bass guitar?
AP: My dad used to play in the clubs in England as organist and generally with a 3-piece band. One morning I woke up and found a Vox bass guitar on my bed, he told me it fell off the back of a truck! Bass guitar has 4 strings, like the violin, but the other way round, so I jumped onto it quickly. When we arrived in Brisbane, I had left behind my violin teacher, the youth orchestra and my grandad, who I adored, as we would play violin duets together. There was no music at Sandgate High so the violin stayed in the case and my bass guitar became my instrument.
Can you please share with us an album that has had a really big impact on you? How did it effect you?
AP: At the time, I was soaking bass lines and had a nice set up in the Granny flat underneath the house in Brisbane with the record player and bass amp. Kissing To Be Clever by Culture Club hit me. At the time I didn’t understand my attraction to the album, I just loved it and learnt the bass parts. I’d come home from school, switch on the record player and turn on my amp and play along to it on repeat. Now on reflection, it was the gathering of different types of styles like soul, reggae, pop and calypso. Each song had the magical taste of Soho, London, which was something I was being drawn to. And of course, Boy George and his gender bending was appealing to me.
You’ve had long stints as a member of The Go-Betweens plus solo work with Robert Forster & Grant McLennan, and four albums with The Dave Graney Show; why was it finally time for you to do your own thing with your band Adele & The Chandeliers?
AP: I moved to Sydney in 2010, after playing with recording and touring Robert’s The Evangelist album, and made a record with Glenn Thompson called Carrington Street of which the two of us toured, and I suddenly then realised I wasn’t getting offered the gigs as a bass player that I used to get so frequently and easily. I moved back to Brisbane in 2017 and still the phone didn’t ring, and so thought if I wanted to continue making music and performing music, I would have to form my own band and do it myself.
How does it feel to be the person up the front singing the songs now? Is it ever scary for you? What feeling do you get from playing live?
AP: I might be in denial, but I still feel like I’m not the centre of attention. And there’s something about being a wee older and wiser. It’s never been scary… more exciting and a wee bit nervous which helps me play better. My bass guitar gives me superpowers too! It is a different headspace and I’ve had to come to terms with being the one who is responsible for the maintenance of the band/ keeping it going/ planning, etc… That’s all new to me. I love playing live, I’ve gigged since I was 17. My comfort zone is plugging the jack in to the bass, switching the amp on, testing the microphone and being on stage. It’s not the glory of being on stage, it’s the making of music that’s the thrill for me. I think the audience picks up on the energy and excitement.
One of the first things your band released was recorded during one of the group’s first ever sessions in the studio, the Buzzcocks’ song ‘Love You More’; has this song got a special significance to you? What do you appreciate about Pete Shelley’s songwriting?
AP: I was in a cover band when I was 21 called Torn Sweaters, three girls, guitar, bass and drums, and we did a version of that song. It’s a song that’s always stuck with me, it’s such a great song to play and you have to be a bit brave to sing it, you almost shout it out. When Pete Shelley had passed away, I did a really big deep dive back into Buzzcocks.
The Chandeliers’ original drummer, Ash Shanahan loved to play fast and I believe we ended up recording the song quicker than the Buzzcocks version, which I was shocked about… as that feels really quick.
The connection I have with Buzzcocks is of course Pete Shelley. I think of him as a queer guy in a 70’s/80’s DIY punk band singing love songs that aren’t about specific genders and I really like and admire that. I like to think my songs are similar… And of course, he’s from around Manchester.
At the end of last year Adele & The Chandeliers released your debut LP First Date; where did the album title come from?
AP: Our album name comes from a band discussion with Scott Mercer and Ash Shannahan when we first started. We felt like we were on a first date of sorts with all those similar questions of: do we want to hang out together? Do you want to commit to turning up to rehearsals? Do we have a connection? And of course, when considering touring: does anyone snore?
The album’s cover photo features your parents, Bill and Alma, at Manchester United Supporters Club, Deansgate, England 1965; was this their first date? Is this why you chose it as the cover image?
AP: The older I get the more I see the nostalgia and hip coolness caught in their black and white photos. They were bohemian types. The First Date cover photo was the first photo of them together. Dad had just finished his gig with his jazz band and mum brought her girlfriend with her as she knew she wanted to chat up the pianist as she had seen him and his band play before. I love this moment where everyone is having a good time sitting on the edge of the stage, you can see there’s a sparkle happening.
How did First Date get started? Tell us a little bit about writing the record. Were many of the songs in your notebooks for a while beforehand?
AP: Two of the songs are from an early solo EP recorded at home in Sydney called My White Rabbit. I released that around 2017. The other Chandeliers’ songs were formed from riffs or chords on the guitar that I record onto my phone, and I make sure I write in my notebook any line or idea I have…. then the two meet. I record roughly into my home studio then send off to the band for us to have a crack at the next rehearsal. We then record the songs at band rehearsal, then listen back and try again next week. When I write, I try to make the songs come quickly. II don’t like to spend a lot of time overworking the words and the music. I try to maintain the initial spontaneity and the guts and vibe of a song in the final result. There’s a chance to think about keyboards and extra guitar parts after the sessions in the studio, when we get the songs home.
How does a song most often come to you?
AP: I generally start with a predicament or a thought and I write notes in my book. I come up with catchy riffs and I play them on my bass and record into my phone and then try to get the two to meet. Generally, in my bedroom. That’s where the good songs come from.
There’s a universal theme of love that runs through each track on the LP; what inspired you to write about love in its many different forms?
AP: Writing about love isn’t intentional. I used to write a lot of miserable love songs with the acoustic guitar in my 20’s and 30’s. I wasn’t miserable, it’s just what I did. As I’ve aged, I’ve turned it around with the Chandeliers to be up and pop… bright, and I guess that’s where the Chandeliers come from – light and bright. Nothing miserable there, up and fun, but I’m still thinking about the curly things about love and the wayward adventures I get myself into. I like to play with it.
Cam Smith at Incremental Records record First Date; what was one of your favourite moments from recording?
AP: Cam creates a relaxed environment in his studio and nothing is too difficult, which encourages everyone. I like to work fast. My favourite moment was when we invited Karin Bäumler to sing her response to the song German On My Mind in her native tongue of Bavarian. Ive known Karin for many years, since 1995 and it was the first time we had sang together. We planted the microphone in the middle of the room so we could both sing into it, face to face. I had no idea what Karin was responding/saying… but it sounded great and we had a ball!
What’s next for you?
AP: I’m writing in my notebook, sitting on my bed, there’s new songs in the pipeline for Adele & The Chandeliers. We’ve been gigging a little, and we’re always looking for shows. We don’t mind if it’s in a back garden.
We’ve had a change of drummer. My brother Jonny Pickvance has joined us and he’s bringing a new energy to our songs. I feel like we’re going to make some great new work because of the familiarity Jonny and I have, even though we come from different styles of music… Scott, myself and Jonny all have a playful sense of humour. I have a feeling the next record will be even more playful, with a little more splash of old rock’n’roll.
Canadian artist Patrick Flegel creates heart-wrenching, hauntingly devastating music with project Cindy Lee. Sounding akin to classic 60s Girl Groups but recast for now, with atmospherics and dreamy melody, the sheer beauty of these somber and at times wild songs that push and pull in many directions make for compelling listening.
