Project Description
Interview with
THE GREAT EMU WAR CASUALTIES
Interviewer – Dave Bruce
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Firstly, how are you enjoying your new home here?
JOE: It’s alright like! Rent is expensive and beer is expensive and the train is expensive but it’s sunny sometimes so that’s good. The people I’ve met have been really nice and that’s key for me. I’ve just signed a 12 month rental lease so I must be enjoying it.
SASKIA: I’m from Sydney originally so naturally I think Melbourne is the bee’s knees… there’s been some growing pains for sure but it’s amazing having so many places to play in such a short distance apart from each other.
How did you all find each other, form a band and then decide to relocate? Some hefty decisions there.
SASKIA: I was playing in bands over in the UK on working holiday and Joe’s old band was one of them, which subsequently broke up so we decided to start a new project with the keyboard player… who subsequently got work on a cruise ship never to return… then my visa ran out… then Joe decided he was sick of Liverpool and came to try out Melbs with me. Thank god we found Bibek here through the wonders of the internet who just happened to have moved here at a similar time to us so we snatched him up before anyone else could, lol.
Which music did you grow up listening to? How has it influenced your current style?
JOE: I grew up listening to trash in my parents car. Savage Garden was a regular. No offense… I think… To be fair, truly madly deeply is a tune. Just thinking actually, when I first started playing guitar my auntie bought me a Crowded House chord book. Maybe that’s why I ended up here. Anyway there were no musicians in my family so I was kind of a victim to the charts. I think my first CD was the Men in Black movie soundtrack. I’m still recovering from the damage inflicted in those early years.
Saskia has just told me that Crowded House are from New Zealand… I guess I dont know what I’m talking about then.
SASKIA: My dad often had Talking Heads on in the house when I was a kid, but I didn’t get into them until much later in life… finally in my 20s I heard ‘Once in a Lifetime’ again and it was super nostalgic, so I looked it up and it all spiralled downwards from there… I’m kinda obsessed with them now. Bibek and I try and make rhythms that are interesting but still danceable like that.
How would you describe your sound?
JOE: Pop ish? Indie? I dunno. Nic Cage describes his acting as nouveau shamanic so we do the same with our music because we have nothing original to offer, not even descriptions. I think the new stuff is more of a polished sound but that’s kind of accidental just from getting tighter playing together.
Why do you think people will resonate with your music?
JOE: I remember in an interview once, Lou Reed explained his style as attempting to bring a novelistic style of writing to music, so he would write like the books he read. I remember thinking “not every book is about heroin, Lou” but then what do I know clearly. Is that relevant? I don’t know that people will resonate with our stuff. I just try to write in an interesting and honest way with the best musicians in Australia, Saskia and Bibek, and hope for the best. I do hope it resonates with people but I’m more concerned that it resonates with myself. There’s no value in it if it doesn’t have that initial soul.
Your new single “Gimme Gimme Shimmy Shimmy” has just been released! Describe its origin and evolution.
SASKIA: While we were living in Amsterdam briefly we had some ideas floating around but nothing really concrete… we randomly got offered some free recordings and we were like, okay, we really need some songs already… I pulled out an old bass riff I had and made a rough structure of it with Joe’s guitar, then Joe was like ‘okay go away now’ and he spent a day locked in the room writing vocals and restructuring it… we ended up with an okay-sounding demo but when we came down here and found Bibek I thought it was such a cool song that I wanted to redo it with his drums… which we did… then we complained to Cal (our mixing engineer wizard) that we still didn’t really know what to do with the bridge and he was like ‘how about putting in Alex Jones ranting about lizard people on it?’ and we were like ‘amazing you’re hired’.
That is some intellectual title. How did that make its way to the surface?
SASKIA: I have a miles long list on my phone of stupid/bizarre phrases that we or someone else says randomly… they mostly have no relevance or meaning to the song. I’m still pretty keen to get ‘Very Very Vivacious Volcano Violin’ out…
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Any other new music on the drawing board?
SASKIA: Like I said, ‘Very Very Vivacious Vol-‘ lol no… we haven’t written that one yet… We’ve actually got one more hopefully coming out asap called ‘Confidence for Midriffs’, and then three more coming out next year.
You perform extensively, what is coming up in the near future?
SASKIA: Yes, we are the band that will say yes to anything… we’re playing The Night Heron on 2nd Nov and Swamplands on 8th Nov. After that Bibek will be back in Kathmandu so we’ll be on forced leave for a few weeks, haha.
If you could perform with any music artist, Alive or Dead, who would you choose? And why?
JOE: Like, perform alongside in the band? Has to be someone mad then like Bjork or Tom Waits. Giz Tom but earlier in his career. When he brings Marc Ribot on board. Give me an alternate history where he hires me instead. That would be great.
SASKIA: Umm, I would love to do something with Maryam Saleh… she is such a badass.
What’s next for you in the next year?
JOE: Releases. The third of this batch of singles and then all 3 of the next batch. Hopefully a festival spot too if any of the bookers like our material, fingers crossed.
What are your longer-term aspirations?
JOE: I dunno. I’m pretty happy with how things are going. I don’t think it’s worth doing if your personal aspirations aren’t to become the best musician that you can be, but so much of the band’s success is out of our hands. I’ll spend the next year releasing this material, writing new stuff and improving as much as possible. Let’s see.
What is the best thing about performing to a live audience?
JOE: Well, you really get to find out how good your material is. There’s no substitute for writing a bunch of new stuff, thinking it’s all amazing, then playing it all live to find out it is not all amazing.
SASKIA: It’s always a different energy when you play live because so many factors influence it, so it always keeps it interesting.
Finally, a few questions for some quick answers –
FAVOURITE:
Album –
JOE: Pure Comedy – Father John Misty
SASKIA: Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana – Shiina Ringo
Artist –
JOE: Everything Everything
SASKIA: Meshell Ndegeocello
Movie –
JOE: Apparently when I was a kid I was obsessed with Calamity Jane but my parents “accidentally” taped over it. Say Calamity Jane and ask if anyone will send me a blu ray.
SASKIA: All About Eve is the perfect film for me…
Place to visit –
JOE: Amsterdam or LA or Venice or, actually, probably home to visit. As long as I can leave again without Boris locking the doors on me.
SASKIA: Amsterdam or Tokyo to visit
Venue to play –
JOE: My favourite venue is whatever one I’m booked to play next
SASKIA: Lol Joe you cop out. Probably Globe Alley for me…! Has had the best sound out of anywhere else in Melbourne I’ve played so far, and cool/convenient location.
Food –
JOE: Just put food in me, I don’t mind.
SASKIA: It sounds lame but probably sushi…
Drink –
JOE: There’s a wine in the Tesco Express back home and I don’t know what it’s called but it has a drawing of a bird on it and it’s the only wine I like and we called it bird wine. So, bird wine.
SASKIA: I’ve like literally never seen you drink wine ever so that answer is surprising.. as for me, I’m a child so probably pink lemonade HAHAHA. Or corn tea is also really good.
Person in History –
JOE: Who is from history? Like historical… and real… screw it. I’m going to say Scary Spice.
SASKIA: I’m going to say, Baruch Spinoza…
Tattoo – (If you don’t have one, what would you get?)
JOE: I don’t have one but I had a friend who had a tattoo that said “live life no regrets” that she later decided she didn’t like and tattooed a bunch of roses over it. That situation is my favourite tattoo.
SASKIA: I also don’t have a tattoo but Bibek has an iron man tattoo that is pretty dang cool.
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