Client Liaison are as Australian as they come and their style is as identifiable as their sound. Having recently teamed up with the band on all things style, design and costume, and as their on-tour stylist, I snapped some funny fashion moments during the US shows. Here lead singer Monte Morgan and keyboardist Harvey Miller share their inspirations, motivations, collaborations as well as their fashion peaks…and troughs.
Kirsty Barros: I’ve been collaboratively finessing your fashions on the west coast leg of your US tour. Tell us about the costumes you wore on stage?
Monte: We had several shows scheduled for Vietnam last year and we decided to take advantage of the Mekong Delta’s finest tailoring. Over many sittings, fittings and lost in translation meetings, we flew home with a suitcase full of custom designs including the peach and baby blue linen suits we wore in California, which were inspired by a mash up of Prince costumes.
Harvey: The first time we visited our tailor in Vietnam there was a shrine to Australia with kangaroos, flags and a photo of John Howard. In broken English they proudly implied he had his suits made there too. This was a huge selling point for us and upon returning to Australia boasted that our suits were being hand made by the same tailor as our former Prime Minister. We returned to Vietnam a month later for more gigs and to pick up our suits only to discover that it was John Howard’s bodyguard who shared our tailor. Slightly deflated with this once removed claim to fame but nonetheless elated with our beautifully constructed costumes we decided that what’s good enough for Howard’s body guard is good enough for us!
And did you accessorise?
M: We completed the looks with custom made fringe jewellery by Columbian artist Little Lucia, sourced from a recent holiday. An Australian Belmore boot maker hand made Kangaroo skin shoes in to match our linens. The sad fateful ending to this story is that my Toyota Saura was stolen a couple of weeks ago along with the linen ensembles. Accessories and all. If anyone sees our pastel suits on eBay, Gumtree or strutting down Sydney Road on a couple of strung out kids…. please holler!
H: We also commissioned matching three-piece suits inspired by the colours of Visa & Ansett Australia. We completed these outfits with Lucy Folk pearl necklaces and a commissioned gold crochet top by Zoe Champion. Inspiration can come from anywhere…. a piece of fabric from a crazy Vietnamese textile market is as good a starting point as any.
And what can we expect for future shows?!
H: We don’t want to give too much away, but let’s just say there are lots of matching sequins!
As a long time professional vintage shopper I have visited the infamous Rosebowl flea markets in Pasadena a million times over. It’s one of the biggest and best in the US, if not the world. But it’s a beast! I have escorted fashion lover friends many a time and most call it quits long before it shuts. Monte, you were a trooper though. What is your favourite purchase from the flea markets?
M: One of the stand outs is a black sequin blazer with champagne patches all over it. Dom Perignon, Brut, Moet, Veuve, Chandon. I wore it to a gig in Wollongong last week and after the show someone fittingly doused us in a bottle of champagne. It’s always a treat to find a series of anything. On the same trip, but at different markets, we also stumbled upon a slinky vintage 80s shirt with a giant champagne print on one side. We’re continuing the hunt to the complete crystal team set.
What is it about the 80s that you can’t get enough of? Is it the optimism, the excess or something else entirely?
M: For me it’s the sophistication and the brave. People were constantly outdoing each other aesthetically and sonically. There was no self-moderating or conservatism.
H: Today people are more careful and considered with their approach to fashion and how they will be portrayed on social media. I love the spontaneity and freedom of the 80s.
You’re known for celebrating Australia. With the release of your debut album are your sonic and style inspirations expanding to be more international?
M: Conceptually, yes! One of our new songs Foreign Affair is about us being diplomats flying around the world. Another titled Canberra is again about us being diplomats and spending Australian tax payer’s money overseas. It’s time to bring it to the rest of the world and fly the Aussie flag overseas. These core themes of the cosmopolitan businessman will filter into our style. Style for us is in the context and setting.
If we were wearing our Visa Ansett suits in the UN, we’d look like cultural ambassadors but if you put is in the right hotel lobby it would read sophistication! That’s what our film clips are about and we can’t wait to expand upon that. Spending the last 4 months developing costumes with you and your label Makers of Belief has been awesome and we can’t wait to create the full story with our clips. Casual considered outfits can have just as much impact as a thousand dollar suit.
Monte we’ve talked in depth of your admiration for Prince. Aside from his musical brilliance, what is it about his style and process that you find so inspiring?
M: A big part for me is his expansiveness and progression. You rarely see him in the same thing twice. Admittedly he’s had his peaks and troughs but in the mid 90s he produced an album called The Gold Experience and he’d walk around in full head to toe glittery gold outfits with a lollipop and cane!
H: That’s a trough!!
M: No! That’s a peak. Overall I love the he continues to push and evolve. As I kid, I loved Michael Jackson but there is an end to his appeal. There are only 5 albums and 6 outfits. When MJ would tour, he would perform ‘Thriller’ in exactly the same way at every show. Same outfit. Same dance. Where as with Prince, every tour he would re do the song in a whole new way. New band. New look. New sound. New experience. I love that he’s so progressive. We’re really excited to refurbish our costume department in our studio. Setting up our own wardrobe department with sewing machines, steamer and wall to wall racks that we’re slowly buy surely filling with loved and laboured outfits.
You’ve been working out at Muscle Beach in Venice, California. Tell us about your sunrise workout? What do you like to wear when you exercise?
H: We wore some white lycra bike pants that were so comfortable I bought an extra pair! We did 1-2 chin-ups and my school gymnastics proved worthwhile when I climbed to the top of the rope. We posted a pick of us doing a chin up on our Instagram which provoked a barrage of commentary about our poor form. Apparently there is a real culture surrounding exercise, repertoire and etiquette. We have since learnt that there is an art and formula to doing a chin up.
M: We’re quite small in frame so it doesn’t take much for us to work up a sweat. In that regard we like to look cool. Athletic aesthetic is less about performance and more about the right look for us!
Which leads me to enquire about the Client Liaison designer line that we’ve been collaborating on…
M: Yes we’re really excited to be working with you on developing mini collections, translating our sound into wearable causal ensembles. One of our first points of inspiration for the summer pack was an image of Warwick Capper from the 80s. It’s all in the detail with new designer labels, puff prints and stitch details. Deviating away from the standard printed band T and creating considered head-to-toe looks with something for everyone from fanny packs to budgie smugglers.
Credits
Text and photography Kirsty Barros