Love Parade started life surrounded by various Johns brothers in the seaside city of Newcastle but soon relocated to Sydney. The band have just released their “dificult” second album, Shake On The Mission and have been touring round Australia. Tomatrax caught up with Nathan Jolly from the band to ask a few questions.
Your bio has described the upcoming release as your “difficult second album” was it a difficult album to make?
Nah, it was super quick, super easy, and we didn’t argue once – that line is more a joke at the expense of the “sophomore slump”: when bands have all their lives to write and refine and plan their first record and six months to write their second. This often results in misfire ballads and string quartets becoming involved, to showcase their new-found maturity. We had no such maturity to showcase, thank Christ.
Where did the title Shake on the mission come from?
I can’t remember exactly where it popped up from, but we liked the implicit all-for-one/in-or-out/gang mentality feel of it, and just the way it sounds as a phrase. It should already be a phrase, but it’s really not.
Where did you get the idea for a burning pineapple as the album’s front cover?
James, our keyboardist, wanted something “violent and simple” as the cover image, and borrowed a camera one day and came back with a few variations on this. I like it.
What made you pick Pretend as the first single off the album?
It was short enough, catchy enough, and just seemed like the correct entry point into the record.
What was the inspiration behind the silent movie style video for Pretend?
Rhiannon Back – a friend of ours who we have worked with on numerous musical and video projects over the years – likes the aesthetics of that era, and knows that we do as well, so she cut together something that was silly and cute and nostalgic. I like it.
What was it like to work with Jay Whalley?
It was a joy. We’ve known Jay for a few years now, and have worked with him before – he engineered the vocals and a few other things on our first record – and we just knew his no worries/no nonsense approach to life and work would suit the type of album we were trying to make, and the type of experience we wanted while making it. Plus he is an amazing engineer and has a great ear.
You re-located from Newcastle to Sydney. How does playing in Sydney compare with Newcastle?
Newcastle is a small city, and as such – at least when we were living there – the options in terms of venues and like-minded bands to play with were far more limited. Sydney is a land of promise, as one settler might have said once – if not he really should have. The fact that the footy team wins a grand final in Newcastle and the entire city turns into Ibiza for a week, yet a 15-year-old kid writes and sings the most successful radio single in America one year, and gets bullied on his way to school – that about sums it up.
You’ve been on tour in support of your album, how has that been going?
Way better than we thought it would – which is nice. People are buying the album after the shows, which suggests our onstage sales pitch must have worked somewhat. Or they feel bad for us.
Your music has been likened to The Replacements, The Knack, and The Sunnyboys, do you think that’s a fair call?
Well, they are all scuzzy pop groups, so it makes sense. We get The Cure a lot, too, which is interesting. When we are compared to The Replacements it’s always a compliment, and when it’s the Knack, it tends to be meant as an insult. I love both those bands, so I take it positively regardless of the intent. I adopt a similar approach for hair-based comments, too.
Do you ever listen to your own music?
Quite a lot, more than I really should, but they are like diaries or photo albums: it’s fun to revisit them once in a while and remember how I was thinking and what we were up to in our lives. When we first record something, I have to listen over and over, to get through the horrible part where I second-guess and hate everything about it, and just dull myself to the mistakes, off-key bits, and personal parts so it becomes ‘just what it is’ in my head.
What other music do you listen to?
Currently I have been listening to Caitlin Park’s first album again, the Nashville soundtrack, Hole’s ‘Live Through This’ and a Sheryl Crow best of. It always changes, as it should.
What do you plan on doing after your upcoming shows?
Breaking up the band and never lifting my guitar amp out of or into a car boot again.
Check out the Love Parade’s Facebook page to find out more!
