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JUDAS
1. The Ballad Of Bill Hicks
2. Ahmed
3. New Win
4. Ashbury Park
5. Not Too Smart
6. Watch My Mouth
7. Jewels In The Sky
8. Soldier Field
9. You Don’t Need It
10. English Paradise
11. Awake
BAND MEMBERS:
Brent DeBoer
Bob Harrow
Peter Lubulwa
Ben Street
Paddy McGrath-Lester
ALBUM CREDITS
Recorded at Tower Court Studios, Melbourne
Mixed at The Odditorium (Portland, Oregon, USA) by Brandon Eggleston
Mastered by Ed Brooks
Cover art by Galo
![Photo credit: The Sauce / Kane Lehanneur “ambitious and creatively engaging yet jam-packed with melodic hooks and sunny grooves" – Mixdown Magazine “the psych-rock sextet are on a seemingly endless ascent to the peak of their creative vision” – Music Feeds “among the top echelon of Australian rock bands” – Newcastle Herald Beloved Aussie songwriters Ocean Alley are stoked to release their long-awaited third album Lonely Diamond today, and have revealed it will be accompanied by a 12-track visualiser set to premiere this Sunday on YouTube (7pm AEST) with the band jumping online for a live chat. The band also announced a new 'cloudy' vinyl variant to celebrate release day, which can be purchased from select indie record stores today. Stream/Purchase the album here. Tickets to their 2021 tour on sale now from oceanalley.com.au. The masters of groove wrote and recorded the highly-anticipated follow-up to 2018's Chiaroscuro over 18 months, and discussing the expectation they felt to deliver on this record, Ocean Alley shared "The pressure was immense for the band but also for each of us individually. We had never been so exposed to critique like that before and it's not something we ever expected to experience when we started doing this. At times we all felt a bit out of control but it was important for us to go through it together so we can back each other up." The band chronicled Lonely Diamond's conception and progression with their Constructing The Diamond video series which gave a behind-the-scenes look into their studio jam sessions, featuring previously released singles 'Stained Glass', 'Infinity', 'Tombstone' and 'Hot Chicken', as well as previewing album highlights such as 'Way Down' and 'All Worn Out.' While much of Ocean Alley's allure stems from their cruisey, laid-back swagger, the core themes of the album provide a darker snapshot of the impact that life on the road can have, exploring feelings of escapism and isolation. "We had a pretty hectic touring schedule and spent a lot of time travelling which made us feel isolated at times. That constant pressure to perform whilst also managing things back home took a toll differently on us all. For us, music is a way to escape those feelings and doing it together has really reinforced how important it is to lean on each other when we have to. Music is our way of unwinding and helps remind ourselves to have fun and enjoy life. Music has a special way of doing that." They continued, "Mental health can be a touchy subject but it shouldn’t be. Because we are very open with each other, that helps dissolve strong feelings and allows us to move forward together. The first step in breaking down barriers with other people is breaking down those barriers within yourself and realising that no one is perfect and everyone has bad days. When you can love and support yourself, then you are in the perfect position to care for and support others." Ocean Alley are long-time supporters of community groups that advocate the importance of mental health, foster support networks and provide programs or tools that aid disadvantaged youth and people with disability. They work with and support One Eighty, Cerebral Palsy Alliance and Support Act. Produced by long-time collaborator Callum Howell at the idyllic Grove Studios (built by INXS’ Garry Gary Beers), Lonely Diamond has been awarded triple j's coveted Feature Album and The Music's Album of the Week, with NME Australia praising their "most ambitious record", describing it "a rich, expansive universe brimming with a kind of electricity that'll make for huge on-stage moments." It follows the success of Ocean Alley’s acclaimed second full-length LP Chiaroscuro which propelled the band into national prominence and saw them sell 25,000 tickets over 15 sold out shows that year in Australia alone – culminating with their ARIA nominated, double platinum-selling single ‘Confidence’ taking