Hello Sane Age Sins
Forming in Brisbane in 2005, Adelle are quickly making a name for themselves. After independently releasing their debut EP “When Your Voices Aren’t Vices” in 2006 and touring extensively on the back of it throughout 2007, Adelle are back with “Hello Sane Age Sins.” Mission #1 caught up with Michael Parker, Vocialist and guitarist for this unique quartet.
How did the band form?
Adelle was formed in late 2005 during the moments of darkness that define the most interesting part of a solar eclipse. It was exhilarating but over much too soon, observers on the day used adjectives to the likes of captivating and mesmerizing when describing the unison. By late 2006 we had gathered enough intelligence and appropriate auditory material to reproduce discs in sizeable quantities. This first “hearing” was aptly named “When Your Vices Aren’t Vices” due to our large number of personal defects and an even more personal choice to disregard and ignore them. We toured compellingly on this release throughout 2007 assimilating fans in an assortment of environments and realities.
Is there much sadism in the Adelle camp?
Not really, we’re more about creeping you out. Inflicting pain or humiliation on someone is likely to trigger specific predictable reactions in return (namely fight or flight) and predictable equals boring. When threatened or engaged in conflict our actions are designed to induce that uncomfortable sinking feeling in the pits of our rivals stomachs. In fact the trick to this is sexual masochism.
How are you guys looking forward to the upcoming tour? Anything you’re particularly looking forward to or dreading?
The only thing we dread about touring is the fact that we can not log into Second Life every few hours to cause havoc on the B&D rooms with our clown hats and water pistols. Apart from that it is like a party 24/7. My average day on tour consists of waking up, drinks with lunch, chill, play a show, free drinks at venue, chill, party in the room, round of Ouija board then a cooked breakfast about 2-3am before bed. Please note, on travel days all of these event still occur to an absurd degree while in transit.
Tell me about recording Hello Sane Age Sins…
We recorded the tracks with Guy Cooper of Serotonin Productions [A Secret Death, The Combovers, Driven Fear]. After exhaustively doing all the production and recording on “Vices” ourselves this was a welcoming change. Working with talent like Guy and the new crew at Darther Music has not only made the whole project more professional but has given the rest of us a lot more time to lurk the Internet for things like the leaked Veronicas pictures. Words still out on whether they are real or not though. On the more professional note I mentioned above…
“Hello Sane Age Sins” LP is a rendering of raw sound with cunningly astute production, the songs have groove with thrashings of rock and moments of calm, the lyrics are clever yet sharp with shades of malevolence. To me this disc is an anti-movement, awe-inspiring insubordination, like dancing in the underworld, defiance personified.
What were some of the main ideas/themes/inspirations behind the album?
This CD is about doing whatever we feel like providing the vibe is right. However this is simply a reflection of how we write music. You get the feeling a lot of bands write songs and if they don’t turn out enough like their favourite songs at the time they scrap them. This results in a battering of standard sound upon my ear drums neither impressing nor upsetting me, just leaving me speculating about what it feels like to be a drone. In stark contrast to this we let everything fly in all areas of songwriting from pre to post production. Try everything, say anything; if you think it might work it probably will, if it doesn’t use a crazy effect and see where that leaves you. I guess if I had to cap it off it in a statement I’d say open your mind, awaken the senses, be well read and versed even better, don’t follow, thinking for yourself is a choice and you’d be sensible to make it sometime.
Tell me about the voice-overs you use in your songs…
I assume this question pertains to the “new” song on the myspace. Scott recorded this song titled “The Big Picture” using Reason and his laptop; essentially it is a bridging track for between now and when the album is released. It goes well with long winding roads at night or banned substances. The voice over your referring too is that of Edgar Mitchell who is an astronaut that walked on the moon. In this particular snippet he is discussing the occasions when he was briefed by NASA about the existence of extraterrestrials.
Plans for the rest of the year?
When we get home from tour we will be finishing up three new motion picture projections for the album with possibilities for a fourth somewhere in the stratosphere. There are tour follow up shows in NSW planned for October, a weekend up north in the works and a big 2 week tour in Nov/Dec right round to Adelaide. As far as SE QLD is concerned there is a whole stack of shows planned across the city and the coast when we are once again blips on the radar. On the song writing front we have started pre-production on the 3rd album and are due to start recording later this year. Meanwhile we are shopping “Hello Sane Age Sins” LP to labels and promoters domestic and abroad before its release.
Anything else you’d like to talk about that I haven’t asked?