Why is music important to you?
PATRICK FLEGEL: It makes me feel good. I’ve loved music since I was a kid. It’s a really uplifting thing, yeah?
Yeah! Why is recording music one of your favourite things to do?
PF: It’s just so engaging! It’s a certain kind of headspace where you’re not thinking about anything else. I guess it’s kind of an escapist thing… [pauses; a siren is sounding in the background]… sorry there’s just this crazy storm here, a full on downpour, lightening striking the trees!
It sounds pretty full on where you are! When you go to record, do you have a song that’s fully formed or do you create as you’re recording?
PF: Writing and recording are kind of the same thing to me but I’ll be rehashing and thinking of stuff constantly, pretty obsessively. It’s a pretty time demanding thing. I play guitar all the time and that’s usually where things will start or I’ll come up with something. A lot of the stuff I have released, people would say they’re “demo recordings” but I am usually just happier with it and over it by the time that’s done so I’m not going to go into some studio and redo it… sorry, I’m kind of thrown by the storm and everything happening here, I’m squatting in the street [laughs]. I just go until I can’t anymore, it’s definitely a bingeing, obsessive kind of thing.
I read that you’re actually working on a new record already called Diamond Jubilee?
PF: Yeah, I am. That’s the tentative name for the record but I actually moved to North Carolina, temporarily anyways, that put a wrench in things. I’m going to be moving into a house to set up a temporary studio and I’ll start on that. I wanted to have it out this summer but obviously circumstances has put a wrench in a lot of things. I also came down here. I think I’ll finish it by Halloween.
Nice! That’s exciting news. I can’t wait to hear it. What prompted your move to North Carolina?
PF: My partner! We wanted to be together so I came down here.
Aww that’s lovely, I love love! It’s my favourite thing besides creativity and nature. It’s really important.
PF: Yeah, it’s kind of the bottom-line [laughs].
You’ve already put out two albums this year – What’s Tonight to Eternity and Cat o’ Nine Tails – and with the one you’re working on that will make a third; did you expect to put out that many albums this year?
PF: Yeah, that’s just what I want to do. When you’re working with a label, it can take a year before your record comes out, even though it’s done. There’s a way things are normally done and then the way that I would like to do things. I just have so many ideas all of the time and it’s all that I want to do—it’s what I’m driven to do. I want to make more music more often, it’s that simple I guess.
Do you feel that there’s a connection through all three albums? Do they tell a complete story together or are they separate things?
PF: I have no idea of what I’m going to move into but I wanted to move into the more positive, I don’t know if that will be in terms of sounds or the lyrics—it’s just where I’m at. I feel like everything that I have done so far is really doom and gloom and taboo and the dark corners of things. Now that’s not what I want to put out into the world, not even because of what’s happening [the global pandemic], I think things have always been bad [laughs]. It’s just where I’m at personally, where I’m at as a person… you were saying that love is more important, I want more of that kind of feeling, something that makes people feel good. The kind of music I have been listening to more, over the last four or five years, has been basically easy listening, light music [laughs], that’s kind of pacifying, background music. I have no idea what it is going to sound like or whether it’s going to be doom or gloom again, let’s get real [laughs]. What I have in my head is a pleasant-sounding record that’s comforting and isn’t just some kind of hell ride!
I think you’ll surprise yourself!
PF: Yeah! You always set out to do something but you never know. By the time it’s wrapped up, for better or for worse, you’re in awe of what actually happens. It might be a bad thing, or a good thing [laughs].
I know you’re still working on the new record but to me in a way it sounds kind of like a rebirth, like everything you’ve gone through on your last two albums, all the doom and gloom, the heaviness and darkness, it’s almost like you faced all these different things and now it’s like a triumph over those things and a much deserved celebration.
PF: Yeah, I would like that. Of course things will still be a hot mess and complicated but more personally I’m leaning in a different new direction than I have, my head isn’t in the place it was… that’s where the title comes from too… just the mentality of self-victimisation and self-indulgence, this inward, often selfish state of mind you can get in when you’ve got some mental health shit going on. I just don’t want to hear it anymore, over time I’ve just wanted more pleasant sounds. I’m not listening to this hell ride, anguish kind of music, I want music to make me feel good or have it really take me somewhere… just spiritual music in general where I would think of gospel music or choral music. Where it is terrifying and confronting some dark things but ultimately it’s… oh, I don’t know what I’m talking about.
Would you say that you’re a spiritual person?
PF: Oh, yeah, absolutely! It’s hard to talk about in short without sounding kind of woo-woo. For me it’s a more big picture perspective. If I think about universal consciousness, that’s where my head’s at. Part of it would be that I see things in the big picture, what I mean is, 300 years ago the clothes that people were wearing and the things they were saying and the big ideas they had, we look at it now… in the future people will look at us in the same way; I feel like there’s this perpetual oblivion that everyone’s in. In that context it seems like unnecessary human suffering, or it seems redundant. All this domination and exploitation, greed and whatever, it seems redundant to me in the big picture, whatever people are in competition for, in the bigger picture I don’t see the point in this competition that everyone’s got.
Do you set timelines for yourself making your Cindy Lee work?
PF: I just make the time to do, it takes a lot of time to do it. It sounds haphazard to a lot of people I think but it actually takes hundreds sometimes thousands of hours to make a record, from the conception of a part that turns into a song, to the actual mastered final version of twelve songs or whatever.
When you get lost in making music and time goes by and you’re not even noticing, is that in a way a meditation for you?
PF: It absolutely is! You don’t think about anything else and it’s a whole self-expression. It sounds ridiculous but it really is a transcendent state of mind; you’re not even there or something. It’s like any kind of physical activity like maybe chasing a ball or having sex or any visceral thing like that, I feel like music ties into that where you’re just fully engaged and you might just forget your own name [laughs].
I feel that way with interviewing. I just do it because I enjoy it and I like sharing music, art and stories with people. I’ve done it well over half my life. No one is paying me to do it.
PF: If you make that sacrifice for a while – I mean it’s a total crap shoot as well – if you actually do what you want and do it well, whatever that means, maybe the two will cross over at some point where you don’t have to do things you don’t want to. Or maybe you don’t want the money to intersect with what you’re doing ‘cause it takes the fun out of it. Thankfully there’s just enough people that like my stuff that I can keep my head above water and float. These days I feel you can do anything and people are pretty open-minded. You don’t even have to fit in. Someone will show something to me like Kendrick Lamar’s albums and I’ll be like, what the fuck? This is one of the most popular music in the world! This music is wild! It’s unique and jarring and strange.
I’ve often found with some of the artists I’ve interviewed over the years, when they get popular and get some money they change and it makes them more sad. They wanted those things for so long but when they got them they realised it wasn’t what they thought.
PF: Oh yeah, I experienced that in my own life on a very minor level. To play music and tour like I did when I was younger, we’d do an album cycle, I didn’t even really know what that was at the time… I didn’t enjoy it at all – I had some good times – but the lifestyle of playing 150 to 200 live shows in a year and not making anything new, doesn’t appeal to me at all [laughs].