out #1 in triple j’s Hottest 100 of 2018. Their breakthrough year was backed-up with 30 sold out shows around the world in 2019, plus major festival appearances at Reading & Leeds Festival (UK), Splendour In The Grass (AUS), Sziget (HU), BottleRock (US) and more, with the band amassing more than 260 million streams to date. OCEAN ALLEY – LONELY DIAMOND [LP] Available now from oceanalley.com.au Lonely Diamond track list: 1. Dahlia 2. Tombstone 3. Way Down 4. Infinity 5. Up In There 6. All Worn Out 7. Stained Glass 8. Lonely Diamond 9. Wet Dreams 10. Hot Chicken 11. Puesta de Sol 12. Luna OCEAN ALLEY AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2021 with Psychedelic Porn Crumpets & Dulcie Tickets on sale now from oceanalley.com.au Saturday 6 February - Hordern Pavilion, Sydney SOLD OUT Sunday 7 February – Hordern Pavilion, Sydney Friday 12 February – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane SOLD OUT Saturday 13 February – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane Friday 5 March – Fremantle Arts Centre, Perth Friday 12 March – Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide Wednesday 24 March – Melbourne Arena, Melbourne Presented by triple j, Lonely Lands Agency & UNIFIED Music Group Follow Ocean Alley: oceanalley.com.au facebook.com/oceanalleyband twitter.com/oceanalleyau @oceanalleyband](https://thepartae.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/OUT-TODAY-OCEAN-ALLEYS-RECORD.jpg "OUT TODAY OCEAN ALLEY’S RECORD")
Photo credit: The Sauce / Kane Lehanneur
“ambitious and creatively engaging yet jam-packed with melodic hooks and sunny grooves” – Mixdown Magazine
“the psych-rock sextet are on a seemingly endless ascent to the peak of their creative vision” – Music Feeds
“among the top echelon of Australian rock bands” – Newcastle Herald
Beloved Aussie songwriters Ocean Alley are stoked to release their long-awaited third album Lonely Diamond today, and have revealed it will be accompanied by a 12-track visualiser set to premiere this Sunday on YouTube (7pm AEST) with the band jumping online for a live chat. The band also announced a new ‘cloudy’ vinyl variant to celebrate release day, which can be purchased from select indie record stores today.
Stream/Purchase the album here. Tickets to their 2021 tour on sale now from oceanalley.com.au.
The masters of groove wrote and recorded the highly-anticipated follow-up to 2018’s Chiaroscuro over 18 months, and discussing the expectation they felt to deliver on this record, Ocean Alley shared “The pressure was immense for the band but also for each of us individually. We had never been so exposed to critique like that before and it’s not something we ever expected to experience when we started doing this. At times we all felt a bit out of control but it was important for us to go through it together so we can back each other up.”
The band chronicled Lonely Diamond’s conception and progression with their Constructing The Diamond video series which gave a behind-the-scenes look into their studio jam sessions, featuring previously released singles ‘Stained Glass‘, ‘Infinity‘, ‘Tombstone‘ and ‘Hot Chicken‘, as well as previewing album highlights such as ‘Way Down’ and ‘All Worn Out.’ While much of Ocean Alley’s allure stems from their cruisey, laid-back swagger, the core themes of the album provide a darker snapshot of the impact that life on the road can have, exploring feelings of escapism and isolation.
“We had a pretty hectic touring schedule and spent a lot of time travelling which made us feel isolated at times. That constant pressure to perform whilst also managing things back home took a toll differently on us all. For us, music is a way to escape those feelings and doing it together has really reinforced how important it is to lean on each other when we have to. Music is our way of unwinding and helps remind ourselves to have fun and enjoy life. Music has a special way of doing that.”
They continued, “Mental health can be a touchy subject but it shouldn’t be. Because we are very open with each other, that helps dissolve strong feelings and allows us to move forward together. The first step in breaking down barriers with other people is breaking down those barriers within yourself and realising that no one is perfect and everyone has bad days. When you can love and support yourself, then you are in the perfect position to care for and support others.”
