WEBVTT - Crowded House 0:00:15.516 --> 0:00:15.996 Pushkin. 0:00:20.316 --> 0:00:22.316 Crowded House had one of the most enduring hits of 0:00:22.356 --> 0:00:25.276 the eighties with Don't Dream It's Over. The commercial and 0:00:25.276 --> 0:00:27.916 critical success of that song launched to the Australian New 0:00:27.996 --> 0:00:31.316 Zealand band and its esteemed KIWI songwriter Neil Finn to 0:00:31.476 --> 0:00:32.356 pop stardom. 0:00:33.236 --> 0:00:34.076 The band made. 0:00:33.876 --> 0:00:37.236 Three more critically acclaimed records before breaking up in ninety six, 0:00:37.556 --> 0:00:39.796 but over the years they've come back together at various 0:00:39.796 --> 0:00:43.716 times to put out new projects, including their latest Gravity Stairs. 0:00:44.636 --> 0:00:46.916 Crowded House is now made up of their original bassist, 0:00:47.036 --> 0:00:50.436 Nick Seymour, the American producer of their earliest albums, Mitchell 0:00:50.476 --> 0:00:54.796 Froom on keyboards, their frontman Neil Finn, and his two sons, 0:00:54.996 --> 0:00:58.156 Liam on guitar and vocals, and Elroy, who's taken over 0:00:58.236 --> 0:01:02.036 for the late Paul Hester on drums. On today's episode, 0:01:02.076 --> 0:01:04.236 Crowded House talked to Bruce Headlam about how they look 0:01:04.276 --> 0:01:07.156 to tread new ground while still honoring the group's roots, 0:01:07.636 --> 0:01:09.996 what it's like for Neil Finn to with his sons, 0:01:10.596 --> 0:01:13.276 Plus they tell some hilarious stories from the rehearsing of 0:01:13.316 --> 0:01:19.876 their new album at an Airbnb. This is broken record 0:01:20.196 --> 0:01:21.796 liner notes for the digital age. 0:01:21.996 --> 0:01:22.916 I'm justin Mitchman. 0:01:23.556 --> 0:01:27.276 Here's Bruce Headlin's conversation with Nick Seymour, Mitchell Farum, and 0:01:27.396 --> 0:01:30.196 Neil Liam and el Roy Finn of Crowded House. 0:01:31.236 --> 0:01:33.716 We never have to do this, but because it's a podcast, 0:01:33.756 --> 0:01:35.796 could you just go around and introduce yourselves. 0:01:35.996 --> 0:01:40.556 Hello, I'm Liam Finn. Hello, I'm Nick, and I am 0:01:40.676 --> 0:01:43.756 Neil Finn, Mitchell and I'm Elroy. 0:01:44.116 --> 0:01:46.316 All right, and you are Crowded House and this is 0:01:46.676 --> 0:01:50.876 just great to have you. I'll start with you, Neil, 0:01:50.916 --> 0:01:52.836 because you did the bulk of the writing. Can you 0:01:52.996 --> 0:01:56.276 talk about writing the songs for this album how it 0:01:56.316 --> 0:01:57.236 came about. 0:01:57.796 --> 0:02:00.436 I make little demos in my writing rooms, go up, 0:02:00.476 --> 0:02:01.556 try and get a five period. 0:02:01.596 --> 0:02:02.396 I can go in every. 0:02:02.316 --> 0:02:06.596 Day just sort of turn up and some days are 0:02:06.596 --> 0:02:08.636 non productive, and then beget into a flow and you 0:02:08.636 --> 0:02:10.316 have a few breakthroughs and all of a sudden, it 0:02:10.316 --> 0:02:12.556 feels like you're in the groove. And that's how the 0:02:12.596 --> 0:02:15.756 songs come out in stages. Basically, I'll make a little 0:02:15.756 --> 0:02:19.036 demo of a verse maybe, and then a chorus will 0:02:19.036 --> 0:02:20.836 occur to me. In the process of that, I'll make 0:02:20.876 --> 0:02:24.276 another demo. Just a series of demos and it's always well, 0:02:24.316 --> 0:02:27.556 since I've got a four track cassette recorder back in 0:02:27.596 --> 0:02:30.556 the early eighties, that's been the way I've written. I 0:02:30.676 --> 0:02:33.556 very rarely sit down on a piano and just write 0:02:33.556 --> 0:02:36.916 in the old fashioned way. I kind of jam, listen back, 0:02:37.076 --> 0:02:40.436 find the bits that seem golden, and then add to them. 0:02:41.356 --> 0:02:43.236 Do you write on piano or do you write on guitar? 