Ahead of their long-awaited new shows, Dave Larkin of Melbourne’s Dallas Crane fills us in on how the group has been operating since they made the decision to get back in the studio with each other to record their new album Scoundrels. The band will be on the road from Boxing Day through into February, offering fans in most capital cities the chance to see them back on form and doling out some killer rock and roll tunes that have been well worth the wait.
It’s been a while since your last album Factory Girls, back in 2006. Can you tell us about your break during that time, why you decided to take it? What you did during that time and how that has led you to here, now?
We took a break because the flames at both ends of the candle were about to collide and it wasn’t going to be pretty. We were basically worn out and we were making a lot of bad decisions on and off the stage. In the name of not just churning out records and gigs for the hell of it, we decided to hit pause for a while. We all went and had kids, made some records with side projects and got real jobs. When the conversation started up again about making another record, it wasn’t marred with any negativity or expectation that had us stepping away from it the first time. It was nice that the air was clear and the hunger was still there as well, so we thought we’d just get on with it.
What was it like to play your temporary last show, headlining at Melbourne’s St Kilda Festival? Did you end with the intention of returning?
We weren’t consciously planning the break or seeing that as one of our last shows or anything like that. We were just forced into a situation where it was better for the band not to play for a while and go away to try and reconnect with the basics of loving music again without external forces leaving their grotty mitts on the page. Bands that aren’t having fun together generally make crap records and we really, really didn’t want that to become Dallas Crane after everything we’d been through. Death or part thereof, seemed like the better option!
How did the new album Scoundrels come about? Can you describe the processes involved in its creation, especially after coming back from a lengthy hiatus? Was it a lot harder to write, compared to your other albums?
It took a lot longer, that’s for sure! I was coming at it with a no-frills garage three-piece mindset (Gun Street Girls) and Pete was still in Pete Sounds mode (his solo record), which was more production focused and a few tempo steps back from where I was. So initially, there were some robust conversations about where Dallas Crane should and shouldn’t head from here, but it didn’t take long to find the thread again.
We’d both learned a lot from doing our own thing and all philosophising aside – we agreed it’ll always come down to the strength of the song, whatever its genre or treatment. We really didn’t want to rush anything or drag a song to the finish line just to say ‘finished!’. We just had to impress each other and make sure we weren’t putting anything down that would sound rubbish in 20 years.
Can we expect a different, transformed sound from Dallas Crane, or have you tried to keep it relatively the same?
It’s always going to be painted with guitars whatever way you look at it, but sure – we don’t want to churn out same-y albums. There’s plenty of ideas floating around at the moment for the next bit. I’m not about to jump on the flute or anything, but we do want to make records that give you a good enough reason to stick around for the next 40 minutes.
Tell us about a favourite track off the album.
I think the one I’m proudest of is “Billie’s Gonna Die Young”. It’s probably the most unique song on the record in its structure and melody and drifts a little bit out of areas of comfort for Dallas, which I like. It didn’t hit everyone in the band straight away and there were multiple versions of it with other sections that got the arse along the way, but I knew it was a goodie and I’m glad I pushed the lads to persevere with it.
You’ve got a few shows around Australia lined up real soon… tell us about that?
We’re mainly hitting capitals around Australia, although sadly not Perth this time. We desperately want to get back to WA, but just couldn’t make it stack up for us on this run. The shows are selling really well so far which is promising, but we start that on Boxing Day in Geelong and go right through to the end of February.
What have you missed about touring? What don’t you miss?
I deeply miss touring every day of my life! I love it so much, and really struggled when we took time away with not having stacks of dates lined up. We tour a lot smarter these days and don’t go sticking any old pin on the map for no reason. It can get pretty gruelling, sharing all that tiny space with three other smelly blokes every day of your life and not having any quality down time. It got pretty testy towards the end of Dallas Round 1 and it starts to eat away at the joy when that kind of stuff sets in. But we were all pretty tough and never let it get too ugly. Most of it was just trading snippy jokes at each other – some were more jokes than others.
And finally, what can we expect from Dallas Crane in the near future?
I sincerely hope we can come out of the end of this tour and say, ‘Yep – that was worth all the struggle and the long hours’, so I guess we just have to wait and see. Even though we’ll never get played on Triple J again, we’re pretty lucky we had that support in the first place to build our audience. We wouldn’t be anywhere today without it, that’s for sure. I think in general, folks will come and see Dallas if they know about it but the real challenge for us now is making sure they do know about it, and making sure we’re reaching them in an effective enough way.
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Catch Dallas Crane on the road! Tickets are on sale from the below links. Scoundrels is out now.
DALLAS CRANE TOUR DATES
December 26th | Barwon Club, Geelong* | Oztix
December 27th | Lorne Hotel, Lorne* | Oztix
December 28th | The Loft, Warrnambool* | Oztix
January 16th | Ballarat Beer Festival | Oztix
January 30th | Newtown Social Club, Sydney | Ticketscout
February 5th | Karova Lounge, Ballarat | Oztix
February 6th | Jive, Adelaide | Moshtix
February 12th | Shark Bar @ Miami Tavern, Gold Coast | Moshtix
February 13th | The Woolly Mammoth, Brisbane | Ticketscout
February 19th | Westernport Hotel, San Remo | Oztix
February 20th | The Corner Hotel, Melbourne | The Corner
February 25th | Republic Bar, Hobart | Moshtix
February 26th | Club 54, Launceston | Oztix
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