Ocean Alley are long-time supporters of community groups that advocate the importance of mental health, foster support networks and provide programs or tools that aid disadvantaged youth and people with disability. They work with and support One Eighty, Cerebral Palsy Alliance and Support Act.
Produced by long-time collaborator Callum Howell at the idyllic Grove Studios (built by INXS’ Garry Gary Beers), Lonely Diamond has been awarded triple j’s coveted Feature Album and The Music’s Album of the Week, with NME Australia praising their “most ambitious record”, describing it “a rich, expansive universe brimming with a kind of electricity that’ll make for huge on-stage moments.” It follows the success of Ocean Alley’s acclaimed second full-length LP Chiaroscuro which propelled the band into national prominence and saw them sell 25,000 tickets over 15 sold out shows that year in Australia alone – culminating with their ARIA nominated, double platinum-selling single ‘Confidence’ taking out #1 in triple j’s Hottest 100 of 2018. Their breakthrough year was backed-up with 30 sold out shows around the world in 2019, plus major festival appearances at Reading & Leeds Festival (UK), Splendour In The Grass (AUS), Sziget (HU), Bott
OCEAN ALLEY – LONELY DIAMOND [LP]
Available now from oceanalley.com.au
Lonely Diamond track list:
1. Dahlia
2. Tombstone
3. Way Down
4. Infinity
5. Up In There
6. All Worn Out
7. Stained Glass
8. Lonely Diamond
9. Wet Dreams
10. Hot Chicken
11. Puesta de Sol
12. Luna
OCEAN ALLEY
AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2021
with Psychedelic Porn Crumpets & Dulcie
Tickets on sale now from oceanalley.com.au
Saturday 6 February – Hordern Pavilion, Sydney SOLD OUT
Sunday 7 February – Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Friday 12 February – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane SOLD OUT
Saturday 13 February – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane
Friday 5 March – Fremantle Arts Centre, Perth
Friday 12 March – Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
Wednesday 24 March – Melbourne Arena, Melbourne
Presented by triple j, Lonely Lands Agency & UNIFIED Music Group
Follow Ocean Alley:
oceanalley.com.au
facebook.com/oceanalleyband
twitter.com/oceanalleyau
@oceanalleyband
SUPPORT FOR PREVIOUS SINGLE ‘HOME REMEDY’
“This one gets stuck in your head after just one or two listens.”
– Brooklyn Vegan (USA)
Added to Spotify playlists New Punk Tracks and Punk Unleashed
Added to Apple Music’s
Added to Amazon Music’s Punk Scene
Fresh off signing to international label, Rude Records, Arizona’s Sundressed have released another new single, “Oh Please”. With the new song the band has announced the “Oh Please” Video contest. Starting tomorrow fans will be able to submit videos of themselves singing along to “Oh Please,” for the chance to have one bill paid by Sundressed and Rude Records’ newly launched Rude Cares charitable arm.
“I see this song as almost like a millennial anthem. So many of us are in debt, broke, and without healthcare. This song represents mine as well as many close friends frustration with these types of situations,” explains frontman Trevors Hedges.
Living on such a chaotic planet, tossing and turning is inevitable. It’s hard to sleep in the midst of uncertainty. That’s why Sundressed was born. Lead vocalist and songwriter Trevor Hedges began his project in 2012, with the initial purpose of maintaining his sobriety. Now, 8 years later, Hedges has refocused the project’s mission, writing songs that tackle mental health issues for others to take solace in. His confessional lyrics and punk-infused melodies inspire hope in listeners to continue moving forward.
With the addition of AJ Peacox (guitar), Vic Chan (drums), Matthew Graham and Justin Portillo, Sundressed has never sounded better. With new music produced by Mike Pepe (Taking Back Sunday) dropping this year, the band is determined to make a positive impact, one lyric at a time.
The “Oh Please” video contest marks the first initiative of many under Rude Cares, a brand new platform from Rude Records which will allow them to continue helping their artists, fans and charities doing incredible work across the globe.
