Project Description
Interview with
IVEY
by Vicky Hebbs
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FAST FACTS
Triple J Unearthed ‘Distinguished Achievers’ 2015
Channel V ‘Discover Artist’ 2015
Performed as part of ARIA week 2016
Sold out single launch in Gold Coast for ‘ Always’ 2018
‘Always’ was MTV Upload of the week 2018
New 6 date tour just announced – East coast + Adelaide
Has supported Ocean Alley, Confidence Man, Montaigne, Middle Kids, Ruby Fields, Cub Sport
Performed at ‘Festival 18’ as part of the Commonwealth Games
New EP ‘Gorgeous’ Produced by Konstantin Kersting (The Jungle Giants, Tia Gostelow, Mallrat)
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PRAISE FOR IVEY
“Ivey honing in on that catchy sing-along choruses they’re all so good at creating…”I think you’re kinda boring”…That line just won’t get out of my head!” – Triple J Unearthed, Claire Mooney (‘Always’)
“Another indie gem bursting with energy and fun. Who could possibly stand still to this?” – Triple J, Bridget Hustwaite (‘Out Of Time’)
“…filled with grooving guitar riffs giving off coastal vibes, the heartfelt tune feels every bit the adorable indie rock tune coming from IVEY, in the same way we love San Cisco.” – AAA Backstage (‘Last Week’)
“…one that packs an upbeat tropical punch that doesn’t take itself too seriously, whilst also showing a maturity and honesty more seasoned artists would die for.” – Pilerats (‘Smell Of Smoke’)
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How did you come together and decide to form a band? When did it become a serious concern?
Ivey formed on the Gold Coast in my parents garage. Myself, my brother Matt and our neighbour Dante have all been playing in a band together since I was about 11 or 12 (I’m 21 as of two weeks ago). Then Millie joined us in 2013, when she was about 12, I met her through high-school. After we started getting serious, which was around 2015, we kept finding that our music needed something else. So late last year we adopted Matt’s band schoolmate – Riley Smith into the band. We’re all so tight knit now it’s great.
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What kind of music did you grow up on? What artists inspired you and which do you still look to now for ideas?
Everyone grew up on everything really. Like Millie was a huge Beatles nut growing up, Dante more into RNB specifically The Black Eyed Peas, Matt and Lachie were into older rock like U2 and then a little bit of punk with Green Day etc.
I guess the bands that influence are sound today, are the band we like listening to today. We’ve been getting into groove based bands for a while now, and listen to a lot of pop/rnb production as well. Bands like Phoenix, Passion Pit, Parcels, Daft Punk, Two Door Cinema Club and then we’ve been listening to huge pop stuff by Calvin Harris, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson, Ariana Grande, Anderson Paak etc.
We’re also big fans of The Jungle Giants, Methyl Ethel, The Strokes, Rex Orange County, Last Dinosaurs, Papooz, Khalid, The Preatures, Cosmos Midnight, Broods. THE LIST GOES ON!
Also from an alternative perspective – listen to Kraftwerk and Brian Eno and open your ear holes to an interesting array of sounds that will caress, stomp and chomp your ear drums.
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You’ve done a lot of awesome stuff since way back in 2015 when you won Channel V’s ‘Discover Artist’ and Triple J Unearthed’s ‘Distinguished Achievers.’ What are some of the most exciting events or things that have happened?
Honestly, I think playing shows to people who really want to see you is the best feeling. Whether it’s 80 or 400 people every time we play a show where people are genuinely into is exciting. However, to appeal to the question – selling at our hometown show this year at Elsewhere was a huge deal. We haven’t sold that many tickets pre-show ever, and it was absolutely madness in amongst it all.
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Your new EP comes out October 19th. Can you share the origins or inspiration for the album?