When I found your Cindy Lee stuff I thought it was just so cool, I didn’t know anything about your past bands.
PF: I’m most excited about everything I’ve been doing lately, that’s pretty normal for a creative person I think. I feel alright about it. Speaking of doing things that you don’t’ necessarily want to do, if you want to sell units sometimes you have to do stuff… I got a publicist for the last record, but you watch the press and publicist (who’s a friend of mine) people stumbling around queer… branding you… the whole thing makes me squirm, the way people talk about… just branding myself as queer, which I do align with that in my values and beliefs and the way I see things as far as I understand that stuff, but it’s also a funny thing to be branded by that… does that make sense?
It does. How has Cindy Lee helped you grow?
PF: It was a personal thing with… being from Calgary, I noticed it when I lived in Vancouver, Montreal, these places that grew up with the values in their family were very liberal or more left-leaning and got fast tracked into a way of seeing things and certain values… there was absolutely no representation of where I’m at now in my life when I was growing up, like none! It was stunting. When I was twenty-five I had an epiphany, realisation or meltdown revolving around my identity, my sexuality and these kinds of things. I feel like that’s maybe something some people go through younger. It feels like something that should have happened to me as a teenager but didn’t. It was a kind of revelation about things… I kind of ended up turning on that as well, I could talk about that for a long time. You start wondering what’s really motivating you to counter your masculinity with this superficial aspects of femininity and then the aspects of your personality in your mind that are aligned with femininity and then over the years kind of realising that it’s just using the same framework… for me to counter masculinity with these sign posts of femininity, or particularly the way I dress… I ended up feeling that I don’t know how much that adds up… for example, I talk about the Devil a lot in my music and that’s the opposite of Jesus or God, but it’s a hilarious thing to use this ammunition to fight against something, and have it be from the same book. It’s a long, weird road the way that I look at myself and feel about myself and what that means. So that’s been lumped into this creative process and publicly being put out there, growing up in public.
I’m grateful for people that have paved the way so it’s permissible for me to cross-dress in public and not in my experience get any trouble for it. People are actually congratulatory about it and that makes me feel weird [laughs]. Sometimes people talk to you like you’re a hero for cross-dressing. That’s a funny aspect of it. I think my experiences with gender identity… that’s probably why the music has so many hardcore ups and downs, bi-polar [laughs].
Talking to you now, you seems so happy.
PF: Oh yeah, I am. I had some pretty tumultuous periods, that are behind me; probably the last two or three years I got my feet on the ground. I had a pretty sloppy existence [laughs].
What helped get your feet on the ground?
PF: My relationship with alcohol definitely has been a huge thing, when I did the first Cindy Lee cassette [Tatlashea] my life was a wreck but when I did Act of Tenderness and Malenkost there was a period where I didn’t drink for three years, nothing. I’ll occasionally drink now, but it’s something I’m always considering; I would attribute it to that. Taking responsibility for myself and caring about myself, that’s leaning in a different way for me, to realise that I am worthy and not inferior, basic self-help things. When I stopped drinking it was amazing, that’s the most creative stretch that I’ve had to that point, when I went sober. That’s been a consistent thing since then. I live like I’m retired or something, I live very slow; I eat, shower, sleep and make music, just really basic things that appear to be easy for other people [laughs].
Do you have routine to your day?
PF: I just go with the flow. I have things set up so I don’t have a ton of obligations and I can do things at my own pace—I’m living very cautiously! [laughs].
I heard a [David] Bowie interview and he was saying like “art’s a car you can crash over and over and walk away from” which I appreciated. He talked about how chaotic his life was when he was younger and how he wanted to pour that insanity into his music… it may be obvious but I think that’s really the kind of person I would like to be, I’m taking care of myself and the people I care about and maintaining things in my life and then in my creative world I can just go straight to hell if I want to! [laughs].
Anything else you’d like to share with us?
PF: I guess I just wanted to mention a couple of things as a buffer to what I was saying about spirituality so it doesn’t sound dumb. When I was a teenager I took a lot of psychedelics and that ties into my overarching… I’ve seen it! I’ve seen what I think reality actually is—infinite and formless and beyond our description.
Original photo: Chelsea King. Handmade collage by B.
There’s a little mystery surrounding Melbourne-based pop band Kosmetika and Gimmie love them so much we wanted to learn more so we interviewed co-founder, Veeka Nazarova.
Veeka, you were born in born in Khabarovsk in south-eastern Russia; what was it like growing up there?
VEEKA NAZAROVA: I love my hometown! It’s was definitely a very interesting and quirky place to grow up in. No doubt, it shaped me the way I am now and I have no regrets growing up in Khabarovsk! The ‘Far-East’ of Russia has a much tougher climate than the European side of our country and I reckon it definitely makes the Far-Eastern people stronger in some ways. When I was younger and growing up in Khabarovsk, we didn’t have much exposure to the Western world and the internet, so all the kids mainly listened to Russian or Russian-speaking bands/artists, watched Russian speaking TV-shows/films and sort of made up our own little sub-cultures! I mean… we definitely had pop punk and emo at the time [laughs]. It was a little bit of a blend, I suppose, but still predominantly Russian/Post-Soviet culture. It’s a completely different place right now in terms of the music and arts scene, unfortunately a lot of the ‘new’ generation in Khabarovsk are too absorbed in the social media and don’t want to put much effort into creativity. A lot of cool creatives I knew at the time have left to study in big cities such as Moscow and Saint-Petersburg and now permanently live there, and I think there haven’t been many others who would follow their creative pathways in Khabarovsk. On the other hand, I’m still friends with some musicians and artists who stayed in my hometown, but there is a handful of them and they definitely don’t make living as artists. I know it sounds grim but unfortunately in Russian culture, most of the time, you have to sacrifice your life to have a family and /or a ‘good job’ so a lot of people have given up their art/music dreams to 100% dedicate themselves to a family life or career. I really hope it can change one day.
When did you first discover music? How did you start playing music yourself?
VN: I first discovered music when I was seven. My parents brought a piano home and it was decided that I’ll be going to a special music school to learn piano, music theory and singing. It is very common in Russia for kids to go to music school, it’s a separate institution where you go after your ‘normal’ school hours. I guess I was always a musical kid singing here and there. My parents had a big music collection on CD and cassettes and that’s how I started getting into heaps of Soviet bands and weirdly enough they also had tapes of artists like Nirvana, Red Hot Chilli Peppers , Blur and Madonna and a lot of 80’s and 90’s disco music, so I was absorbing all these completely different influences [laughs].
How did Kosmetika come into being?
VN: Kosmetika is my first ever band and I always knew I will start or join one [laughs]. One day I decided to post on Facebook asking if anyone in Auckland wanted to start a group, half serious half joking, and suddenly Mikey [Ellis] responded asking me what I wanted to play. We started jamming every week and I got really into it and slowly we formed some solid ideas and Mikey recorded everything properly and mixed it all in his bedroom and vu a la the songs were ready! Then we both moved to Melbourne and asked Jake [Suriano], James [Lynch] and Dom [Moore] to join Kosmetika and have been playing together ever since!
Photo: Chelsea King.
Where did the name Kosmetika come from?
