The Attics have just released their new single 'Not Like', and have begun playing around Australia. Tomatrax caught up with Cameron Wade from the band to ask a few questions.
Where did the name The Attics come from?When the band came together in 2011 the members at the time all had this audial obsession with American 3-piece, The Antlers. In particular, their album In The Attic was hugely inspiring and was probably the reason that we all decided we should be making music.
You've just put out your latest single, what's it like to have it outProbably a relief to our sound engineer/producer who would have been wishing we'd stop bringing it back to him to tweak sections or add a new idea. For the band, it's exciting to put out something that was made totally differently to any recording we've ever worked on before. Working in the programmed elements has really flipped the way the production process plays out.
Where was the video for 'Not Like' taken?The video was shot in a pine plantation in the Otway Hinterlands. Only 20 minutes outside our hometown of Colac. Just seemed like an impressive backdrop so even with our low budget ($0) and lack of time, we hoped it would still look a little enchanting.
You described 'Not like' as a introspective, sweetly sarcastic exploration of what you call a "hometown," is the song intended to be about your hometown?Not directly, but I think it has a feel developed around our hometown and the locals. Some of the lyrics take queues from small town ideologies; there's plenty of references to the shitty little parties we had back there over past summers and the occasionally backwards country town mentality. Having said this, there's a fondness conveyed of that hometown in there at the same time.
What was it like working with Hector Castillo?Probably the most full on, but most exciting part of making this single (and a few other tracks). His perception of sound is remarkable. After just a few minutes to get familiar with our songs he was swapping in and out pedals, dialing in amps and providing an endless string of advice that will forever be considered as we move forward in writing music.
You've just begun your tour of Australia, what can fans expect from your show?Playing in our current format is still very new to us. We've worked together on live shows since 2011, but to bring the same energy when working with programmed elements is something we've been really excited to figure out. I think there's a lot of intricacy and refinement in our show now that was never there on previous tours. So far it's being received really well - people just seem really excited to hear this new song live.
You've released a few EPs and singles, are there any plans for an album?It's hard to say if we'll ever have the time to get a whole album together - that's a lot of dedication. We'd love to get together another EP at least and we've already got a few extra songs aside that we recorded whilst in working on 'Not Like'.
Do you ever listen to your own music?I think having to do that through the production and mixing of the music is enough. By the time our tracks are polished enough to release to the public, we're always well and truly ready to work on something new. In fact, we're probably already playing 5 or so songs that were written after 'Not Like' in our current live set.
What music do you listen to?Living in Melbourne now, we're all super lucky to have access to such a booming music scene. I think we're all big fans of plenty of local acts like Dorsal Fins, Sunbeam Sound Machine, Crepes, The Murlocs. Outside local stuff our affection for Pond, Jagwar Ma, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Tame Impala probably speaks for itself through the music...
What do you have planed after your current tour?Hopefully we can get straight back in the studio and try to get some more music out by the end of the year. I think we're all settled on at least getting one more single out this year and then aim for another EP.
Check out the Attics' Facebook page to find out more!