I think this EP is the matured Ivey. Don’t get us wrong, we’re still young, but the last time we released any body of work was three years ago, 3/4 of the band was still in school and we kind of just winged it. For this EP, we sat down for almost 8 months and worked on songs, discarded songs, pulled them apart. It’s the first time we’ve every collaborated on every song, with everyone putting their ideas in. It feels more Ivey then ever before, and that’s why it’s so different, and so wonderful.
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What do you enjoy most about songwriting? What does that process of creating a song look like for you?
As for most artists, it’s different every time. but for us it’s about sitting down with an idea and deconstructing it. Once it’s deconstructed we all put it back together but add our individual parts, like melody or a bass line etc. It’s actually been really nice writing this EP, seeing everyone be excited about the songs because we all wrote them together.
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If someone had never listened to Ivey before, what song of yours would you recommend to them if they could only listen to one?
Our new song Won’t Be, it’s the direction we want to take Ivey in, a balance between pop, and early indie with well thought out melody and lyrics. Someone you can dance to, chill out to and think about.
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You have supported a whole bunch of different artists on tour. Any favourites? Or especially memorable moments as a support act?
Supporting Cub Sport and Middle Kids for Summer Sessions was probably our favourite support slot. The room was packed for us going on first which is unheard of these days being a support or opening band. We’re also big fans of them both so it was nice getting the chance to hey and chat.
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What is your favourite thing about being on tour? Least favourite thing?
Our favourite thing about being on tour are free beers. Our least favourite thing about being on tour is lugging all our gear around and not being able to eat a nice home cooked meal.
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You performed at ‘Festival 18’ as part of the Commonwealth Games. What was that experience like?
That was really exciting and a little bit stressful to be honest. We played just before the baton relay reached the stage which was being televised so it was run very precisely. We had to be off stage at like “5:16:23pm” which was new for us but also cool to get a taste of how those events are run.
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Where would be your ultimate venue or festival to perform at?
The dream slot to perform at in Australia at least would be the sunset slot on the Friday at Splendour in the Grass. DMA’s played it this year and it was such a good vibe with the sun going down and everyone well and truly immersed the festival spirit.
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If you could pick absolutely anyone to bring on tour with you, whom would you pick and why? (Dead or Alive)
Lachie and Matt’s uncle ‘Steve’ would be ideal. The man is a big South African who knows his way around the kitchen and definitely could have a career in security and/or comedy and/or beer drinking. When we’re in Sydney the feasts he creates feeds the band for a week.
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What are your major goals or milestones for the future? What are your plans for the next year as a band?
Our major goal at the moment is building momentum towards our debut album. Releasing this EP and touring at the end of the year is the first step as Millie has just turned 18 and the straps have been lifted off the band in a way. Into next year writing, releasing and touring another EP is the plan moving towards the album baby.
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Finally, this is a paragraph dedicated to some quick discovery. Really corny, but for the fans, can you tell me your favorite album, artist, movie, place, drink, meal and person (living or dead) and some brief reasons why? Answer some or all please?
Fav album: ‘Malibu’ by Anderson .Paak – Just listen to the album, the man is a freak. The detail put into all those songs is astonishing.
Fav artist: Parcels – These guys are ‘bout to blow the F up. Just released their debut album. From Byron now based in Berlin. Nothing really like them sonically. The whole curation of their music and style is pulled off to a tee.
Movie: The Grand Budapest Hotel by Wes Anderson. The colour pallet is immaculate and his artsy depiction of life as we know it – the modern Picasso.
Place: In the ocean. We’re salt water people.
Drink: Post mix by day, Beers by night.
Meal: The whole sushi train “train”.
Person: Bradley Cooper when he speaks French. Youtube below:
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‘GORGEOUS’
TOUR DATES
Friday 26 October Black Bear Lodge Brisbane
Friday 2 November West Thebarton Hotel Adelaide
Saturday 3 November Gasometer (Upstairs) Melbourne
Saturday 8 December Waywards Sydney
Sunday 9 December North Gong Hotel Wollongong
Saturday 22 December End of Year Party Vol. 2 Gold Coast
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Follow IVEY
WEBSITE
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