0:02:43.516 --> 0:02:44.876 I do right on both. 0:02:46.676 --> 0:02:50.196 But yeah, often they're just little atmospheres that spark an idea, 0:02:50.236 --> 0:02:53.236 and then I often deconstruct them at various points. I'll 0:02:53.316 --> 0:02:55.436 the band will play them and will learn them, and 0:02:55.476 --> 0:02:57.116 we'll do them a certain way and they'll be pretty 0:02:57.156 --> 0:02:59.756 really good, and then I'll decide that there's more to 0:02:59.796 --> 0:03:02.876 be had. I'll deconstruct them, and then next thing they 0:03:02.876 --> 0:03:06.916 hear they're completely different. Well, you know, it's a relearning 0:03:07.036 --> 0:03:07.716 all of a sudden. 0:03:09.236 --> 0:03:12.316 And I was Liam as well, because you co wrote 0:03:12.316 --> 0:03:15.036 some of the songs. Tell me about what was that like. 0:03:16.316 --> 0:03:18.876 It's all kind of been pretty organic because we've made 0:03:18.956 --> 0:03:21.476 music together a lot over the years, and especially in 0:03:21.476 --> 0:03:25.476 the last eight years or so. Yeah, I probably write 0:03:25.476 --> 0:03:28.716 in a fairly similar fashion to Dad, just kind of 0:03:28.716 --> 0:03:33.276 making noises and playing with pedals and stuff until I 0:03:33.316 --> 0:03:36.196 get excited by something and then stuff kind of gets 0:03:37.036 --> 0:03:40.676 birthed from that without even really realizing it. It's always 0:03:40.676 --> 0:03:42.436 the thing when you go away and you realize you're 0:03:42.756 --> 0:03:45.916 humming a malady around and around that that's probably the 0:03:45.956 --> 0:03:48.636 thing that's come out of it. And you know, for 0:03:48.676 --> 0:03:51.156 this record, I had a couple of songs. For one 0:03:51.196 --> 0:03:54.236 song that was pretty fully formed that I just got 0:03:54.236 --> 0:03:56.396 to bring to the band and I think we played 0:03:56.396 --> 0:04:00.036 it twice and that was it, and that's what the 0:04:00.036 --> 0:04:01.916 second one was to can take was on the record, 0:04:02.036 --> 0:04:05.876 And so it's yeah, I mean the next record, I'm 0:04:05.916 --> 0:04:08.276 hoping that we'll all have a bit more time beforehand 0:04:08.596 --> 0:04:10.876 to come to the table with as much stuff as 0:04:11.196 --> 0:04:14.076 we're at least a bit closer to the amount that 0:04:14.156 --> 0:04:19.676 Dad does. We get like the sixteen demos sent to 0:04:19.796 --> 0:04:24.316 us like it was kind of an unexpected session. Really, 0:04:24.316 --> 0:04:28.316 we were isolating in Byron Bay before Australian tour. We 0:04:28.356 --> 0:04:30.636 had to spend two weeks in isolation, and so we 0:04:30.676 --> 0:04:32.796 did it in a studio, made a lot of sense 0:04:33.196 --> 0:04:35.676 and fooled ourselves into thinking, oh, it's just rehearsal and 0:04:35.756 --> 0:04:38.076 maybe we'll cut a track, but we probably did like 0:04:38.196 --> 0:04:41.836 eight or nine songs and that became the sort of 0:04:42.236 --> 0:04:44.996 meat of the record really, and they were just things 0:04:44.996 --> 0:04:48.036 that Dad had and that he sort of gave to 0:04:48.036 --> 0:04:50.036 everyone and sort of see what got. 0:04:49.876 --> 0:04:50.956 Responded to and stuff. 0:04:50.996 --> 0:04:54.476 But it was all kind of half halfway there already 0:04:54.476 --> 0:04:56.036 with as far as the atmosphere and stuff. 0:04:56.116 --> 0:04:58.756 Yeah, I would think presenting songs to the full band 0:04:58.796 --> 0:05:03.076 would be a really intimidating situation. I would think presenting 0:05:03.116 --> 0:05:07.836 songs to my father in a band would be which way. 0:05:07.756 --> 0:05:12.036 You're talking about it, and like, it is really intimidating. 0:05:12.076 --> 0:05:15.236 But I'm never sure that he feels just as intimidated 0:05:15.316 --> 0:05:19.196 presenting his songs as as I do, actually feeling like 0:05:19.396 --> 0:05:21.476 I don't know his songs as well as he knows. 