Fresh from being a part of Splendour in the Grass this weekend, we catch up with Brisbane’s The Creases to talk about their whirlwind of a year – from landing the triple j spot at Laneway to touring with Jake Bugg – their “British sound”, the debut EP Gradient (out now!) playing Splendour and much more…
This year has been a bit of a whirlwind for you guys – let’s talk through some of the highlights. Firstly, getting the triple j spot on the Laneway bill… What was that experience like and do you feel that’s opened up a lot of doors for you or have the sorts of things that have happened since then, were they already on the horizon anyway?
Playing Laneway was a blast, we played first of the day but there were surprisingly a fair few people there which was nice. I think we enjoyed the artist room the most though, seeing all our favourite bands hanging out around us was surreal. I think it definitely opened a lot of doors for us or at least got us some good attention, hopefully we’ll play again as an official touring act next time, it’s definitely one of favourite festivals.
It felt like a perfect fit touring with Jake Bugg. Tell us a little about your experiences on that tour…
Haha it was very fun but strange. Jake Bugg had a massive crew of people doing stuff for him and we were just this small band that was driving between each city in a van ourselves trying to borrow amps and stuff off anyone we could to use each night. I think they were unsure why we were even on the tour at first because we were so unorganised but by the end of it we were all friends especially after I bought Jake and his band weed one night (haha).
…and also musically, there’s definitely a sound that connects you well to what’s coming out of the UK – versus the traditional triple j friendly sort of stuff getting popular locally. Was this by any means a concerted effort? Were you inspired by the music of the region? Or is this just what happened naturally?
Yeah i think we definitely connect well with the UK, especially with beginning there with the Rough Trade single. It was never an intentional thing at all though, we just play what’s natural to us, and it’s cool that even though it is different to a lot of traditional triple j tunes it’s all still received really well.
Who has inspired you, one way or another…
A lot of bands but most prominently The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Strokes, Slowdive and Echo & The Bunnymen.
What do you learn about yourselves and as a band by heading on the road with someone like Jake Bugg?
We always learn a lot about being more professional and organised when touring with a big band haha. It’s also inspiring touring with a really tight act and makes us work a lot harder at our live show.
As we speak, you’re about to head to Splendour… What does it mean to be playing that event and what can we expect from your set?
It’s a dream come true for us and one of the highest goals we ever set as a band so it’s weird to be actually doing it. You can expect a non-stop set of bangerz.
Who else are you looking forward to seeing?
I’m really keen to see Parquet Courts again, they were great at Laneway. Also Future Islands and Sky Ferreira are on my list of acts to see.
Any plans to make that “ran out of merch” shirt a permanent addition?
Haha possibly, maybe we’ll bring it back by popular demand.
The release of your debut EP Gradient co-incides with the weekend. I’m loving it as I’m sitting here writing these questions. Tell us a little about where you recorded it, how long it took and who you worked with?
Thanks! We recorded it at the Plutonium Studio the John Steel Singers built in Brisbane with Simon Berckelman from Philadelphia Grand Jury while we were on tour with them last november.
Do you feel this EP captures you guys as the band you are today?
We recorded it not long after we just started the band so we were pretty new to the songs ourselves, i think if we recorded it now it’d be a little bit different but all the same vibes are all there especially because we recorded it all live as a band in one room together.
Next up is BIGSOUND by the looks of things – what else is on the horizon for the band?
We’ve got a few tours lined up for the remainder of the year supporting some other Australian bands and we’ll no doubt be doing some shows to celebrate the EP release finally. We are also demo-ing new songs for our album which is really exciting too.
If there was one band you could perform with, who would it be?
The Strokes, I would die
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The Creases new EP Gradient is available now! Head HERE for more about the band, their new EP and also their latest tour dates!
