Children Collide interview
by It’s hard to find a misstep on the full-length debut from Melbourne band, Children Collide. The Long Now doesn’t sound like a first album: its mature, yet completely varied sound and lyrical concept makes it feel like something you’d expect from a band on their third or fourth album (you know, after the ‘cursed’ second album). Children Collide are most definitely in control, something that could have been lost while working with big-name producer, Dave Sardy. It’s rare that you pick up a CD and feel like the band has decided on everything, right down to the artwork that encases their killer album. We threw guitarist-singer Johnny Mackay a few questions about how they managed to wrap everything up in such a … errr … tight little package.
You seemed to have focused a whole lot of genres, into one clean tight sound. Is that something you guys have honed over the last few years?
‘Well, I’d say it’s more a result of us being people who appreciate a lot of different types of music. We get bored if songs sound too similar and prefer the sound of our instruments to be more what connects the songs rather than their style. Clean and tight? Sometimes I guess’.
Were you waiting to get to a certain point with your sound before you took the plunge to record the album?
‘Not really. Our sound goes out in all kinds of directions and there are songs on this record that we have played from our first gig along with songs that were written more than three years later. I would have been happy to record an album with the first twelve songs we ever wrote but that didn’t happen. Now we’ve written probably about 80 and have demo’d more than 60 of those. There’s no clear evolution in our sound, only an increasingly varied dynamism. Well, that’s my hope anyway’.
Lyrically, the album navigates quite a bleak social landscape. Where does this ‘end of the world’ inspiration come from?
‘It’s probably my way of accepting the mortality of all things. Or taking mortality to a macro level. Lyrically I often theorise and question rather than make statements, so a lot of it just me dreaming up an abstract “what if” rather than a cynical diss on the state of the planet’.
The silver-moon-scratch-panel on my copy of the album revealed the Earth, what are the other possible versions?
‘One is a clock, which mysteriously points to just after eleven minutes past ten. A crazy, unintentional coincidence with the date we released 11/10. The other is the Voyager gold record. When they sent out the Voyager spacecraft in the 70s they included a record that contained images and sounds from earth in case any aliens found it I guess. It also has a diagram depicting the location of earth’.
How does it relate to the album?
‘Well, I tend to write a lot of lyrics that allude to concepts of space and time in different ways. The images probably relate to the title more actually, which, in turn, relates to the songs’.
Tagged: Australian bands, Melbourne bands, rock music
- 3
- 0
RELATED
Some bands never get the respect nor the notoriety they deserve. Last year, The Supporters released a full-length album and, very quietly, it collected a swag of rave reviews. Then whenever they played gigs, they blew away whoever had the good sense to show up. Today they still play criminally small venues, and they are still totally under-appreciated. If fast, uncompromising Aussie rock is your thing, The Supporters are your band. It doesn’t come any grittier and satisfying than this.
The music behind the new Howling Bells album, Radio Wars
The last time I caught up with London-based, Australian band, Howling Bells, was in New York in early 2007 when they played a show at one of the many seedy Lower East Side bars. Since then, they’ve recorded a new album, the aptly named Radio Wars [listen to their song, Treasure Hunt, below], a remarkable follow-up to their 2006 self-titled debut. I checked in with guitarist Joel Stein to find out what music the four-piece had been listening to around the time the album was written: ‘The Byrds’ Eight Miles High always sounds so futuristic to me. It has one of the best guitar sounds ever and really moves me with its color and power. Every time I hear the Tortoise track, I Set My Face to the Hillside, I instantly get transported to the ocean. Beautiful! Joy Division’s Isolation is incredible. I love the intro keyboard riff, in particular (the keyboard was self-built). It expresses urgency and truth. And then there’s Neu!’s Hallogallo, a truly inspiring instrumental track that I always want to go on for longer. Its fuzzy guitars are so warm and vibrant. Perfect!’ Read frontwoman Juanita Stein’s Playlist of inspiring songs.
Fans of Australian buzzsaw rock trio, The Vines, might like to check out our sister site, My Secret Playlist, where drummer Hamish Rosser has written about eight songs he’s digging right now. There’s some interesting choices in there including The Strokes, James Brown, and, gulp, Joan Jett.
Also by HUNA AMWEERO
Ummm, Beyonce’s Single Ladies anyone?
It’s not surprising that the fifteen-year-old boy I tutor introduced me to this video. Spatial geometry and the causes of the Vietnam War gathered dust, as he made me view it numerous times, pointing out which girl was his favourite and why: the one on the left, because she’s hot; the one on the right because she is ‘hittin’ her moves’; and Beyoncé, because, well she’s Beyoncé. To be honest, after the first ten seconds of our first viewing, I became a very willing participant in the whole discussion. We talked about why Beyoncé’s pseudo-feminist lyrics sometimes annoy me (Jay-Z did ‘put a [HUGE] ring on it’) and which moves were our favourites (mine occurs at the 52 second mark, he likes the one at 1:32). Truthfully, I barely like this song, but this video is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I wonder if we could cut the sound and get Sir David Attenborough to narrate it.