Although Rude Records has been actively involved in charitable efforts for years, including work with Keep A Breast and other localized organizations, the idea of Rude Cares stemmed from recent conversations with Sundressed, who was determined to give back by offering to pay outstanding bills to one of their fans who may be struggling during this trying and testing time.
‘Oh Please’ is available worldwide now through Rude Records
FOLLOW SUNDRESSED
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SUPPORT FOR ‘MR ZIL’
“Stupid Baby showing off a different side straight away with a spitty, snarling punk rock angle on this one. I’m hearing The Drones influence bleeding nicely into this.” – 4/5 stars
Declan Byrne – triple j (AUS)
“The growl Stupid Baby possess in this track is striking. It’s angsty and relentless and I love it.” – 4/5 stars
Claire Mooney – triple j (AUS)
“With relentless drums, scorching guitars and thumping bass, the angsty track leaves nothing up to the imagination.”
Hysteria Magazine (AUS)
Added to Apple Music’s ‘The New Rock’
Following on from the release of their critically praised follow-up single ‘Mr Zil’, NSW Central Coast-based indie-punk quartet Stupid Baby have returned with the accompanying video clip – edited by co-lead vocalists Jake Dobson and Liz Drummond, and Jack Stafford (re._stacks).
With the on-set of isolation in March-April, the band shot the whole video on their iPhones at each of their houses. Being unable to film something with a complex narrative, they instead each got dressed up and performed their own interpretations of the track, creating something hilarious, with just the right amount of weird.
Dobson explains the process behind filming ‘Mr. Zil’:
“The whole isolation experience has just confirmed you can still make a fairly entertaining video with no budget, using an iPhone. This song is fairly chaotic, and character driven, and we didn’t necessarily want to make a video that was aesthetically sophisticated or refined anyway. So, we think the DIY approach worked well considering the circumstances.”
While only in their infancy, the group have already toured and shared stages with the likes of The Chats, The Smith Street Band, Pist Idiots, Skegss, Ocean Alley, Polish Club and WAAX. The band also recently performed at the sold-out Rolling Sets festival held in January in Coffs Harbour, alongside Hilltop Hoods, The Rubens, Lime Cordiale, Mallrat and George Alice.
Both ‘Mr Zil’ and debut single ‘Feline’ have been warmly received by Australian radio including airplay from triple j, Double J, triple j Unearthed, FBi Radio, 2SER, 4ZZZ, SYN FM, Radio Adelaide and 2XX FM. Online music sites and tastemakers Pilerats, Life Without Andy, Hysteria Magazine, Music Feeds, The AU Review, AAA Backstage, The Soundcheck, Ear to the Ground Music (USA) and The Girls at the Rock Show (USA) have also featured the tracks.
‘Mr. Zil’ is available worldwide now
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | SOUNDCLOUD | SPOTIFY | APPLE MUSIC
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“The film clip was recorded during isolation. So we had a small budget, limited resources and we also had to build our own set. We had to try and create a vast, ethereal landscape and create many locations using one studio space. To achieve that, we had to dress up the set in different ways. We threw in extra lighting and borrowed a smoke machine from friends at Lulie Tavern in Abbotsford. They told us we had to get our own ‘rave juice’. We didn’t know what that was so we went and got regular smoke machine juice from a local music shop.” – Benjamin Joel
Praise has already been pouring in for Vazer’s debut album released 29 May via Hotel Motel Records, garnering acclaim both at home and abroad from online publications, national broadcasters and community radio stations throughout the country, and selling out her first vinyl pressing in days. Do not miss your chance to catch Nat Vazer present songs from her stunning debut Is This Offensive And Loud?
