Interview - The Sunday Reeds

The Sunday Reeds are a noise pop band from Melbourne. The name comes from patron of the arts Sunday Reed, a fellow Melbournite, who was prominent in the arts scene in the 1930s and 40s. Originally only two members, Romana Ashton and Drew Jones, they recently expanded with the addition of Jesse Lynch and Jane Sertori for a more extensive live sound. Their music is raw, loud and full of feedback. In 2009 their debut release Drowning in History was nothing short of a remarkable achievement, and with their EP Dark Rainbows from this year they showed that they won't be slowing down any time soon. Now with tour buzz and a second album looming, Blueboy and Popgirly interviewed Romana and Drew to see what's been happening lately and what is in store for the up and coming year.

Your latest EP Dark Rainbows is wonderful, how have you found the response?
Romana: Thanks very much. Some people like it I suppose. We don't actually get that much feedback about it. It has got some good reviews and has been played on various radio stations in Australia and overseas.
Drew: Kramer (producer for Galaxie 500 etc), who mastered it said the songs were great.

Recently The Sunday Reeds expanded. Can you please tell us about the new band members?
Romana: I used to play bass for the band but then decided to concentrate on being the front person more. We knew Jane (drums) and Jesse (bass) from another band called Pioneers of Good Science and asked if they'd do us a favour and play bass and drums for us. They provide a really tight rhythm section and they help us to fill out the live sounds.




You're doing a few shows at the moment on the east coast of Australia, how have they been going? Are your sights set on touring other states?
Romana: We've played a few shows in Melbourne recently and they've been great. We plan to go to Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane in the new year when we have our single launch for 'Kill This Party'.

You toured the UK a while back, what can you tell us about the experience, any memorable shows?
Romana: We went there I think in September last year for a few weeks and played just a handful of shows. It was great to meet the people from Squirrel Records in the flesh. We played in Leeds, London and Brighton. The best show we played there was the one in Brighton. The crowd was really supportive and everything felt really energetic on stage. I loved it. That particular show, we played with Still Corners and Candy Panic Attack and the show got NME gig of the week.

Are you working on new songs at the moment? Are they following the same grain as before or do the new members bring new aspects to the recording process?
Romana: Well, Drew and I always do the core work, we write the songs and record rough demos to know how we want things to sound. It's the same process it has always been. We have new songs and some older stuff that nobody has heard so we are reworking some of that too.

What have you been listening to lately? Do you have any favourite releases from 2011 so far?
Romana: To be honest I don't listen to much music now. I can't keep up with everything anyway. I hear bits and pieces here and there through other people's suggestions sometimes but I don't have a favourite release from 2011. Sometimes I just want to get the fuck away from music entirely.
Drew: I haven't heard anything recently that has made me go 'wow'.

What do you like to do when you are not playing or listening to music? Any hobbies?
Romana: I drink lavender tea and read a lot. I get angry for fun.
Drew: I usually just add names to my list of people to kill.

Is it difficult being an Australian noise pop band? On one hand, you are the best noise pop band in the country, but on the other you seem to possibly have a larger fan base abroad.
Drew: It is frustrating. When we played overseas the reception was great and people really seemed to enjoy the show. People still enjoy the show here but the enthusiasm is not as intense. People seem to 'get it' more overseas. I've started throwing guitars and smashing guitars sometimes at the end of shows out of pure frustration.
Romana: What he said. Even though there's the internet and everything we are still geographically isolated in Australia and it does make a difference.

What's next for The Sunday Reeds?
Romana: We will have a new single out in the new year called 'Kill This Party' on vinyl and for download. We plan to visit New Zealand for some shows too hopefully. We'd love to get back overseas again but it might be a little while before that happens. And, lots of sex.

Here's the new video clip for 'Shiver up my Vein'

From the Dark Rainbows EP.

Go on over to the official website of The Sunday Reeds and download special acoustic tracks for FREE!

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Westkust - demo recordings

Released February 10, 2011 / Bandcamp

LINK FOR ALL DEMOS IS NOW UNAVAILABLE.
BUT HERE'S ONE SONG.... http://westkust.bandcamp.com/

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Interview - Cassie Ramone from Vivian Girls

This year Vivian Girls released Share The Joy, their most ambitious and fulfilling album to date. Frontwoman Cassie Ramone was kind enough to lend us some of her time for an interview. We asked her about the band's progression, the relevance of the album cover, side projects and more.

