Larry Heath catches up with Nick from Melbourne group Loon Lake to chat about their debut EP Not Just Friends, working with Robin Mai, how the band met, Big Sound, Red Riders and what we can expect next from the group…
First up, congratulations on your debut EP Not Just Friends. It’s quite the fun record. How do you all go about writing these songs? Is there a chief songwriter or is it very much a collaborative effort?
Thank you! It’s great to finally have it all finished! These are probably our favourite songs of a whole heap that we wrote over a period of about a year. Sam, our singer, is the chief songwriter although other band members write some stuff as well. Usually, an idea is brought into the rehearsal room and we play it as a group and see where it goes.
We are pretty brutal so a lot of it gets culled but the ones that do make it usually take form pretty quickly. We try to write very succinct pop songs so the songs usually follow a pretty natural progression form-wise.
When did you start writing music together?
In 2009. We jammed together for about a year and tried to get a solid set of songs before we did demos or gigs.
Tell us a bit about the recording process – how did the songs you were playing in clubs become a record?
These songs are what we think is our best material. I guess the reception that each song received live had an influence on whether we put it on the EP. I mean it wasn’t like people would go nuts and start moshing and shit, but if our friends would be like “ hey sticky fingers, what’s that song about ya mum called”, we took that as a sign that it was catchy.
You have a well known mixer on board for the EP – did you have the opportunity to work closely with Robin Mai? What was that experience like?
Well, basically we told him what we wanted and he just did it. Having said that, I think he has definitely had a big influence on the sound of the record. It wouldn’t have sounded how it does without Robin. He has made everything sit really well without losing the raw, live sound. We’re lucky to have had him work on it. Our engineer Andy Blyth, who has taught us heaps since we recorded our first demos with him, put us onto Robin.
You have two brothers in the group! Did you grow up listening to much of the same music or do you have varied tastes?
I’m a bit younger than the others so naturally what was big when the others grew up was different to what was big when I grew up. But we all grew up in the same house so a lot of the same music was getting around. Silverchair dominated, along with some other grunge stuff. As for our parents, I remember Rumours by Fleetwood Mac floating around on vinyl and a best of The Beatles cassette being in the car.
What artists do you feel helped mould what ended up being your sound?
Everything!! The actual sound of the guitars is a lot like garage bands such as the Strokes, or Television. But the songs are much more on pop side than those bands. I guess the influence is probably a little less direct, but pop groups come through quite a bit. Maybe artists like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Buddy Holly, etc.
How did the other two end up in the group?
Sam and Dan met when they were travelling in Europe and I went to school with Tim. We were all in Melbourne at the same time so we decided to make a band!
The opening track on the EP is “Into The Office”, which garnered quite a bit of acclaim on the interwebs – but nothing beats hearing your track on the radio. Do you remember where you were when you first heard it on the radio?
I was eating lunch in the city and I got a text from Sime that said “JJJ now”. Then I think I got one from another friend and then a phone call from Sam. I wasn’t near a radio so I didn’t actually hear it when it was first played, but to know it was on the radio was still a pretty mad feeling!
On the back of it and “In The Summer” you were winners of the Triple J Big Sound competition last year how did those shows go?
The show was good. We got to play to a whole lot of industry people, which was a little daunting. It was even better being able to meet a lot of those people. The advice was generally work hard and things will happen which we have been doing and are seeing some results!
What advice would you give to bands playing Big Sound in 2011?
We’re probably not in a position to be giving advice!! But if we were to go back, I guess we would be trying to meet as many bands and industry people as possible.
You’re launching the EP with a show at Ding Dong before supporting Red Riders on their farewell shows. What are your thoughts on RR coming to the end of their time together?
We are so excited to be a part of that show! They are a great Aussie band. I think their second album was excellent. You can hear that sound coming through in a lot of the up-and-coming guitar bands in Australia at the minute.
At all of the mentioned shows, what can audiences expect? The RR shows will no doubt be a great chance to gain a few new fans!
Raw, catchy rock songs. Heaps of fun!
Are we going to see more of you on the road in 2011? What are your plans?
Absolutely. We plan to play as may gigs as we can and get the EP to as many ears as possible. Other than that we plan to keep writing!
