WOW!
Nine months ago Sydney couple Matt Cribb and Bree Carter decided they’d take their relationship to the next level. They started making beats. After posting two home-recorded tracks on MySpace as WOW, they got the attention of New York-based independent label Metal Postcard who agreed to release the duo’s first official pressing. Since then, they’ve signed with Sydney based Levity, and are currently fine-tuning their live show for their own E.P launches and a support slot for Melbourne band (and Metal Postcard label-mates) The Emergency. I really liked WOW from first listen, but it was their live show that made me a true devotee. At first glance WOW look well rehearsed and seem dismissive of their audience but the more you watch, as they bounce ideas off one another mid song exchanging quick glances and mouthed directions, you realise that their dismissivenessis actually just sheer concentration. Having performed together for such a short period, they are still wary of each note they sing or play, but rather than afraid or embarrassed by their inexperience they seem to really enjoy it. And why not?! They have already had considerable successes. And while their dark space disco, monotone vocals and home-produced fuzzsonics might not be for everyone, they are certainly well on their way to bigger things. Let’s just hope they don’t break up!
When did you start making music together?
‘Late last year we just started messing around with all kinds of electronic stuff and computers. Even though we had always owned instruments, we had never really tried to do anything together, but for some reason when we did, it all just clicked. The songs came out really easily and a few weeks later we were playing our first show. We actually booked the show before we had even figured out if we could do it all live or not’.
Do relationship politics ever interrupt practice sessions?
(Laughs) ‘Yes, actually relationship politics DO interrupt practice sessions, recording sessions, musical ideas … actually just about every part of the whole process! But in the end that’s what makes us, us in a way. I guess the WOW sound is based around our relationship, since it’s where we started and how everything came about’.
How did the partnership with Levity come about?
‘Our manager introduced us to Mel from Levity and she liked what she heard. A few days later they came down to a show in Bondi where we got really drunk on stage and had a great show. The rest is history’.
What inspires you to write music?
‘It can be quite varied. It can be an impulsion (either musically or a particular theme) that inspires a song to start being written, or it can be a feeling or thought or opinion that needs to come out, and logically a way to express this is through music. Good times, bad times, death, destruction, rainbows, sun, sand … It can be anything and the musical process starts in a number of different ways. Sometimes it’s a simple as a kick and snare drum that ends up spiraling into a two-hour party jam and at the end there’s enough stuff recorded for a whole song’.
Tagged: duos, Sydney bands
- 1
- 1
RELATED
Sydneys Cad Factory, where all good bands hang
The Cad Factory is an inner-city warehouse space in Marrickville, Sydney that holds band and performance nights, as well as art exhibitions. The likes of Conway Savage from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Mick Turner from The Dirty Three have played solo gigs at the Factory, while electro-punk performance trio Toy Death have caused chaos onstage on a regular basis. Artists such as photographer Clare Pandemonium and painter Edwina Wrobel have contributed to the ambiance, exhibiting their works on the warehouse walls. Read more
Canada seems to be the land of amazing ambient metal duos. Montreal has Menace Ruine, and Toronto has Nadja, a formidable couple that churns out huge-sounding, bass and electronics-driven doom that draws your gaze up towards the stars just as old cathedral ceilings humble the faithful and make them think of the Almighty.
Already with a Spectrum show under their belt, The Archerbolds are an up and coming Australian band well worth checking out. I saw the Sydney-based lads play recently at the Mars Hill Café and it was evident that they should be permanently rocking out on a real stage; not in front of coffee sippers. Their floating lyrics, smart guitar riffs and meaty bass lines are infused by The Strokes, Mars Volta, The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin — ultimately producing a freshly spun modern-vintage sound. Lead vocalist and guitarist Geoffrey ‘Gep’ Rectin says The Archerbolds plan to create a solid sound for next year: ‘Over summer, we’re recording an EP and working on a set sound, defining more of an image’. If their track, Rest Your Soul, is anything to go by, then it should be pretty dandy.
Also by MICHAELLA SOLAR-MARCH
Andy from Chicken Lips talks about The Emperor Machine
We checked in with Andy Meecham, one half of Staffordshire duo Chicken Lips, about his latest side project, The Emperor Machine and why he prefers using vintage equipment wherever he can: ‘I like the feel and touch of vintage equipment — if that doesn’t sound weird. I like the hands-on approach and get a lot of inspiration from buying new, old vintage equipment. I have nothing against computer software — it is getting to the stage now where you can’t tell the difference — but for me, it’s just not the way I prefer to work’. Read more
Casio Keyboard Brooklyn trio Au Revoir Simone are about to release a collection of remixes and covers their musical friends have recorded of songs found on their second album, The Bird Of Music. Titled Reverse Migration, the record features re-workings by Best Fwends, Teenagers, Darkel, and more. We caught up with them recently. Why and when did you decide to release a remix album? Annie: ‘Our friends were making so many wonderful versions of our songs we wanted to share them with the world’. How did you select the artists? Annie: ‘Mostly they were friends who told us they wanted to do remixes! Very fun and easy’. Reverse Migration is out November 11 through the band’s own label, Our Secret Record Company. Listen to Ruff & Jam by Au Revoir Simone.