In addition to her involvement with Vivian Girls, she is also a part of the band the Babies and a talented artist on the side.




Your most recent album Share The Joy is lovely. It has a real 60s girl group feel about it. Were you and the band inspired by much from that era, or did the album just evolve that way?

We were definitely inspired by a lot of music from the 60s, especially girl groups. We're also inspired by a lot of other different types of music, mainly moody punk and garage rock, which I think comes out in our music more a lot of the time. But we consider the 60s pop elements and the more rock 'n' roll stuff to be kind of a yin and yang, a balancing act. I don't think our music would work as well if we just had one and not the other.

Share The Joy is a breakaway from the band's previous efforts. The fuzz and DIY feel has diminished. In a way, it's almost a re-invention. Fiona is also in Coasting, Katy has La Sera and you are with The Babies. Do you think this dissociation for each of you from the Vivian Girls has proven to be beneficial?

To be completely honest I'm not sure. There is a part of me that wishes we had stuck together as a unified team, but at the same time that is not how the planets were aligned for it to happen. There are pros and cons to every situations, and I think that the experience that we have gained through playing other kinds of music with other people were beneficial for all of us individually but perhaps not as beneficial for the well-being of the band. C'est la vie.

We were particularly engaged with the video for 'Take It As It Comes'. Who came up with the concept for the video? We loved the decorated bedroom and especially The Cure poster. Did you three help design the set?

Travis the director and I came up with the concept together. The video was more or less inspired by Desperately Seeking Susan and this album cover (Alisha, pictured below on the left), and late 80s sitcoms. A set designer put the rooms together, but Katy and I added a lot of our own touches to each room. All the drawings on the walls are ours!

Do you find it difficult playing in two bands? Have you sometimes written songs and wondered which band it would suit better? Or do you sit down with the straight up intention of writing a song for Vivian Girls as opposed to The Babies?

I rarely write songs for the Babies, because it's not my primary outlet. Almost all of my songs which have been used in the Babies was a matter of circumstance. I find it counter-intuitive to write for anything in particular. I just play and see what happens - and usually what happened has been applicable to Vivian Girls. There are certain things that are like, oh this couldn't be a Vivian Girls song, because it's either too minimalistic or would require an important second guitar part, but usually it has worked out.

Do you have a favourite song to play live at the moment?

'Sixteen Ways' and 'Before I Start To Cry'.

Have you heard any albums this year that have blown you away? What are they and are there any bands that have intrigued you recently?

I really love Widowspeak's debut album - they are really good friends of mine and I'm so amazed at how great their album turned out. The new Girls album Father, Son, Holy Ghost is great. White Fence - Is Growing Faith. Hunx and His Punx - Too Young To Be In Love. I really like this band Dutch Treat from Brooklyn. They don't have an album out yet but I think when they release one it's going to blow minds.

Besides music you are also a talented illustrator. Is illustration your speciality, do you work with any other mediums? How do music and art relate for you and do you feel as though the album cover is losing relevance in today's computer driven music world?

I don't think the album cover is losing relevance but I do feel as though the current trend with album artwork is to make something that'll look good as a 100x100 jpeg, as opposed to something that'll look good as an LP. One thing that I really can't stand (for the most part) are album covers that are just a photo, with no writing on the cover. I get the reasoning behind that, but do you really think that your LP artwork is so iconic that ten years down the line, when it's in the used bin at a record store, it'll be easily that recognizable? Just a gripe that I have but occasionally it works, I guess. Anyway, I like to dabble in pretty much all mediums! Drawing is my forte, but I also sculpt, paint, and silkscreen occasionally. I used to want to be a fashion designer, but my mom talked me out of it. Music and art are totally intertwined. I can't imagine a world with one and not the other.

I watched a video a while back where you were discussing your love of Project Runway. Have you been keeping up with this season? We think Anya has a good chance of winning.

I haven't been keeping up with this season that much because I don't have cable. But I did watch a few episodes at my parents' house, and I LOVED Anya's stuff! And her hair is amazing!

Thank you so much Cassie for taking time to be a part of this interview. You're a gem!
Thank you!!

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