VN: The name ‘Kosmetika’ comes from one my favourite Soviet bands ’The Institution of Kosmetika-Nee Kosmetiki’, I am very inspired by this band. Also Kosmetika sounds like a cool word, sort of a mash up between ‘cosmetics’ and ‘cosmos’ …I don’t know, it is just my interpretation.
I understand your LP Pop Soap is lyrically about/themed on your experience of moving to New Zealand from Russia when you were younger; what was the catalyst for your move? Is there anything you vividly remember about your move?
VN: To be honest, I don’t think Pop Soap is about anything specifically or has a strong concept. It’s a collection of ideas. There is just one song that sort of talks about me moving to NZ but overall it highlights mine and Mikey’s experiences living in NZ and Australia and how we dealt with it. And yeah, back to your question about my moving to NZ. It was pretty hard and I couldn’t relate to a lot of things in their culture to start with, but now finally I consider it my home and miss it a lot, it’s a very precious place to me.
Another theme is of nostalgia and memories; is there anything particular that you get really nostalgic for?
VN: I can’t speak for Mikey, but as many people everywhere in the world, I get nostalgic about being a teenager or young adult and not having a lot of responsibilities. I think it’s the best time for creativity. I also get very nostalgic about 70’s and 80’s pop culture and style, it definitely has a special place in my heart, even though I can’t really explain why [laughs]. I guess it’s my ‘fake’ nostalgia.
Was there a song on Pop Soap that was particularly challenging for you to write?
VN: All the songs on our first album were written by Mikey and I, so whenever i would come up with an idea Mikey helped me to develop it further and vice versa. I guess it’s our process of writing music. I mainly have an initial melody or lyrics and Mikey just turns it into something much more solid and cooler. At the same time, heaps of the songs from Pop Soap were Mikey’s demos from ages ago, so it’s a bit of a mix. I can’t really emphasise any particular song that was hard for me to write because it’s a mutual process. I suppose the hardest part was to mix the songs that were recorded in a bedroom and Mikey did it all of it so, it was definitely hard for him in terms of a production.
I know that you had planned to release an EP of unreleased songs from your current live set; will we see it anytime soon? What inspired this idea?
VN: We have thought about releasing a small EP of the other songs but now we have a lot of ideas enough for another album or two, so we are currently deciding on what we are going to do with it [laughs]. We have recorded a bunch of songs with the band and without so just need to figure out how we would put it together, but something is definitely coming out soon so keep your eyes wide open!
Can you tell us about your favourite Kosmetika show you’ve played?
VN: My favourite Kosmetika show was probably when we played in Rebecca Allan’s kitchen at her house party. It was extremely loud and super hot but, I loved how packed the kitchen was and people going crazy trying to dance [laughs] great party!
How is not being able to play live because of the pandemic affecting both the band and yourself personally?
VN: Pandemic is very strange times for everyone for sure… At first I felt very productive and was coming up with many ideas almost every day and now since it has been dragging for so long, I have been feeling very jaded and quite frankly depressed. Every day is a challenge, trying to keep sane and at the same time trying to stay creative. It is very hard, but a lot of people are going through the same thing, so I know I’m not alone. It has definitely been super difficult to get together with the band. We had a few practices but unfortunately had to stop due to stage 4 restrictions. On the good side, Mikey and I live together and have a little studio set up in our room which is great for recording, so we are currently trying to finish off some ideas while we are in isolation.
Have you been working on anything new? Has anything been inspiring your creativity of late?
VN: As I said previously, we have been writing a lot of new music recently. I think a lot of inspo came from our imaginary worlds that we live in at the moment [laughs]. I personally have been getting inspired by a lot of 80’s Soviet music too. Being away from the Motherland makes me re-discover more things about my culture and turn it into the source for my inspiration I guess. But this is just my inspo things.
What bands/albums/songs have you been listening to lately?
VN: I have been listening to a lot of electronic 80’s music, more weird synth-y stuff [laughs]; a lot of European and Soviet music!
Outside of music what do you do?
VN: Outside of music I love to go for nature hikes, ride my bike around the city, take photos, read some old books and paint.
Original photo Mia McDonald. Handmade mixed-media art by B.
Melbourne duo Sleeper and Snake, Amy Hill and Al Montfort, are set to release new album Fresco Shed via brand new independent Australian label Lulu’s Sonic Disc Club (from the folks behind Lulu’s record store) and the UK’s Upset the Rhythm.
Sleeper and Snake craft beautiful and delicate songs about tough matters, their songs are political without being overtly so, you have to dig deeper, they make you think. Al and Amy skillfully and uniquely tell stories observed from their local surroundings of trains, farmers, corrupt handshakes, of Pentridge prison and the Melbourne war memorial. Through laid back alto and tenor saxophone peppered lo-fi soundscapes and poetic words, Fresco Shed sparks imagination and charms the listener.
Gimmie chatted to Al and Amy about the forthcoming LP and song “Flats” which we’re doing the Australian video premiere for today. We also talk about their other projects in the works.
What initially inspired you to write a new Sleeper and Snake album Fresco Shed?
AMY: Good question! [laughs].
AL: Yeah.
AMY to AL: You’re just always writing music, endlessly… it’s gotta go somewhere.
AL: We were writing a lot of Terry songs together…
AMY: We just enjoy playing music together.
AL: I guess…
AMY: Some of it didn’t suit that.
AL: Yeah. We had saxophones so we were making a lot of music with them.
I wanted to ask you about using saxophone, because that’s kind of a less traditional instrument to write songs with; have you been playing for very long?
AMY: No, not really. Al got one…
[Laughter]
AL: Yeah, I got one. I got a tenor sax from EBay from a fancy rich suburb in Sydney for 200 bucks! [laughs] …maybe six years ago when Total Control were up there for a gig. I didn’t bother getting any lessons, in case you can’t tell.
AMY: I tried to play it once and I managed to get sound out of it and he pestered me into playing [laughs]. Georgia from The UV Race plays saxophone and she had babies recently so she wasn’t using her saxophone, I managed to borrow hers and that’s what I’ve been playing. We thought it would sound quite cool to have the tenor and alto saxophones together. It seemed like a fun thing to do.
AL: Yeah. Amy just picked it up and was way better. She was a total natural at it straight away.
What do you enjoy about making music?
AL: It keeps me sane-ish. I think any kind of creative outlet is really important for people. The process of writing lyrics is a really great outlet for me to get through the day, to make things compute and it helps this horrible place make sense.
AMY: I think it’s just fun!
[Laughter]
Making something from nothing is the most fun!
AL: Totally!
AMY: Yeah. It’s also been a real social thing for me, I get to hang out with my friends and we do music together. It’s always been what you do, go see bands and play music together.
How have you guys been dealing with not being able to be as social and do those things, especially play live?
AMY: It’s pretty weird. At first it was almost like a little bit of a holiday from it. By playing in numerous bands we’d find ourselves playing something like four gigs a week, which is quite insane when you’re also working fulltime [laughs]. The first lockdown it was kind of a bit of a novelty but it starts to just become quite odd, I feel a bit odd. There’s a lot of people that you don’t see anymore because you’re not going out to see live bands. Your life feels a bit like it’s on hold, I guess most people would be feeling that.