Nat Vazer East Coast Album Launch Shows
Thursday 18 June – Leaps and Bounds Festival – Records and Refreshments
Airing on Rockhopper Records’ Youtube Channel and Facebook Page
FREE – Donations welcome and split between performing artists
Saturday 20 June – Small Time, Brunswick
Live-streamed to Facebook and cross-posted between Small Time & Nat Vazer
Free + tickets via Eventbrite – Donations welcome – 100% proceeds to Nat Vazer
Thursday 2 July – Music Farmers
Live streamed via Instagram @musicfarmers from 7:30pm
Wednesday 8 July – Jet Black Cat
Live streamed via Instagram @jetblackcatmusic from 7.30pm
Friday 10 July – Rocksteady Records
Live stream on Rocksteady’s Instagram @rocksteadyrecords
Full band show
Free
‘Higher Places’ video filmed, directed and edited by Benjamin Joel and Nat Vazer
Is This Offensive And Loud? is out now via Hotel Motel Records
Bandcamp / Spotify / iTunes / Apple Music
Vintage Culture amps up the crowd with the release of his remix of “Slow Down” featuring Maverick Sabre and Jorja Smith. The single has quickly accumulated over 30 million streams since its debut in April.
Vintage Culture has quickly mastered the kind of beats that appeals to listeners within the dance genre. Lukas, AKA Vintage Culture has topped the Billboard Dance Club Charts, appeared on BBC Radio 1’s Dance Anthems, NRJ France, Slam FM Netherlands, Triple J Australia and Sirius XM USA.
The visuals project the party synth beats filled with mesmerizing drops, raw and honest lyrics and fun vibes that makes this a timeless piece that’ll turn up on an endless amount of playlists for many years to come.
Don’t miss out on “Slow Down” as it will quickly become one of your favorite remixes of the year after you listen to it for the first time! Make sure to follow Vintage Culture to keep up with his future releases.
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Box Hill Institute and City of Melbourne present: Music Industry Mentoring Edge (MIME)
A new mentorship program for start-up music businesses and emerging industry professionals
Introducing Music Industry Mentoring Edge (MIME): a unique and innovative, first of its kind in Australia mentoring program designed to support career progression, knowledge and connections for emerging to mid-level career music industry professionals in Melbourne and surrounding areas.
Presented and supported in partnership with Box Hill Institute and City of Melbourne, the inaugural program will deliver bespoke support to start-up businesses and industry professionals through a dedicated program of workshops, master-classes and one-on-one extended mentorship. The inaugural program will be backed by Box Hill Institute’s New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS) funded by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment in an industry-first program tailored specifically to support music businesses.
Confirmed speakers include self-managed and major label artist and songwriter Olympia, Ariel Blum (Producer & Artist), Merida Sussex (Box Hill Institute, Tremoverse Records and Stolen Recordings, Merlin Network), Wenona Lok (Asia Pop Fest), Peter Luscombe (Musical Director RockWiz & Musician) and Nathan Bird (Artists, Birdz).
All successful business owners in their own right, the speakers represent a wide variety of positions across the music industry and show exemplary standards, work ethics and innovative global outlooks. The speakers look forward to sharing these insights with the NEIS applicants.
Chair of the City of Melbourne Arts, Culture and Heritage portfolio, Councillor Rohan Leppert, said council was excited to partner with Box Hill Institute to deliver this new unique mentoring program to develop Melbourne’s talented local music industry.
“Melbourne’s diverse music scene is world-renowned,” Cr Leppert said.
“It’s important that we continue to foster the growth of our local music industry and entrepreneurs. Through the City of Melbourne Music Plan, our investment in MIME will open a new set of opportunities for local music businesses to grow and make their mark on Australia and the world.”
Eligible candidates of the MIME program will be offered free, music-specific business training and mentor support for up to 12-months, culminating in the develop a personalised Business Plan that demonstrates the viability of their business concept as part of the NEIS program. The Business Plan can then be used to grant access for eligible participants to NEIS’ New Business Assistance, a Commonwealth funded financial assistance scheme offering support to business start-ups, for up to 39 weeks. This will be delivered through a 5-day workshop series, followed by a 5-week mentoring program through online platform Mentorloop who will act as a connection platform for MIME participants to enable networking, collaboration and knowledge sharing. The platform will also allow program managers to monitor individual progress and evaluate the overall program’s success.