0:05:21.516 --> 0:05:24.356 And I think that's the main thing, is that when 0:05:24.396 --> 0:05:29.356 somebody presents an idea, a demo or whatever, it is 0:05:29.396 --> 0:05:33.836 everybody's obligation to know it as well as the person 0:05:33.876 --> 0:05:37.276 who's actually formulated the thing before you actually try to 0:05:37.836 --> 0:05:42.036 add or converse about any ideas you might have to 0:05:42.076 --> 0:05:44.836 help that song, you know, if we're going to actually 0:05:44.916 --> 0:05:48.476 play it together. And that's probably the most intimidating thing. 0:05:48.436 --> 0:05:51.716 Is, let's wish for thinking in some cases, because obviously, 0:05:52.156 --> 0:05:53.996 even to make a demo, you get deep inside your 0:05:53.996 --> 0:05:57.596 idea you have very kind of fixed ideas about certain things. 0:05:58.436 --> 0:06:01.636 And you know, and el Roy had a couple of 0:06:01.716 --> 0:06:06.476 things that I picked my ears up demos of his 0:06:06.756 --> 0:06:10.756 that we actually kept relatively intact actually because they have 0:06:10.916 --> 0:06:15.596 they had a kind of untouchable mystery about them that 0:06:15.636 --> 0:06:19.556 we couldn't really we didn't want to break down. Sometimes 0:06:19.556 --> 0:06:22.356 with my stuff, I'll have a feeling on a demo too, 0:06:22.396 --> 0:06:24.876 that's very hard to recapture. But what happens with the 0:06:24.876 --> 0:06:27.116 band is that it doesn't sound like you imagined it would, 0:06:27.116 --> 0:06:30.396 but actually it lets light into the arrangement a little 0:06:30.396 --> 0:06:32.076 bit and actually in a way makes it, i think, 0:06:32.156 --> 0:06:38.156 more approachable and you know, surprising in a good way. 0:06:38.516 --> 0:06:41.356 So I but you know, not expected when I've seen 0:06:41.396 --> 0:06:44.156 demos out that everyone learns the demo exactly as it is. 0:06:45.076 --> 0:06:48.636 A familiarity is nice, right. Yeah. 0:06:49.076 --> 0:06:52.156 The first song we did on the record was Magic Piano, 0:06:52.156 --> 0:06:53.556 which is the opening song on the album, and it 0:06:53.596 --> 0:06:56.476 was quite a different demo if you heard it now. 0:06:56.516 --> 0:06:59.316 I mean the song itself had very familiar parts, but 0:07:00.796 --> 0:07:03.916 we worked. It was really quite a complicated song to 0:07:03.916 --> 0:07:06.796 start first, we took two days to learn it and 0:07:06.836 --> 0:07:08.876 we've got a really really good take on the floor. 0:07:09.156 --> 0:07:11.876 We sort of knew we were onto something at that point, 0:07:11.916 --> 0:07:14.716 but in a way it was, you know, counterintuitive to 0:07:14.716 --> 0:07:16.516 start with one of the most complicated songs. 0:07:16.556 --> 0:07:18.996 But what made it a complicated song. 0:07:19.556 --> 0:07:22.076 Just as unusual, well a the demo. We had to 0:07:22.116 --> 0:07:24.676 reconstruct the demo. We took out several bits from the 0:07:24.716 --> 0:07:27.956 demo and just found our own way with it, and 0:07:28.036 --> 0:07:33.036 there was still familiarity in there, but and it had 0:07:33.236 --> 0:07:37.676 some unusual time changes in the end, a great deal 0:07:37.716 --> 0:07:41.276 of interplay between bass and guitar that was really beautiful 0:07:41.316 --> 0:07:44.636 and took a while to evolve, you know, just it 0:07:44.756 --> 0:07:47.516 just had a thing. And our engineer, who we'd never 0:07:47.556 --> 0:07:50.396 worked with before, was probably incredibly happy that we took 0:07:50.436 --> 0:07:52.476 two days to get to that point because he was 0:07:52.476 --> 0:07:55.276 able to get the most kick ass sound over two 0:07:55.316 --> 0:07:58.036 days by moving MIC's around, and by the time we 0:07:58.116 --> 0:08:01.516 got the take it sounded really really