I think so. I’ve been going to gigs my whole life and this has been the longest I’ve gone without going to see live music. Right now in Brisbane a handful of venues have brought back a live shows but with a small capacity and it’s sit down at tables, socially distanced; you pay the ticket price and then you have to pay a minimum of $40 each extra on top of that which is redeemable in bar tab or venue merch. That means for my husband and I to go see a local live band it can cost around $120; we don’t drink and we’re not going to spend $80 on soft drink and we don’t need venue merch, so these new rules excludes us from going to do something we’ve done and supported our whole lives.
AL & AMY: Whoa!
I can understand venues are in a weird spot with having limited capacity and not having been opened for a bit but to basically enforce a alcohol minimum to see bands is really weird.
AL: That is really weird.
AMY: Someone was telling me that Cherry Bar here in Melbourne was trying to gauge interest, they want to do a gig where there’s some hotel and it must have a courtyard in the middle and the rooms have balconies that look down on it; they want to have the bands in the courtyard and then you book a room, so it’s a festival where you have to have your own room. It’s insane.
Wow! Totally.
AMY: You have to have money to be able to do that!
Same with the bands doing gigs at drive-ins up here. It’s something like $200-$250+ per car to go.
AL: Whoa!
Yeah, it puts going to a show out of the reach of a lot of people, especially with many people losing their jobs.
AMY: Do you think people do it because they think they’re supporting live music? But then it’s so inaccessible for so many, it’s so weird.
Yeah, the kind of crowd that end up being able to afford it are the ones that go to a festival like Splendour In The Grass just for the experience… its crazy to me that festivals like Splendour have a stall/tent you can go to and get your hair done and a nail bar! I mean, what the actual fuck?
[Laughter]
Is there anything that frustrates you about making music?
AL: Hmmmm [thinks for a moment]… dealing with promoters. I think there are a lot of good promoters that have their heart in the right place, but I think the money making, money obsessed side of it…
AMY: It’s a bit grim!
AL: It is pretty grim. Even what’s happening now with the shutdown, I know a lot of the venues are keen to open up because there’s people that work for them and the landlords need money from the venues, the business owners need money and they’re pushing this stuff more than the artists I feel. I feel like the artists and the fans are like, let’s respect this, it’s OK…
AMY: We’ll just have a break. There’s a real push from the business side because they’ll go under if they don’t have the chance.
AL: I feel like maybe there’s not that much interest in the cultural, artistic side of musicians/artists… it’s more about the bottomline. That can be frustrating.
AMY: Some people probably love it, if they’re in it to make money [laughs].
AL: Yeah, totally.
Photo: Mia McDonald
I grew up in the punk rock community so I’ve always been very wary of the music industry.
AL: Yeah. I went to a lot of punk gig growing up, there weren’t many at pubs, there were many at cafes during the day or DIY venues, house parties, and they went along just fine without these huge bars making a lot of money off of people drinking themselves to death… I’m not quite straight edge but…
AMY: I guess there’s that thing that musicians often get paid in their bar tab to a certain degree which… it’s a bit of a weird normality that that’s what you get.
I’ve been listening to the new Sleeper & Snake album Fresco Shed all afternoon since I got a sneak peek of it, it’s so cool. The opener “Miracles” is an instrumental and has a feel about it sonically that is kind miraculous and magical sounding.
AMY: Thank you.
AL: “Miracles” is inspired by Scott Morrison when he won the election and was like “it’s a miracle… I’ll burn for you” and he kept on saying all this stuff about miracles [laughs]. It was really upsetting.
AMY: [Laughs].
That’s like how in the US Donald Trump said that the pandemic will “disappear… like a miracle”.
AL: A miracle! Ugggh… Love that! [laughs].
I love how Fresco Shed has a real gentleness to it but then the themes are very political and serious.
AL: Yeah. It’s funny just making the music at home because we don’t play through amps very much with this project. Because we’re doing it like that and playing at home using saxophone and that, it does become gentle in a way.
AMY: You don’t have to be loud.
AL: Maybe it’s just sad and defeated?
AMY: Sad?! [laughs].
AL: It’s that side of politics… it’s the sound of defeat [laughs].
I saw press photos and there was an abstract hand-painted “fresco shed” in the pics; did you make it yourself?
AMY: We were getting quite crafty in lockdown.
AL: [Laughs].
AMY: Al’s always trying to make papier-mâché things. In Terry he made the papier-mâché Terry. He likes to get crafty.
AL: Yeah, I like to get crafty! I was really proud of the corrugated iron type roof.
AMY: We envisioned a real shed covered in fresco paintings but then all we could physically achieve was a cardboard box [laughs]. We like making the art and being hands on in that way. We had a lot of time on our hands.
We were nerds and zoomed in on the photos to check out the paintings better and we noticed that each picture correlates to song themes on the record, you have the V-Line country train, Pentridge prison, crooked handshakes…
AL: It’s conceptual but literal [laughs].
AMY: Al told me what to paint and I just painted it, that was the rule! [laughs]; I said I’d paint it if he told me what to paint. They all relate to the songs.
I really love the image of the “farmer full of feelings”.
AMY: [Laughs].
AL: That’s one of my favourites, I think. That person definitely looks defeated!
That image is related to the song “Lady Painter”?
AMY: Yep. The farmer full of feelings has just watched a Scott Morrison press conference [laughs].
That song even mentions the “fresco shed” right?
AL: Oh yeah.
AMY: That’s where the title comes from.
We’re premiering the video for your song “Flats”; what’s that one about?
AL: We moved to a different suburb a year and a bit ago, Richmond is an inner east suburb of Melbourne…
AMY: No one we know really lives here, everyone lives north side. We moved to a suburb that’s kind of wealthy…
AL: It’s diverse, it has a lot of public housing but it’s really rich as well, heaps of wealthy people. You really see gentrification at that umpteenth level, how extreme it can get…
AMY: All the apartments going up and stuff. It was during summer and we were going for walks and we were talking about ideas and things and that kind of came up and that turned into a song.
AMY to AL: Did you write it?
AL: I think we both wrote it while we were walking around taking Tramadols [laughs]. We were walking by the Yarra River, it runs through the whole thing and you really see the worst of Settler society here…
AMY: All the wealthy people have their houses on the river and all the wealthy schools row on the river.
AL: There’s all these people with power next to disempowered people… AND it’s all on Stolen Land. Everywhere you look is a little snapshot of this.
It’s always boggled my mind since I was a kid, the world always seemed to me to have enough for everyone but, then there’s some people that have so much that they don’t even need and then there’s people with nothing, no place to live. I remember observing that as a kid and thinking it was so weird and wrong.
AL: Yeah, totally. Moving to the suburbs that are much older, the juxtaposition between these two things are in your face. Another aspect of the song is about the privilege we have as white Australians, we don’t have experiences the same way… we might not even be from wealthy families or whatever but we benefit from it every single day. The “flats falling into the floor” lyrics is a reference to the Opal Towers in Sydney, all these apartment building falling down and such wealth being made from that stuff, it’s disgusting!
Totally! Do you have a favourite track on the new record?
AMY: I like playing the ones that we just play saxophone on together, they’re really good to play.
