You’ve taken a new direction in sound on The Deep End – what led you there?
I think we’ve just grown up or out of the heavier side of our old music. It’s a little more concise now and I guess the obvious word is ‘mature’, which is not to say we are mature people because that would be a lie.
It feels like there’s a nod to 90s shoegaze and the upbeat melancholy of The Clash. What were you getting into at the time of writing?
If honest, we don’t really listen to the same music as each other these days – so when we write together it’s not influenced by any particular sound or band – obviously we initially bonded over our love of certain bands; Nirvana, Rowland S. Howard, 70s Post-punk and things like that. To give an honest list of what we’re all listening to would be more like Fela Kuti, The Locust, Onra, Ice Age and A$AP Ferg.
As a band that’s been together for four years, has history made it easier to try out new ideas with each other?
Yeah, we’re all pretty open and honest with one another. If someone says “let’s do a really clean poppy one,” it’s not really a big deal. More recently we have been saying that kind of shit, despite the fact that a few years ago nobody would have.
While your sound has evolved, the energy has stayed constant. What keeps you motivated?
I think it’s just the fact that we all really like playing in this band because first and foremost, it’s just a fun project. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and we’re all dumb best buds.
What was it like shooting with Max Doyle?
It was great. We lay in some grass and Cass and Max bonded over having metal teeth (gold and silver, respectively). He brought his dog down to the shoot, we hung out and laughed and he took our picture. It was super cool.
Tell us about the making of the video for The Deep End.
We shot the video with Manuela Leigh up north in some bushland. It was really cool just being in such a desolate place, making noise and messing around. The clip turned out super nice visually and we think it accompanies the track well.
You went on your first US tour last year. Any lessons you took from that?
We had such a great time and met some really amazing people. We saw some UFOs, watched wrestling in Austin. Met Kurt Vile, played a Halloween show dressed as The Baseball Furies, ate heaps of fat people food, had a party in a New Jersey hotel room amongst many other things. I guess the biggest lesson we took away from it all is to always order buffalo wings.
If you could pick any place to tour next, where would it be?
Japan! We have all been over and have lots of love for that place, but we’ve never had a chance to play there. Can you imagine how much fun that would be?!
Credits
Text Georgia Watson
Photography Max Doyle