impressive as well. 0:08:01.636 --> 0:08:04.076 So it was that the first song we did, Yeah, 0:08:04.156 --> 0:08:04.916 Magic Piant Yeah. 0:08:04.916 --> 0:08:07.276 So I guess when you move into a new space 0:08:07.836 --> 0:08:10.556 and then you're actually trying to get sounds together, and 0:08:12.476 --> 0:08:15.396 one of the songs is suggested or a thing is 0:08:15.436 --> 0:08:20.196 suggested in a way to try to break the threshold 0:08:20.276 --> 0:08:25.916 of collaboration and everyone actually, you know, gelling, and that 0:08:25.956 --> 0:08:29.156 goes with the engineer as well. The engineer is probably 0:08:29.196 --> 0:08:33.236 really under so much scrutiny and can be quite anxious 0:08:33.676 --> 0:08:36.596 to have the band break through because it's partly their 0:08:36.636 --> 0:08:40.636 responsibility to get a great sound. Yeah, and you know, 0:08:40.836 --> 0:08:43.356 a song. Sometimes a song can end up being the 0:08:43.436 --> 0:08:48.116 sacrificial lamb for finding that threshold, you know. So, but 0:08:48.156 --> 0:08:52.036 that was it was really encouraging when we actually got 0:08:52.036 --> 0:08:56.036 that taste and suddenly we went, oh, okay, we're in 0:08:56.076 --> 0:08:57.796 the right zone hopefully. 0:08:58.076 --> 0:09:00.116 Now are you set up in the studio to rehearse 0:09:00.196 --> 0:09:01.596 or are you set up to record? 0:09:01.636 --> 0:09:04.036 At that point, it depends if you talk to my 0:09:04.156 --> 0:09:06.916 guitar Tick at the time, he thought we were there 0:09:06.956 --> 0:09:12.236 to rehearse. The engineers we were there to record. We 0:09:12.236 --> 0:09:14.396 were trying to keep the pretense that we were just 0:09:14.476 --> 0:09:18.596 rehearsing so that we wouldn't get red light syndrome and 0:09:19.756 --> 0:09:22.876 put too much pressure on ourselves. But yeah, so somewhere 0:09:22.916 --> 0:09:24.316 in the middle there we were kind of it was 0:09:24.356 --> 0:09:27.996 an unspoken thing. I was thinking it was. We'd planned 0:09:28.036 --> 0:09:30.116 it so that we found a good engineer, had a 0:09:30.116 --> 0:09:31.996 proper studio, and it was always in my mind the 0:09:32.036 --> 0:09:34.156 possibility of getting some new songs going. 0:09:34.196 --> 0:09:36.796 Yet, yeah, we were in a fully functioning recording studio 0:09:36.836 --> 0:09:39.476 and everything was miked up, and so it was all 0:09:39.516 --> 0:09:42.196 going to be usable. But it is something. There's something 0:09:42.236 --> 0:09:45.556 to be said about the semantics of believing you're not 0:09:45.676 --> 0:09:48.836 doing a take. It's got a real irreverence or a 0:09:48.876 --> 0:09:52.396 little bit of a lack of self consciousness that can 0:09:52.476 --> 0:09:54.756 sometimes be a lot better than when you're like, Okay, 0:09:54.796 --> 0:09:57.756 we're going for this specific song version, like we're going 0:09:57.836 --> 0:10:00.196 to get it now. It's like there's a subconscious pressure 0:10:00.196 --> 0:10:03.636 on it that sometimes it works and it helps the performance, 0:10:03.676 --> 0:10:06.636 but sometimes it's just a bit more thought about than 0:10:06.676 --> 0:10:07.236 it needs to be. 0:10:07.316 --> 0:10:09.116 We're not taping now, by the way, so you can 0:10:09.196 --> 0:10:13.516 to say, so, Mitchell, you're you're both the keyboard player 0:10:13.516 --> 0:10:14.276 and the producer. 0:10:14.636 --> 0:10:17.516 Well, no, I'm not the producer of this band. No 0:10:17.676 --> 0:10:20.996 you don't, now it's a there is no producer. Well, 0:10:21.116 --> 0:10:24.636 the engineer was a co producer, but this is not 0:10:24.716 --> 0:10:27.396 a band that needs a what I would call a 0:10:27.436 --> 0:10:33.836 proper that kind of everyone here is very skilled and 0:10:33.916 --> 0:10:35.236 everyone here is a producer. 