AL: They’re all good ‘ey! [laughs].
What do you love about playing saxophone together?
AMY: I think it’s just so new for me. To be playing a very different instrument than what I’m used to and having to work out how they sound good together… literally I don’t know some of the notes on it and have to figure it out [laughs]. Because it’s new it’s exciting to play. Challenging!
Musical experimentation must keep things creatively interesting for you; was there anything new you tried writing or recording this release?
AMY to AL: I don’t’ know if it made it on to the record but you were clanging on something, weren’t you?
AL: Oh, yeah. I was banging on a pot.
AMY: I don’t know if it sounded any good [laughs]. We just like to try weird things. We do that though with all of the bands to a different degree. Nothing ground-breaking.
AL: We recorded on the 4-track, which is what we usually do with Terry and Primo! too.
Photo: Mia McDonald
Toward the end of the song “Lady Painter” there’s some cool weird sounds that I couldn’t work out what was making it?
AL: That could be the organ, Nan’s old organ!
AMY: The Funmaker.
AL: Yeah, it’s called the Funmaker!
AMY: It has this one level of keys…
AMY to AL: Do you think it’s broken? Or is that just what it sounds like?
AL: That’s just what it does.
AMY: We didn’t even effect it, that’s just what it sounds like.
AL: I’ll plug it in… here we go! It’s pretty crazy.
[Al plugs in the organ and plays]
[Laughter]
I feel like fun is a really important part of what you both do?
AL: Yeah.
AMY: It’s sort of like a hobby, what we do to relax and blow off steam and hang out with our mates.
Did you start creating from when you first got together?
AL: It took a while. Maybe Terry was the first band that we wrote together for, that’s four or five years ago.
AMY: We’ve been together for ten years. It took us five years because we just had our own separate bands.
AMY to AL: You were pretty busy because you had ten bands or something like that.
AL Too much going on ‘ey! [Laughs].
What’s something you both do differently when writing songs?
AMY to AL: You remember them, that’s one thing.
AL: I remember more of the riffs than some other people in the band [laughs]. I rush, I’m always keen to get things done…
AMY: Whereas I work more slowly.
AL: Not slowly though, I think more thoroughly.
AMY: I like to think over things.
AL: Amy does things properly and I rush it [laughs]. That’s what the report card says! Maybe that’s from just being in bands that tour a lot for a while… UV Race and Total Control would write a record, finish a record… we’d jam a lot and write a lot to have a record for touring; maybe that has affected my song writing style?
AMY to AL: You want to churn it out…
AL: Yeah, I want to fucking churn it out!
AMY: I’ll think about something for three months.
AL: Which I think is better! I listen back to stuff and I’m like errrrrr, I wish you told me to chill out on that.
AMY to AL: Yeah, like… you need to do those vocals again!
[Laughter]
Did you do the Sleeper & Snake stuff in a few takes?
AL: I’ll always be like, that first take was good!
AMY: He’ll tell me to put something on it and I’ll be like; this is a demo, right?
AL: I’ll be like, yeah it’s a demo. Then I’ll be like, OK, let’s send it away for mastering now!
[Laughter]
I love when you sing together on your songs; what kind of feeling do you get doing that together?
AL: It’s pretty fun!
AMY: I’m like, oh god! [laughs].
AL: Singing is so fun. I think we both love singing and we try to egg each other on.
AMY: I sing high on some songs on the record. I think I sing better when I sing high but I really don’t like singing high. I’m always trying to go low but it always ends up that, nah, I’m gonna have to go up. It’s all figuring out harmonies.
Is there anything else that you’re working on?
AL: We have a few demos in the can. We’re got most of the new Terry record done.
AMY to AL: You’re still working on that Dick Diver record?
AL: Yeah, there’s a Dick Diver record that’s been 75% recorded about two years ago…
AMY: Sleepless Nights have been working on another record but that kind of stopped with Covid. Our drummer just went to Perth, we were like; why did you go to Perth?! There’s a few things in the works but everything is a bit on hold.
AMY to AL: Truffle Pigs?
AL: Yeah, Truffle Pigs! That’s Steph Hughes from Dick Diver, Amy and myself. It’s more like Soakie, country Soakie…
AMY: It’s a concept album. We’re always doing bits and bobs. Al writes songs and we figure out which band it sounds like [laughs].
AL: You write so many songs too; what are you talking about? [laughs].
AMY to AL: Noooooo. I write a riff and play it for a little while and then I forget it and then you remember it and turn it into a song [laughs]. You’ll be playing and I’ll be like; oh what’s that song?
[Laughter]
What are the things you value in terms of your creativity?
AL: I value collaboration and maybe a level of improvisation, especially in a live setting.
AMY: I enjoy that. Performing is good as well. But, we don’t’ get to do that at the moment. I do get really nervous though, but I enjoy it a lot [laughs]. Sometimes my hands will be shaking so much that I can hardly play the organ.
You could never tell you’re so nervous. We watched the live Button Pusher performance recently, which was great!
AMY: It’s just a physical thing I guess, it’s so weird. I’ve been playing for so long and it just never goes away. I still get so nervous! I think it’s a good things though to have some nervous energy.
Photo courtesy of Bad Apples Music. Handmade collage by B.
Australian-based Wergaia/Wemba Wemba woman Alice Skye crafts beautiful, hopeful and shimmery, introspectively themed yet relatable pop songs. She wears her heart on her sleeve as she explores identity, family and personal growth, reflective in latest singles ‘I Feel Better But I Don’t Feel Good’ and ‘Grand Ideas’ taken from her forthcoming album. Gimmie spoke to Alice about ‘Grand Ideas’ just before it dropped, she also gave us a little insight on what’s to come.
How’s your day been?
ALICE SKYE: Pretty nice, it’s really good weather where I am. This morning I’ve just been doing some songwriting sessions with a couple of young people, which is not something that I usually do. It’s been a pretty good day, a productive one! What about you?
I’ve been doing other interviews. I spend most of my days listening to new music and researching.
AS: It sounds pretty good.
I wanted to start by asking you; why is music important to you?
AS: I feel like I should know the answer straight away to this… as a kid it was a way that I figured out you can express feelings through it, that’s why I find it soooo important. I guess sometimes it’s hard to do that communicating… or it helps you identity a feeling you’re having by listening to a song like, aww yeah, I feel those things! Also, it can be the opposite thing and be an escape and you can listen to something that takes you out of your mind or you can listen to something that puts you in your mind, which are two great things to be able to do just by listening to something.
Totally. I understand that a little while back you were going through a phase of listening to ‘90s music from No Doubt, The Breeders, Garbage…
AS: Aww yeah. I always return there every so often, seasonally. Being in isolation and spending a lot more time on my computer, I’ve just been going down rabbit holes like that again and listening to heaps of early Silverchair. I love that time in music, I think a lot of people do, especially because I was born in the mid-90s, it was in my sphere.
I grew up listening to that stuff as well.
AS: Yeah, pretty formative years.
What is it that you love most about singing?
AS: It’s a weird thing. I have a pretty up and down relationship with it. Sometimes I love it and sometimes I don’t want to do it, it’s like anything I guess. I feel most happy when it’s using it as a cathartic thing… I’m not really a thrill seeker or anything but, singing gives me that release I guess people get from other things, that’s why I love it.