The John Steel Singers’ Rainbow Kraut video
I can say with an unwavering amount of conviction that kaleidoscopes are the greatest things ever invented. Well, one of them at least. Brisbane band, The John Steel Singers, take that statement and turn it into a super cool video for their song, Rainbow Kraut. I think Oliver Sacks would agree: phantom hands should always play keyboards.
Chances are we haven’t met. Despite this, it’s most likely you’ve heard that I’m a huge fan of Adelaide band Wolf and Cub. The somewhat strange unconditional love I feel for this band can be justified with this live footage from a show they did in Sydney a month ago. As you will see, Wolf and Cub are always thrilling to watch, not just because of the two drummer thing (or the newly added saxophone), but because their sound always goes to unexpected places. They never sound the same. Sure the songs are recognisable, but they always manage to play them in a way I’ve never heard before. So enjoy this absolutely superb set courtesy of MoshCam [watch footage], featuring some of their new tunes, stunningly fresh renditions of their old ones, singer Joel Byrne’s shiny new haircut and some shots of bass player Thomas Mayhew’s rarely seen face. Read more
YOU'RE SAYING (0)
No comments yet.
HAVE YOUR SAY
With their improvisational, pyschedelic sound, San Francisco band Wooden Shjips are putting the proverbial finger to the formulaic output of much of the current chart toppers. We interviewed guitarist Erik “Ripley” Johnson recently. Read more
Paintings from Nicholas Aoki’s new solo exhibition, Goodnight; Sweet, Hearts blur two worlds — one of mortals and one of Gods, skeletons and creature spirits. The Toronto-based Aoki uses watercolors and acrylics to create rich landscapes that he layers with the characters in this journey to death. And while the paintings contain a dark subject matter, they also contain flashes of light — a glowing full moon, say, or lamp posts helping guide the way.
It doesn’t transform or actually play music, but this watch with a face that looks like a cassette tape, is still pretty cool. Read more
Sure, President Obama is just as human as the rest of us, and there is a certain excessiveness to the extent to which he’s been idealized, but I’d rather have a President the world views as a secret agent ninja than one the world views as a bumbling, ignorant fool. Can you imagine an action figure like this one by Hong Kong-based DID Corporation made of Dubya? If they did make one, it’d probably be along the lines of Maxwell Smart.
I’ve been a big fan of Michelle Vandermeer’s work since I came across her Mini Majellen zines at this year’s Sydney Writers Festival. Describing herself as a doer — as in one of those people who are always doing or making something — Michelle’s work, which includes book binding, illustration, jewelery making and her zines, stems from an internal creative springboard and a double degree in architecture and graphic design. Her work is smart and succinct. Read more
If animated wall drawings of severed heads and insect men ejecting their brains from their craniums is what people produce when they have too much time on their hands, then we should do their laundry for them and cook them dinner so they’ll have even more time on their hands.
Killola is three boys and one girl, making rock music out of Los Angeles, California. The band’s style of garage pop (often described as ‘Blondie for the 21st Century’) has received more than 1.5 million MySpace plays from over 80,000 friends, many of whom add the band’s ‘K))’ symbol to their screen names as a show of allegiance. The band recently self-booked its own UK tour — 12 shows in 12 days — and American Tour — 27 shows in 32 days. Oh, and their latest album is available for free download. Viva la independence!
WE'RE RESPECTING
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Alex Passapera’s dizzying pen and ink drawings are cascades of images melting into one another, often looking like contorting, mutating creatures spewing blood-like ink splatters. Read more
Forget battery powered vehicles. Cars made from ice are the future of transportation: no pollution, no honking horns, no painful rap music blasting out of souped up stereos. And if they melt, they melt. You just swim the rest of the way down the slipstream.
Our celebrity-saturated culture makes many of us irrationally hateful of the faces we see on our TV screens and magazine pages. Good thing there’s Celebrity PunchOut to let off some of that steam.
Charlie Immer’s pastel-pallete sometimes obfuscates the gory violence in his surreal images. At other times, it heightens the gut-wrenching and visceral effect of his work. Read more
With the recession still biting, it may be time to whip out the glue and the cardboard and make your next pair of cool kicks. Don’t know how they’d manage in the rain though? Read more
Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. Read more
Now, who couldn’t do with a watch like this? Featuring an interactive touch screen and animated LED display that plays short animation upon demand, the time display on this awesome watch switches between colors on touch. We have them for sale in the Lost At E Minor online store. Read more
FOLLOW US
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. 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.
