Where are you currently based?
Since the day we started up we’ve always been a Western-Sydney based band.
How did you first start playing music?
We started playing music together after meeting in our high school’s guitar ensemble. I remember after meeting and starting up a band we’d pretty much go up to our school’s music rooms every single lunchtime and play together, occasionally staying a little too long after the lunch bell and getting in trouble for being late to class.
Please tell us about the Noon Shift journey so far:
I’d say since forming the first big step for us as a band was recording our first EP “Fuse” in 2018. Around the time it came out we were all becoming old enough to start playing at pubs, so I’d say that was the point where things really kicked off.
Since then we’ve mostly just focused on recording and releasing new tracks to play at our gigs and watching our audience steadily grow. We put out our second EP in early 2021 but knew it was time to up the ante a little and record a full length album. We’ve since come out the other end of that process with an album we’re all really proud of and can’t wait to share with the world!
What’s been happening recently?
Well last weekend saw the release of our debut album’s first single “Do It All Again”. We got some really kind words from a few fans which is always encouraging and appreciated. We then wrapped up the weekend with a charity gig at Petersham Bowling Club in Sydney raising funds for those affected by the floods. It was really great to see so many people show up for a good cause!
Your latest single ‘Do It Again’ is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting?
Sure is! I was doing a lot of guitar teaching at the time and found the songs I was teaching my students began inspiring the ones I was writing. I actually came up with the bulk of the song during a 30 minute break between lessons. If you listen closely you can hear a bit of influence from tracks by Foo Fighters, Hockey Dad, Chuck Berry and even a bit of Metallica!
How did you go about writing the single?
Once I had what I’d call the ‘bones’ of the track written (usually the riff/chords and melody) I took it to the other guys in the band and fleshed it out. The track actually came together quite a bit easier than some others. It was just one of those songs that as soon as you write, you know what the drums and bass are supposed to play as well. The song has been an absolute blast to play through every single time from the get-go.
Where and when did you record/produce/master and who did you work with?
We recorded the album, including this track over the summer of 2021/2022. It all began with a visit to The Brain Studios in Sydney to record the drums. The guy who runs the place, Clayton, gets great drum sounds and knows how to pull a great performance so choosing to do the drums there was a real no-brainer!
We then finished all the tracks in my home studio. I once again found myself taking on the producer role, trying to get the best sounds and performances I could, which can be a little tricky when trying to be the judge of your own. I have a little spare bedroom in my house which we pretty much used as a control room, while my bedroom became the room where our amps would be set-up. We had to have the amp up pretty loud to get it sounding right If you walked in while someone was playing it’d blow your head off!
The songs ended up back at The Brain Studios once I’d done the mixes to be mastered.
What programs/instruments do you use?
When recording drums we used a whole mix of pieces from different kits that Clayton thought would sound best. I do remember actually using a ride cymbal in the place of a crash for a bit of a heavier sound for the cymbals.
Our bass player Michael recorded the full album with his Ibanez SR series 5 string. We recorded the bass direct, without an amp but blended his clean tone with a dirty tone from a free Sansamp clone plugin.
As for guitar, everything was recorded through my trusty Tokai ES335 style guitar. As a huge Dave Grohl fan I’d wanted an ES style guitar since I was about 13. The real ones are quite expensive but I’m really happy with my one and use it for pretty much everything. The fact that they’re semi-hollow makes it decently loud unplugged, which is great for when I’m writing and something you typically don’t get from a solid-body.
How did you approach the recording process?
Even though we recorded the entire album on computers I still wanted to keep in mind a few of the limitations of analogue tape. On tape you can’t really edit a performance in the same way as a computer so what’s played is what you get, imperfections and all.
To me that’s what makes a lot of recorded music personal and memorable so we chose at the start of the recording process that we would use minimal editing on our performances and just learn to be okay with the little imperfections that (hopefully) make the music better.
Please tell us about your upcoming album:
I started writing our upcoming album, “Steering Wheels on Summer’s Days” after the end of my first relationship. The album is about the experience of a relationship’s final stage and end, the phase of grieving after and then finally learning to be okay with it and opening oneself up once again. It was our first time taking on a project of this size and we’re glad to have come out the other end of it with something we’re really proud of!
What’s planned for the remainder of 2022 and beyond?
Well 2022’s gonna see a few more singles in the lead up to the album’s release on October 14th 2022. The space between is gonna be filled with a bunch of shows. We’d love to hit the road and play all around Australia but we’re happy to wait until the right time comes!
We’re also just beginning to demo a few songs for what we’re expecting will be our next album so we’re really excited for what the rest of this year and beyond holds!
Who are you listening to at the moment?
I’ve personally been listening to a lot of Press Club lately. I’m seeing them play in Sydney in a few weeks and I’m the kind of person that wants to know all the songs when I go to see a band play live. Other than that, our bass player Tchai and I were listening to an American band called Sungazer on the drive home the other day. They’re pretty different from what we do so it’s actually quite refreshing to hear!
What do you like to do away from music?
When we’re not playing music we usually just like to sit around drinking beer and enjoying each other’s company. Perhaps the occasional fishing-trip or ill-fated longboarding sesh.
Favourite food and place to hangout?
Let’s tie the two together and say that we love to get a kebab from our local shop Fully Tabooly in Pemulwuy. It’s a great place to sit down, have a yarn and hoover up a bab. Would highly recommend, just don’t forget to grab a loyalty card!