Box Hill Institute and City of Melbourne
Music Industry Mentoring Edge (MIME) Key Dates
EOI’s open from Wednesday 17 – Friday 2 July 2020
All participants will be required to be available between the 8-15 July 2020
For more information and apply for MIME here: www.boxhill.edu.au/
Wednesday 8 July: Keynote + Panel + Q&A
Keynote: Olympia (self-managed artist)
Panel: Olympia, Ariel Blum, Merida Sussex, Peter Luscombe, Wenona Lok, Nathan Bird (Birdz)
Workshops
Thursday 9 July: NEIS Program Workshops
Monday 13 July: NEIS Program/developing your business strategy
Tuesday 14 July: NEIS Program/developing your business strategy
Wednesday 15 July: NEIS Program/developing your business strategy
Monday 20 July – Monday 31 August: Mentorloop
Box Hill Institute website: www.boxhill.edu.au/
City of Melbourne website: melbourne.vic.gov.au/music
Information on the NEIS Program: www.employment.gov.
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“Charlie knows how to make a compelling track AND how to wring the last drops of emotion out of it.” – Dave Ruby Howe
“Charlie Gradon’s talent is seemingly uncontainable.” – Life Without Andy
Sydney melancholic strummer Charlie Gradon takes a more upbeat approach on new single ‘Blurry Ones’ from his forthcoming sophomore EP.
‘Blurry Ones’ was written when Gradon bought his wife a vintage camera which took, as Gradon describes, “basically useless blurry photographs”. Born in his bedroom studio, the track sounds just like the blurry images Gradon sings of – nostalgic and reflective indie-rock.
Earlier this year Gradon resurfaced with the mellow single ‘Grieving’ which found a home on radio, reaching #3 on the AMRAP Metro Radio Charts along with adds on FBi Radio, 2SER and EDGE.
The products of a challenging period of change, both singles offer a glimpse of Gradon’s introspective upcoming sophomore EP – out later this year – which the talented multi-instrumentalist wrote and performed on his own.
This omnibus follows on from 2018’s ‘Self Doubt’ which intrigued audiences and garnered on-air support from Double J and FBi Radio and had him named in The Music Writer’s Poll for ‘Song of the Year’. Echoing this praise, he was recently a finalist in Happy Mag’s Needle in the Hay competition out of 2000 entries, and named in Life Without Andy’s Next Big Things for 2020.
With the world in an extended period of reflection Charlie Gradon is here with the perfect soundtrack.
CHARLIE GRADON
‘BLURRY ONES’
OUT NOW
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What is your name and role within The Mean Times?
My name is Tom Morgan and I’m on vocals and guitar. I also do all the shit that no one else in the band will do – like badly manage our finances or lack thereof.
Where are you currently based?
In Melbourne. Rock City.
What’s been happening recently?
You know, mostly just staying at home, ordering beer off the internet and cancelling gigs. Oh, we also released another EP the other day, which is exciting. Spewing we haven’t been able to play it live to anyone yet!
Your new EP ‘Stunned Mullet’ is out now, what influenced the sound and song writing?
We recorded ‘Stunned Mullet’ at the same time we recorded our last EP, ‘Raw Prawn’, which we released last year. We’d originally intended to do an album, but the more we got into the recording process and building on ideas, we realised we had two distinct sets of songs that needed to be split into different releases. We knew that each EP would retain a definite similarity, but that they were very different in style. While ‘Raw Prawn’ is a catchy, punk rock EP showing our lighter side, ‘Stunned Mullet’ is an angsty, dystopian rejection of traditional pop and indie norms, but also catchy, dancey and familiar. So we’ve kind of gone from influences like 70s and 90s oz punk rock, writing about life in general and self-deprecation, to a mixed bag of sludgy, grungy, stoner rock, indie pomp and acoustic ballads that all deal with death, depression, bad influences and dead bats.