Curious what had happened to the band Hail Social earlier this year, I started trawling the internet and excitedly uncovered signs of a Dayve Hawke side project – Weird Tapes. Read more
YOU'RE SAYING (1)
HAVE YOUR SAY
Janay Everett attended the School of Visual Arts in New York before moving to Atlanta where she earned a bachelors degree in fine arts from the Atlanta College of Art. Her artwork is influenced by abstract expressionism. As she notes, she likes to ‘focus more on the process rather than on the finished product‘. Read more
New York’s Infinity Window make some tripped-out, droning, psychedelic raagas that would be appropriate scoring films by Kenneth Anger or John Carpenter. Ominous and dark, the duo makes sounds like the rebirth of an ancient god.
California-based artist Andrew Brandou draws from the children’s books, as well as the tripped-out, cult obsessed, disillusioned zeitgeist of the 70s when his early consciousness took shape. The storybook-ish quality of his works creates a sort of narrative of the tectonic shifts that have taken place in the psyche of an entire generation — anthropomorphic animals frolic in subtly Japanese-lacquer-inspired landscapes as gas-mask-wearing cops creep, grinning skulls loom, elevated freeways overwhelm the rising sun, and bloody murder scenes remain hidden just beyond the view of the paintings’ innocent subjects. Read more
It turns out that the Internet was invented for cute animals as much as it was for porn. All these four-legged nobodies suddenly have our attention, and all they have to do is sneeze or fall asleep or act like they’re talking for us to fawn all over them. Heeding the growing chorus of people calling for these furry hacks to be cut back down to size, Fuck You Penguin aims to keep the egos of goats, puffins, moose, and pretty much every adorable creature on earth in check.
Oh man! If I was twenty again, a jumble of nerves and a well of electric energy, I’d be in the front row for every damn MGMT gig. Read more
A minimalist design hotel parked on Thailand’s Koh Samui island, The Library stole my attention as I wandered down Chewang Beach at sunset. Read more
Daft Punk eat your heart out! This striking looking watch from Tokyo Flash packs enough LED punch to blind innocent bystanders.
WE'RE RESPECTING
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
We asked Arizona-based artist Joe Sorren what we would have been if he hadn’t been handed the most ridiculously generous serving of artistic talent: ‘Art historian and conservationalist. Or a botanist. Or I’d work with horses. It would be interesting to be behind the scenes in politics, at least for a while. Or maybe a studio musician, or invent games, or a … I would rather paint’. Ah, we agree.
The work of Chicago artist Nigel Evan Dennis is emphatically modern and sparse, with textures and clean geometric shapes dominating the frame. I get the feeling I could really relax and breathe deeply with one of these beautiful images hanging on the wall. Read more
This remarkable construction is located in the Swedish village of Jukkasjärvi and is built entirely from scratch every year. It features 10,000 tonnes of ice from the nearby Torne River, and 30,000 tonnes of snow, covering more than 30,000 square feet in total. Oh, it even has its own ice chapel. But be sure to bring your winter woollens. It could get a little, errr, chilly at night. Read more
Produced by In The Yellow, this six and half inch tall vinyl toy by Luke Chueh is limited to just one hundred pieces and comes in clear colorway with silver eyes.
Edgar Muller’s three-dimensional street art
Some people are talented, others are just truly remarkable. German artist Edgar Muller makes these three-dimensional apocalyptic fantasy street art in cities across the world. His work is reminiscent of that of English artist, Julian Beever. Read more
Legendary pop culture artist and Agit Pop founder Ron English will be a guest compiler of an upcoming issue of our email newsletter, writing about his favorite cultural discoveries. To read Ron’s edition of Lost At E Minor, simply sign up to our weekly newsletter. It’s free, you win!
The Pasta and I print belongs to New York illustrator Fernanda Cohen’s personal series, Food Affair, which focuses on her passion for food and love. The archival pigment print is available for $75 through the Lost At E Minor store. Read more
Discuss
- hdacvt on "The Relentless Eye"
- Stomp on "Gutter Twins Announce Sideshows"
- JamieD on "Melbourne Bride Wedding Expo"
- shoebuy on "art in shoes"
- lucebaz on "Freelance Graphic Designer in London"
- lucebaz on "Freelance Graphic Designer in London"
- JaneAbma on "The Grafik Museum"
- teacut on "Illustration vs fine art"
DISCOVER MORE
SO...
SEARCH: Can't find what you're looking for? Do a search..
IS IT GOOD FOR YOU TOO?
We hope you're enjoying your time on Lost At E Minor, but it’s not over yet. Got something to share? Tell us about it and we'll look to publish it. If you want to have your work featured on the site, we'd love to hear from you. Or if you’d just like to talk amongst yourselves, that’s cool too. Pssst, we also have an online store stocking some of the goodies we feature on the site.
If you're a media agency and want to use this platform to connect with our readership, then drop us a line and tell us about it. Oh yeah, and we do digital consulting for cool brands that want to reach the sort of demographic that visits this site.
Huna said | 6 August, 2008
Morning show Michaella?!
Awesome.