You’re set to release new single ‘Grand Ideas’. What I’ve got from it is that thematically it’s an escape from one’s self and the ideas we build to break from our thoughts within; what led you to this idea?
AS: It’s really nice when a song comes together all at once, it was one of those moments where the lyrics and the chorus: everything I have is too heavy to hold / everything I do feels out of my control… it was like, saying that and feeling that. Feeling really overwhelmed by things and ideas, hopes, different things we carry with us a lot from childhood or now, pressures you put on yourself. I was feeling a bit crazy and I just wanted to write about it. I feel lucky I can use that to get through those feelings.
You’ve said that songs from your last album Friends With Feelings was you trying to work out your identity; what’s your forthcoming album about?
AS: I’m hoping that it will show growth since I wrote my first one, maybe a bit more of an idea of who I am and what I want to say. I think a lot about identify still, it’s just something that I’m going to gradually get to know more and that’s constantly changing, there’s still themes of that in the next album. More of an up-to-date version of it because they’re more recent and feel more relevant to me. There’s a lot of different things on there but all from the same year. They feel like they belong together.
In relation to your identity; what are the things that you’re dealing with?
AS: There’s themes of that in ‘Grand Ideas’ because I wrote it when I was on my way home from seeing a new therapist and like… I’m going to work on myself and do the things that people do, and then people can put labels or give those diagnoses and things that you’re not too sure if it fits you. Learning more things about yourself and having other people pitch in on that and trying to grapple with that and like; how do I see myself as compared to how other people see myself. Sorry that’s such a strange answer.
Nah. I see a therapist myself… I think a lot of people do. I think it’s good to talk about these things and normalise them a bit more. Getting help is a good thing!
AS: Yeah, absolutely. It feels weird to talk about it but its fine, honestly it’s great! A lot of my friends and I talk about it. I wrote that song around that time because I’d just seen one of those therapists that you don’t necessarily get along with too well and you think, actually that’s not me… also, though trying to take in some of the advice.
I know that for me finding my identity – my family is Indigenous as well and I’m mixed-race – I’m dealing with sometimes not being black enough for the black kids or white enough for the white kids, you’re in that weird in between place…
AS: Yeah, totally! For First Nations People in this country, and the world, it’s hard enough figuring out who you are as a person but also having an identity where people publicly question, whether in the news or politicians or whatever, that’s a whole other thing to navigate that can be really hard and really confusing. In my first album I was really beginning to understand that and talking about it more, now I feel a lot more confident in who I am as an Indigenous Person. It’s hard when people are discussing it that don’t even know you.
Absolutely! Was there anything that helped you develop that confidence?
AS: Talking about it. Having songs out there and having to talk about the songs got me to do that more. Growing up in a small predominately white town, it wasn’t something that I talked about outside of my family really because I felt I couldn’t or I didn’t have ownership over that. It’s really different now that I’m having conversations about it a lot more. The more you say it the more you feel it and now it’s not such a big unknown in my life, I guess.
Is there a core theme to the new album?
AS: I don’t know. I feel like it’s something that I sometimes wish I had going into recording but I really just write from what’s happening at the time. It’s the last year and a half for me and what’s been going on. There’s a lot of different things in there.
Were there any particular moods or emotions you were writing from?
AS: Lots! Sometimes frustration, sometimes sadness, but sometimes comfort and content as well. Even at the moment with everything going on with Covid-19, I think I’ve been feeling better and worse at the same time about not being able to do things… feelings like that—things being better but worse! [laughs].
Previously you’ve commented that with writing this album you’ve been thinking about music differently; in what ways?
AS: I recorded this one with my band that I’ve been touring with for the last four or five years. I didn’t do the first one with them, I did that alone. It was a different approach to the recording having people with me and being able to bounce ideas off each other… also, I think because how I naturally approach songwriting, it’s usually quite stripped back and sparse and moody, it was fun to play with different options; to play with different elements of different genres rather than sticking to just one.
Nice! Do you write most of your music on guitar or piano?
AS: Mostly on piano. I play with a guitarist and a drummer so sometimes they’ll help me in how to figure something out if I don’t play that instrument.
Is there a song on the new album that has a special significance for you?
AS: Quite a lot of them [laughs]. There are quite a few about my family and relationships with family. Those songs are quite important to me because family are great and also a tricky thing. It’s nice to be able to write through those things. There’s a few songs on there about my family, I wrote them down in the Grampians where I am now. Those ones feel quite special, the ones that were written at home.
That’s where you grew up?
AS: Yeah, yeah.
You’ve won so many awards already including, the Emerging Artist Award at the 2019 Australian Women in Music Awards and the inaugural First Peoples Emerging Artist Award; what award has meant the most to you?
AS: It always feels nice to get the support and recognition from different people and different things whatever it is. A few years ago, the International Women’s Day Award got me a lot of opportunities, with Bakehouse Studios in Melbourne and that’s still a relationship that I have now, it essentially introduced me to the label that I’m on now. A lot of things came from that, I feel really grateful to have kept that relationship.
It’s awesome that you’re on the Bad Apples Music label now!
AS: Yep, I feel very well looked after!
What do you like to do outside of music?
AS: At the moment, because I haven’t been travelling around much, which has been kind of nice, I’ve just been indulging in that extra spare time. Trying to pick up things I used to do, making some clothes and printmaking at my mum’s place; not super successfully but it feels nice to tap into old hobbies again.
The art for your album was done by artist Aretha Brown; how did you feel when you first saw the large piece she did for you?
AS: Aww so special! I was so grateful that she said “yes” when I asked. She took a lot of care to ask me what I hoped for it. I love it! I can’t wait to release the next portion of it. The one that’s out so far is a quarter of it… there’s a whole other image around it. I can’t wait for the whole thing to be out, it’s beautiful!
You’re releasing a bit at a time with each single, right?
AS: Yeah. She’s so talented. Very grateful.
[The title of the first single ‘I Feel Better But I Don’t Feel Good’] That’s probably the main theme [of the album] really.
When you’re not feeling so great is there anything that you do to lift your mood?
AS: Yeah, different things work for different days. I love… it’s probably terrible, I wish I was someone that meditated but I don’t, I just throw myself into being distracted, that’s either playing music or watching shitty TV or doing something outside—sometimes good, sometimes not so good.
What’s something you’ve seen lately that’s been really beautiful?
AS: A lot of my friends have really shown up and done amazing things during this time. I have friends that have a restaurant in Melbourne and they’ve been doing meals for free for people that need it or making boxes of groceries and donating them to people and delivering them to those that can’t get out or can’t work. It’s nice when you see people from your community doing things, it makes you feel like we’ll be ok, even if things or the government aren’t looking after us. We have good community around us!
Thao Nguyen is an Oakland-based musician that is about to drop the most honest, beautiful and self-healing record of her life. Temple finds Thao comfortable in her own skin and sees her finding the courage to finally publicly come out as her whole self, confronting the shame, grief, division and silence she has felt in her life, making for a collection of powerful songs. The album is in essence pop but goes beyond that with elements of hip-hop, funk, folk, with punk roots. Temple is a celebration of living life on your own terms!