0:10:35.356 --> 0:10:38.796 So but you you produced their first few album, Yeah, 0:10:38.836 --> 0:10:42.836 the first three I worked on. So what was what 0:10:42.916 --> 0:10:44.836 did you do then that you don't have to do now? 0:10:45.076 --> 0:10:46.316 Or what do you do now? You didn't do that? 0:10:46.956 --> 0:10:49.236 It was a completely different time in music. It was 0:10:49.276 --> 0:10:53.396 a different time in Neil's life as a writer, and 0:10:53.476 --> 0:10:57.996 so I could bring well, you know, we were both 0:10:58.036 --> 0:11:01.356 just starting off, so we just threw anything in the 0:11:01.396 --> 0:11:03.436 pot that we could and and. 0:11:05.036 --> 0:11:05.516 That was. 0:11:05.716 --> 0:11:07.956 It was more of that kind of proper situation. But 0:11:08.076 --> 0:11:12.196 now has made so many records. Any of that kind 0:11:12.276 --> 0:11:15.156 of guidance or anything. It just I mean, I'll speak 0:11:15.236 --> 0:11:19.316 up if I feel something, but yeah, but it's not 0:11:20.076 --> 0:11:21.676 we're not looking for the leader to. 0:11:22.756 --> 0:11:27.476 You know, Mitchell's fully engaged with the production but with 0:11:27.556 --> 0:11:29.276 us all and he's in the room with. 0:11:29.236 --> 0:11:31.716 Us, But they don't look to me, which I'm very 0:11:31.756 --> 0:11:34.276 grateful to, you know, like you're the producer. 0:11:34.516 --> 0:11:37.516 I look to you, Mitch. I study your left hand. 0:11:37.876 --> 0:11:40.356 It's a very funny dynamic actually, because Mitchell often gets 0:11:40.396 --> 0:11:44.156 involved in helping Nick complete his base parts, and it's 0:11:44.796 --> 0:11:47.316 like an old married couple that just really, you know, 0:11:48.396 --> 0:11:51.716 sort of just beyond just about getting shirty with each other. 0:11:51.556 --> 0:11:53.796 But not not quite. 0:11:53.836 --> 0:11:56.876 And Mitchell's very good at just you know, reinforcing the 0:11:56.916 --> 0:12:00.956 important beats that the bass has to land and gets 0:12:01.156 --> 0:12:02.636 get some over the line, doesn't doesn't. 0:12:03.156 --> 0:12:04.396 He's still got some production now. 0:12:04.836 --> 0:12:06.756 Used to be in the control room with Chad most 0:12:06.796 --> 0:12:09.836 of the time, playing a few things the control room, 0:12:09.876 --> 0:12:11.756 so there was a there was a physical. 0:12:13.036 --> 0:12:15.716 Yeah, you look too for a different role, but I 0:12:15.716 --> 0:12:18.436 don't think a person could come into this band with 0:12:18.476 --> 0:12:21.916 that role and be welcome. They'd have to They'd have 0:12:21.996 --> 0:12:26.596 to be very gentle with the way they move things around. 0:12:26.996 --> 0:12:30.636 You're not going to say, oh, Neil, like that form 0:12:30.716 --> 0:12:33.396 is all wrong. You should be doing this because Neil's 0:12:33.396 --> 0:12:35.676 got his own way of writing now and it's it's 0:12:35.716 --> 0:12:39.756 it's unique to himself. So it take a real delicate presence. 0:12:39.956 --> 0:12:43.756 I could benefit from that sometimes. Yeah, I think remaking 0:12:43.796 --> 0:12:45.596 them the structures about five times. 0:12:45.636 --> 0:12:47.436 Yeah, but that's to get it to where you want it. 0:12:47.516 --> 0:12:49.516 No one else can get it to where you want it. 0:12:49.916 --> 0:12:51.476 Well, someone else could come along. 0:12:51.596 --> 0:12:56.276 I tried once. Yeah, on the last record. I tried 0:12:56.276 --> 0:12:58.276 once or twice, but I just ended up straightening it 0:12:58.316 --> 0:13:00.516 out too much and it was a failure. So it's 0:13:00.556 --> 0:13:02.756 you know, it's just different. 