How did you go about writing the music?
For this EP, it was mostly me writing the core song and bringing it to the band to make it good and point out what I was doing wrong. I actually wrote the first track, ‘She Lives on Oxygen’ when I lived in Amsterdam about 12 years ago. Most likely stoned. It was performed in a couple of bands I played in over there (Hand Bites Dog and Yakuza Smile), but it never felt finished. It only recently got a rewrite and a new chorus and became one of our favourite songs. ‘Miss Damascus 2008’ was written around a bass line that was looping around in my head for ages and layered from there by the rest of the band. Taxidermist came to me on a bike ride home from work one night when musing over the amount of songs that had the lyrics, ‘If you had wings you could fly’. And Faking Death is a dark one that just instantly came out on guitar when I was really tired and struggling with life. But we’ve moved away from that approach lately and are now really focussing on writing together as a band. It’s much more satisfying and enjoyable.
Where and when did you record/produce and who with?
‘Stunned Mullet’ and ‘Raw Prawn’ were mostly recorded and mixed at Rolling Stock Studios in Collingwood by Nao Anzai, who’s done a bunch of awesome stuff like Cash Savage and the Last Drinks. We actually started it way back in 2017 when we first laid down bass, drums and some guitars at Rolling Stock, but over the following year or two, we added a heap of guitars ourselves – mostly at Eoin’s house. We then sourced horns, strings and more guitar from musicians scattered across the internet, then came back to the studio to do vocals and mix it together with Nao. The whole lot was then mastered by Mikey Young from Eddy Current Suppression Ring.
What programs/instruments did you use?
Heaps of goddam guitars and effect pedals. At one point, when recording ‘She Lives on Oxygen’, we’d already recorded about 5 or 6 guitar layers, but we still wanted more! We asked our mate Cosmic from Brisbane band Death By Carrot to do a mad wah solo, then our former band mate Ant did another solo, then we went full bogan and roped in the craziest guitar soloist we could find in South America. We then changed tack and decided we wanted strings and horns for the second track, ‘Miss Damascus 2008’. We tracked down musicians offering these services on websites and worked with them collaboratively. We’d figure out the melodies or textures we wanted on the keyboard and send them a recording of what we were looking for and they’d make it sound good and send us their recordings to add to the mix. We also added our own keys to pretty much every song.
What did you find most challenging and rewarding during the writing/recording process?
Having no time was our biggest challenge. Having busy day jobs, families and other outside commitments is always what makes it hard for us, especially when recording. If we had more time, we would’ve busted out about 10 albums by now. We’re actually quite efficient when we get down to business. Also, at the time of recording, we didn’t actually have a full-time drummer, so we shipped in our mate Jonesy who’d been filling in for us occasionally to help out. That was a challenge in itself as he also had limited time and heaps of other bands.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
Right now I’m listening to Failure! I’m also liking Rolling Blackout Coastal Fever’s new album at the moment, but the one band I’m addicted to listening to this year is Viagra Boys from Sweden. They sound insane. Expect us to start ripping them off very soon.
What do you like to do away from music?
Outside of music, work and family, I don’t have a lot of time for much else. If I do, then I like to go camping, bike riding and put things in a slow cooker. During lockdown, I’ve also managed to step up an already worrying drinking habit and am becoming even more of a craft beer wanker.
What’s planned for the remainder of 2020?
Hopefully we can go back to the pub! First and foremost, I just want to go to the pub and get on the beers. But then, I want to play some goddamn gigs in the goddamn pub!
We had to cancel our single and EP launches during lockdown, so we’re hoping to put on a massive Melbourne show as soon as things go back to normal. Keep an eye out for that. Then we’ll play as many gigs as we can. We’ve actually been relatively productive with songwriting over the past few months at home, so it’d be great if we could get back to the studio and record it all. Hopefully it doesn’t take 3 years this time.
Favourite food and place to hangout?
Pub feeds and the pub. I don’t discriminate as to which.
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/themeantimes
Instagram @themeantimes
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