Sure, at our shows you can get free download cards. You receive a username and password off the card (emblazoned with the CD artwork) and are directed to www.thoughtcoercion.org where you can download 2 unreleased songs off the new album… You can also get them by becoming a field representative; contact us via myspace www.myspace.com/adellegroup for more information.
Adelle are on tour now, hitting Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra, the Central Coast and Brisbane. For more information hit up their myspace, http://www.myspace.com/adellegroup
Heard About Your Band
New band
The Pictures
Oh yes, The Pictures. Yeah, they’re the band who covered Milkshake a few years ago, and there’s nothing like a chart-topping pop song covered somewhat ironically by a smaller band, and covered well. Really, there isn’t.
The band has received a fair amount of airplay on Triple J with singles such as Pissin’ With The Catman, and for good reason; their songs are pretty damn catchy. Hailing from Melbourne and fronted by the excellent Davey Lane (guitarist for You Am I, also in The Wrights), they create wonderful music, and guess what? New album out this year! Yeah!
If you haven’t heard them before, have a trawl through their myspace (which will explain the band better than I can). Or a music store, whatever.
http://www.myspace.com/thepicturesmusic
Old Band
Due to the fact that my music taste tends to revolve around older bands, every column will feature a somewhat older band for you to hunt down.
This week’s is Matrimony, purely because I’ve been listening to them too much lately.
Anyone like Bikini Kill? Well, this band practically invented Riot Grrl (they influenced Bikini Kill’s leader Kathleen Hanna so much, that she made her first band with members of Matrimony)…and all in Sydney! They were a mostly female punk band that surfaced from the Sydney punk scene back in the 80’s. Try and hunt down Kitty Finger is you can (easiest copy to find is probably via itunes)
Songs to listen to:
Elvis Superstar (available on their myspace)
Bleached
Frantic Romantic (cover of The Scientists song, more on them later)
http://www.myspace.com/matrimony
Creating a Red Abum
The Red Paintings. Love them or hate them they are one of the most unique Australian bands around at the moment. Singer/Guitarist Trash McSweeney took a few moments away from mixing the bands debut album to have a chat to Mission #1 about life as the vision behind The Red Paintings, and I started by asking him about the American tour the band recently completed.
“Considering we had no marketing, no PR for our tour I thought we had great turn outs. Sure it wasn’t like touring with the [Dresden] Dolls playing to thousands each night. Overall I’m happy, I really couldn’t have asked for more. Plus I believe this trip to the USA was about a lot more then touring an idea.” I asked Trash what shows on the tour had stood out for him. “I’d say Portland because I was the most pissed of over the entire tour and we lifted the roof of the venue because of it. I also recall that night we sold a lot of merch and people were buying everything they could get their hands on.”
The band was touring the USA after playing at Museexpo, a showcase attracting some of the “most influential executive talent from around the globe.” I asked Trash what some of the feedback he has received from the industry representatives has been like. “[They said] that we are our own sound and idea, and they think we fit inside our own scene. I’ve received positive and negative [comments] and all comments made were valid.”
In 2007 The Red Paintings launched an appeal from their fans for donations, a pre-order, so they could record their debut album, titled The Revolution Is Never Coming. As mentioned earlier, Trash is in Canada mixing it. I asked him how it was coming along, and if there were any hints of a possible release date. “It’s a hard album to make, because it tests your patience like you wouldn’t believe. It’s coming along, I’ve changed ideas in the mix a few times now. This was the album I wanted to get right so it’s only fair that it would send me crazy and it’s doing a great job of that. I’m not ready at this stage to offer a release date, as soon as it’s complete in all ways I will see that date, and everyone that cares about us will notice.”
The album is set to be one of the defining moments of The Red Painting’s history so far. I asked if there was anything Trash wanted new listeners and old fans to take away after listening to it. “That they are received more then their $40 worth in these 13 songs. That I’m giving you an album that is been recorded and felt like no other. Doesn’t mean its any good just means I’ve [been] sacrificing myself for it. And lastly that i am very thankful for this incredible experience, this album has taken me to some life-changing places.”
The band is returning to Australian shores in July and August for two special showcase shows. Trash refused to give away any information about them, except that we can expect to see and hear animals screaming. I finished off asking Trash what art inspires him most. “Performance Art. Organizations that get out on the streets and protest against animal cruelty. That inspires me most.”
The Red Paintings return to Australia in August for two free showcase shows. To register for the ballot to receive a free double pass, visit http://www.individulaunch.com.au/
Check out The Red Paintings on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/theredpaintings . Debut album “The Revolution Is Never Coming” release date to be announced. Image sourced from the bands Myspace
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