0:13:02.916 --> 0:13:08.276 And you're the base wrangler and I'm not even the 0:13:08.276 --> 0:13:09.836 full keyboard PA because I play. 0:13:10.276 --> 0:13:12.236 But then these guys all go away and play some 0:13:12.236 --> 0:13:12.796 stuff too. 0:13:12.876 --> 0:13:16.956 So then I'm interested about in the sound of this 0:13:17.036 --> 0:13:19.516 album because it is a very distinctive sound. It's not 0:13:22.756 --> 0:13:25.756 each song has its own kind of pace, in its 0:13:25.796 --> 0:13:29.396 own feeling. That's got a very experimental sound. How did 0:13:29.436 --> 0:13:31.356 that emerge out of these songs? 0:13:32.396 --> 0:13:36.716 I think that was more with the engineer and in 0:13:36.876 --> 0:13:40.836 Neil's area because we how many times do we get 0:13:40.876 --> 0:13:43.236 together three times and to cut tracks? 0:13:43.316 --> 0:13:46.156 Yeah, we wait to ten days three times to get 0:13:46.196 --> 0:13:47.716 all the tracks done because we. 0:13:47.716 --> 0:13:50.876 All live in different places. When it came down to 0:13:50.996 --> 0:13:54.356 the actual full formulation of the sound, it was mostly 0:13:54.516 --> 0:13:58.356 done in New Zealand with Neil and Stephen Shram and 0:13:58.436 --> 0:14:01.356 we get things and we contribute, but they were mostly 0:14:02.276 --> 0:14:06.076 getting that down. I mean, everyone says things. Everyone has 0:14:06.076 --> 0:14:10.116 an opinion and might say one thing that people respond 0:14:10.156 --> 0:14:13.996 to and then keep that in mind. But it's more, Yeah, 0:14:14.716 --> 0:14:17.236 I don't know I just think it's more relaxed. It's 0:14:17.316 --> 0:14:21.596 not like there's no guru in the room colon things out. 0:14:21.676 --> 0:14:26.116 And I think the atmosphere and the sort of the 0:14:26.276 --> 0:14:28.996 vibe of the record was very much formed in those 0:14:29.156 --> 0:14:31.196 that first by and Bay Thing And maybe it was 0:14:31.236 --> 0:14:33.956 a combination of working with Stephen for the first time 0:14:33.996 --> 0:14:35.596 and the way we were all playing. But there was 0:14:35.636 --> 0:14:39.716 something happened which was really kind of languid and kind 0:14:39.716 --> 0:14:42.556 of lush and something we were responding to in the 0:14:42.676 --> 0:14:46.156 rainforest of you know, northern New South Wales or something. 0:14:46.156 --> 0:14:48.876 And it really like when we took it away, I 0:14:48.916 --> 0:14:52.916 was really excited by this relatively unseelf conscious sound that 0:14:52.956 --> 0:14:56.356 we were making. It felt really different from the last 0:14:56.396 --> 0:14:59.716 one and really cool, and I think that was retained 0:14:59.836 --> 0:15:01.796 when I listened to it now. I can still hear 0:15:01.876 --> 0:15:03.916 that as the essence of it, but it did certainly 0:15:03.956 --> 0:15:06.916 go in many different directions over the next year. 0:15:07.476 --> 0:15:10.036 Well, you can hear the crickets and the rain at 0:15:10.036 --> 0:15:11.796 the beginning of the end of songs and a couple 0:15:11.876 --> 0:15:12.116 of them. 0:15:12.236 --> 0:15:15.116 Yeah, we got to record with the doors open to 0:15:15.196 --> 0:15:16.836 the forest, you know, and so it was kind of. 0:15:18.756 --> 0:15:20.916 Hot. I mean, what time of year was. It was 0:15:20.956 --> 0:15:24.756 it January March, okay, so it's the end of summer. 0:15:25.036 --> 0:15:30.276 But they were they were inundated with biblical proportions of rainfall. 0:15:31.156 --> 0:15:34.076 There were floods. There's actually a town now that's been 0:15:34.116 --> 0:15:37.956 declared a disaster zone that the government, Australian government is 0:15:37.996 --> 0:15:43.116 buying compulsory purchasing people's houses because they can't keep there anymore. 