THAO NGUYEN: I’ve been screen printing in our garage. I took a screen printing class because I had this idea to offer a tea towel as part of our merch bundle – this was pre-pandemic – I would screen print a tea towel for them. It’s reclaiming my name because kids used to call me “Towel” when I was younger and it was really traumatic. I’ve been screen printing all day.
Nice! It’s cool that people will get to have a handmade little piece of you in their kitchen.
TN: Thank you so much for saying that! I hope they turn out OK. I hope it’s just enough that I’m doing it myself. It’s harder than I thought it would be [laughs].
My husband and I do screen printing in our garage, hand-making things is so much more personal and special.
TN: Totally! It’s been so fun. Do you have trouble with the ink drying up sooner than you think it will and then it gets hard to have a clean print?
Yes! Parts of the screen can get clogged a little, we still haven’t worked out how to combat that, we just try to do the prints as quickly as possible.
TN: [Laughs] Yes! I gotta move faster. It’s getting hotter here, that thickens the ink up too.
I noticed that during the song writing period for your new LP Temple you spent a lot of time in the kitchen baking sourdough bread.
TN: [Laughs] I did. Song writing can be so painful and take you to such dark places, also there can be very little return on a lot of effort. It was so nice to do something tactile and to see your work result in something, besides a song that you don’t know whether it’s good.
With bread I think it’s a food that can be really comforting too.
TN: Oh yeah! It’s been remarkable. Luckily I had already stockpiled a lot of flour from the song writing time, rolling into the pandemic we do have enough flour to keep baking.
What does your new album Temple mean to you?
TN: Temple was the creation of a space in where I can exist as my whole self. It’s the culmination of a whole life that I’ve lived in a very divided way. It has a lot to do with claiming my own life and still belonging to my family, and trying to find out how to still belong to my family and culture while being publicly out. I got married in the process! It was a real culmination of life and a celebration of that.
Congratulations on getting married! I can definitely feel that celebratory vibe on the album. There also seems to be a real feeling of freedom on it.
TN: Yeah, there is. It was like a bloodletting! [laughs]. There are moments of heaviness but also lightness and shedding a lot of the past and ghosts.
On your last album A Man Alive you were talking about your father, and on this record the first song, the title track, is celebrating your mother.
TN: Yeah. They have had drastically different influences on my life. My mom has always been so steady and consistent but, she has her own complex life. I wanted the chance to honour that and make her refugee story to be beyond that, to give her a fuller humanity.
Was it scary to put all of these thoughts and feelings out there?
TN: Oh, terrifying! Absolutely! It took years to make this record, it took probably a year and a half just to get the gumption to write the songs that I knew I had to write. Now it feels almost surreal like it was someone else’s turmoil and toil. It took a lot! I said that I didn’t know if I would make another record because it was such a herculean task to me to confront all these things.
I think sometimes listeners don’t quite get how intense it is for some artists to tap into their pain to write a song. Writing things from an honest place you have to confront yourself and what’s happening in your life, it can be scary.
TN: Yeah. It’s the artists own decision to do that, it was mine. There wasn’t another option for me. It’s the type of work I am drawn to. You hope that people will spend some time with it but it connects how it connects and it finds who it needs to find.
Have you always been creative?
TN: I think so. Growing up I didn’t have a lot of resources. When I started playing guitar that’s when I felt I could tap into creativity, I was about twelve. Before then I watched lot of television [laughs].
I know that some of your favourite writers inspire your lyrics, this time around it was James Baldwin, Octavia Butler and Yiyun Li; what was it about each?
TN: James Baldwin, his language and his eloquence and succinct manner is so remarkable. He’s such an incredible, incisive writer, whenever I reference him it’s the present tense, he is such a presence for so many people. The way he wrote about injustice and abuse of power and systemic inequality, the way he wrote about race, about being queer—it was all inspiring. A real source of courage for me.
Octavia Butler, the way she imagines and created these dystopic realties; this near future dystopia that we have actually been living in now. That was before all of this was happening though, there was already so much to work with as far as the corruption in the world and destruction of the environment and society. She’s a luminary, a prophet.
Yiyun Li, the way she has an incredibly powerful, very potent style of writing that isn’t dramatic at all but it’s devastating to me. The way she writes about families and familial relationships. She writes about Chinese families. I found a lot of similarities and commonalities that resonated with me and my Vietnamese family.
I’ve always liked how in Octavia’s stories she always has fascinating, strong female characters.
TN: Yes. ‘Phenom’ the song that draws the most from Octavia, the narrator of that is the voice that I imagine as one of her strong characters that leads the army of the scorched Earth to come back and bring to bear.
Have there been any books that have had a profound impact onyou?
TN: So many, yeah. I love panoramic, cross-generational, sweeping narratives. The first one that I read like that was The Grapes Of Wrath or East Of Eden. More recently, Grace Paley, all of her short stories. I discovered her in college through my roommate; she influenced my song writing a great deal when I was starting to song write more seriously. Her economy with words is something that I have always admired. She’s a general influence.
For the last record, Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead, oh man there’s one passage in it where the son is getting on the bus and leaving… that influenced the creation of A Man Alive. There were a few sentences within that that just broke me. From there I could access the emotions that I needed to write the record.
Sonically when you started out writing this record, did you have a vision for it?
TN: Not so much. I knew that I would produce it, and produce it with my bandmate Adam [Thompson]. Whatever happened sonically it would be represented in a more truthful was, a more accurate way than any other, because we were doing it. I wanted to be creating more beats. I knew that there would be a strong rhythm and prominent groove and beats. I wanted a lusher soundscape.
I really love the song ‘Marrow’ on the LP; can you tell us a little about it?
TN: ‘Marrow’ I wrote leading up to marrying my partner. The songs aren’t necessarily chronological but they do follow things that lined up with what was happening in my life at the time. ‘Marrow’ is about saying: here I am, you know all these things about me and you accept me still [*gets teary*].
There’s a couple of songs on the album that make me cry every time, one is ‘Marrow’ and the other is ‘I’ve Got Something’. I like ‘Marauders’ too because it’s the most sincere, whole-hearted love song I’ve ever written.
Were those songs hard for you to write?
TN: They were! Especially ‘I’ve Got Something’ it deals with basically getting to a place where I had to be willing to no longer be a part of my family in order to have my own. There are a lot of scenarios that can end up in estrangement, fortunately that wasn’t mine. It’s really hard! How do you belong to where you come from? How do you belong to yourself? And, what are you willing to risk? How much can you deny of your own life?
Last question; what are some things that make you really, really happy?
TN: I love that question! I really love cooking. I love baking bread. I’ve been really into growing vegetables, I know that probably sounds really, really cliché at this point. The only solace I’ve been able to find is really getting into growing our own food. I spend most of my day trying to figure out how to keep the seedlings alive [laughs] and trying to figure out how to make compost. Just this morning the mint had this rust kind of fungus thing, I have to figure that out. It’s a whole other world of being in tune with the food we grow and eat. It’s so awesome! It’s something that I always wanted to do but I’ve always been so busy with tour. Even if I tried I wouldn’t be fully focused on it and I’d come back from tour and it would be dead.
Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie Zine 