0:15:43.116 --> 0:15:45.836 From you know, there was so much rain fell in 0:15:46.636 --> 0:15:50.196 that period and we were kind of isolated by the 0:15:50.276 --> 0:15:54.916 quarantining of the compulsory two weeks that you have to 0:15:54.956 --> 0:15:58.036 have when you arrive in Australia at that time, and 0:15:58.116 --> 0:16:01.996 also the fact that we couldn't leave the studio because 0:16:02.036 --> 0:16:04.516 of the rain it was. And then one night actually 0:16:04.556 --> 0:16:07.796 I got my room was flooded. My bedroom was flooded 0:16:09.316 --> 0:16:10.276 up in the middle of the night and know it 0:16:10.356 --> 0:16:13.436 was knee deep deep in water when I put my 0:16:13.596 --> 0:16:14.716 feet out of the bed, you. 0:16:14.676 --> 0:16:16.916 Know, And you can hear that on the record. 0:16:17.316 --> 0:16:21.076 You can hear it on the very wet ankle deep 0:16:21.436 --> 0:16:22.476 bass tone. 0:16:23.196 --> 0:16:25.156 It reminded me a bit of Temple of the Lowman. 0:16:25.396 --> 0:16:27.476 Of of all your albums, it was the album that 0:16:27.596 --> 0:16:30.556 kind of in it sort of sounds. It also reminded 0:16:30.556 --> 0:16:34.516 me of an album and I didn't realize till this 0:16:34.516 --> 0:16:37.476 week that you had produced because it's one of my 0:16:37.516 --> 0:16:41.676 all time favorite albums, which is Keiko Oh Rights Lobos. 0:16:42.156 --> 0:16:44.196 Someday I'd love to talk to you about that album because. 0:16:44.036 --> 0:16:47.076 That was Yeah, I would say if there's a similarity, 0:16:48.796 --> 0:16:50.996 because I was there for all of them, was there 0:16:51.036 --> 0:16:54.316 was a free spirit. It was an open kind of 0:16:54.356 --> 0:16:57.076 creative spirit going on that was backed up with a 0:16:57.116 --> 0:17:00.796 lot of confidence, and if you have that, you can 0:17:00.836 --> 0:17:02.996 get a long ways. In the case of this record, 0:17:03.036 --> 0:17:06.436 for me, that one of the most difficult things is 0:17:06.476 --> 0:17:10.316 if you have a a demo that's attractive, and now 0:17:10.356 --> 0:17:12.356 you bring it into a band, and now the band 0:17:12.396 --> 0:17:17.476 interprets it, and sometimes it doesn't get better, but magic 0:17:17.556 --> 0:17:21.156 piano it got a lot better. And it was just 0:17:21.196 --> 0:17:24.196 one of those things where like for Neil bringing that 0:17:24.236 --> 0:17:26.596 song into the band, it was kind of clear to 0:17:26.636 --> 0:17:30.316 all of us that it was what we were doing 0:17:30.996 --> 0:17:33.276 was just of a high level. Maybe it was the 0:17:33.276 --> 0:17:35.636 best track we had cut up as a band up 0:17:35.676 --> 0:17:38.996 to that point, so that certainly got us going and 0:17:39.356 --> 0:17:42.316 gave us confidence because you can hear a demo I mean, 0:17:42.356 --> 0:17:44.116 Neil can bring in a demo and you think, whoa 0:17:44.116 --> 0:17:47.796 that that just sounds really good. But what should we keep? 0:17:47.876 --> 0:17:49.956 What should we just try it and not think about 0:17:49.956 --> 0:17:52.916 what's there already or you so you have a small 0:17:52.916 --> 0:17:56.276 window in which you better get to some kind of 0:17:56.316 --> 0:17:59.916 improvement to make you feel like, let's just let go 0:17:59.956 --> 0:18:03.556 of this demo and move forward as a band. And yeah, 0:18:03.596 --> 0:18:08.196 so it's tricky, and it's also for writers, at least 0:18:08.196 --> 0:18:10.836 in my experience, that's when people are the most vulnerable, 0:18:11.516 --> 0:18:15.196 like Neil or Liam or oh where they can write something, 0:18:15.556 --> 0:18:18.956 but if people haven't heard it before, the way you 0:18:19.036 --> 0:18:22.676 react when you first hear it is much more has 0:18:22.716 --> 0:18:25.316 a much greater effect on them than if the song's 0:18:25.356 --> 0:18:28.996 already released. And then someone will come up to Liam 0:18:29.036 --> 0:18:30.916 and say, oh, I love that, you know, I love 0:18:30.956 --> 0:18:34.916 how Yeah it's insecure. Yeah, so you've got to all 0:18:35.316 --> 0:18:38.756 keep a very positive outlook on it and try just 0:18:38.796 --> 0:18:41.956 try not to feel pressure and just just try and 0:18:41.996 --> 0:18:44.356 see what happens. And all those records, it was like 0:18:44.436 --> 0:18:46.996 that temple Ment. Some people said was a bit dark, 0:18:47.036 --> 0:18:48.836 but we had a lot of fun doing that record, 0:18:48.876 --> 0:18:51.596 and my memory, you know, it was it's much less 0:18:51.596 --> 0:18:54.036 stressful than the first album, and you know it was 0:18:54.116 --> 0:18:55.036 it was fun to do. 0:18:55.836 --> 0:18:59.716 It's always weird to react when you see reactions to 0:18:59.756 --> 0:19:03.476 an overall body of work because people make assumptions that 0:19:03.516 --> 0:19:06.036 you were sort of going for that. Yeah, you're not 0:19:06.076 --> 0:19:08.076 really going for anything. You're just going to try and 0:19:08.116 --> 0:19:09.796 make the songs sound as good as they can, you know, 0:19:09.836 --> 0:19:13.236 And maybe we're in a point now where we're attracted 0:19:13.236 --> 0:19:17.596 to more more dreamy landscapes than we would have been 0:19:17.636 --> 0:19:19.716 as we were a more rollicking pop band in the 0:19:19.756 --> 0:19:22.716 early days, you know, because that's what we just that 0:19:22.836 --> 0:19:28.516 stage of our lives, and people do sometimes compare our 0:19:28.556 --> 0:19:30.436 new records to what we were like then, and you 0:19:30.476 --> 0:19:33.276 sort of go, well, that's just beside the point. Really, Yeah, 0:19:33.276 --> 0:19:36.596 it's not. We're not trying to be or wanting to 0:19:36.636 --> 0:19:40.796 be a rollicking pop band every now and again. It's fun, 0:19:40.836 --> 0:19:43.076 and there might be one that comes along that works that, 0:19:43.116 --> 0:19:45.996 but we're interested in exploring the atmospheres that we're capable 0:19:45.996 --> 0:19:48.476 of creating, which you know, if you listen to Alroy's 0:19:48.476 --> 0:19:51.396 demos for instance, and the ones that are on the 0:19:51.436 --> 0:19:54.716 record Blurry Grass and Thirsty, the music that he had 0:19:54.716 --> 0:19:58.916 made which had just a great sense of atmosphere and 0:19:59.076 --> 0:20:01.516 the way he approaches drums is he's not a big, 0:20:02.276 --> 0:20:06.036 you know, Keith moonstyle guy. He's got a really nice 0:20:06.036 --> 0:20:10.076 feel going and beautiful fills here and there. A Liam's 0:20:10.076 --> 0:20:12.996 got incredible atmospheres that he makes with his pedals on 0:20:13.036 --> 0:20:14.716 the guitar. We want to embrace all of that and 0:20:14.756 --> 0:20:17.996 make it part of what and we're getting really better 0:20:18.036 --> 0:20:20.956 at doing that too. I think on stage you might 0:20:20.956 --> 0:20:23.796 have noticed the other night, but we're starting to feel 0:20:23.796 --> 0:20:26.076 the freedom to be able to jump off the script 0:20:26.636 --> 0:20:30.276 like we used to back in the day and utilize 0:20:30.276 --> 0:20:36.036 all of that, you know, those beautiful attributes, knowing that 0:20:36.076 --> 0:20:41.236 if I go into a strange moment, Liam will engage 0:20:41.276 --> 0:20:43.436 a pedal somewhere and it will suddenly make me feel 0:20:43.476 --> 0:20:47.396 okay about it, and Nicole will always join in, you know, 0:20:47.596 --> 0:20:51.116 and Mitchell'll be standing by with some cool keyboard thing. 0:20:51.156 --> 0:20:54.196 And that's a really beautiful feeling that bands only get 0:20:54.196 --> 0:20:56.316 when they've been playing together for quite a while, I think. 0:20:56.476 --> 0:20:58.356 And some bands don't ever want that, They just want 0:20:58.396 --> 0:21:01.756 to learn the song, turn up, do the same show 0:21:01.836 --> 0:21:04.716 every night. But it's always been part of our manifesto. 0:21:04.796 --> 0:21:09.556 To try, and then every album to album explore new things, 0:21:09.716 --> 0:21:13.716