The Gin Club have always been more of a music collective than a group of individuals. Members gravitate in and out, and the lineup for any given show is always flexible. The group have recently released their new opus Junk, a double album full of the Gin Club’s eclectic mix of folk, rock, blues and of course, sea shanties, and FasterLouder spoke to Conor MacDonald, one of the groups many songwriters, about the new album, and opening one of the major stages at the Big Day Out.

The Gin Club’s first two albums, their self titled debut and the follow up Fear Of The Sea, were both full of gentle harmonies and heartbreaking melodies, but the theme that ran through them was the sea, and there were more than a few sea shanties present. So, was Junk named after another word for a boat? According to MacDonald, no, not really. “Our cello player Bridget [Lewis] had a song on there, which was called Junk, and it was more about trash. But yeah, I can see how it still fits with the nautical theme.”

“We did this one photo shoot a few years ago, with a real nautical theme, and it was just hilarious,” he says. “But we do like the sea shanty stuff, it’s the Australian convict angle which we tap into.”

And was Junk always going to be a double album? “It was pretty much not too long into recording, when we realised we had a lot of songs, too many for one album. So the alternative was to do two albums in one year, but we figured by the time we were ready to record another album, we’d have some new songs, so it was worth doing these ones now.”

Of course, with more than seven songwriters in the band, Junk’s 26 masterful tracks don’t seem like such a huge number. “Yeah,” says MacDonald, “it’s just four songs each over two years – it’s not that hard to do.”

With so many band members, and the rotating instruments for each song, it seems like recording must be a drawn out process. “It’s okay, it’s not too slow, we get through things fairly quickly. We did a lot of tracks live, the recorded some overdubs, and then put things over the top. There’s a lot of waiting around, but that’s the same as any band.”

And is the band run as a democracy when it comes to the final mixes? “Whoever writes the songs gets the final word. There’s always input from the others, and everyone gets listened to, but it mostly comes down to whoever wrote the song. When it comes to picking which songs actually get put on the album, it’s a bit more democratic. But it’s usually pretty obvious, so there’s not really any fights.”

Junk sees the Gin Club stretching their creative muscles, and coming up with a more layered, textured effort. And MacDonald reports this was all due to the time invested in the recording. “It’s a bit more coloured, because it took more time to record. The first album was recorded in a day, and the second one on just a few weekends. This time we’ve got some brass, some string quartet, and there’s a lot more going on.”

“For the next album, I wouldn’t mind going back and doing it in a hurry – my favourite albums are always done in a hurry. But having said that, this was a good opportunity to flesh things out – one way isn’t necessarily better than the other, it’s just different.”

“It’s weird, with our band, because the lineup can be different gig to gig, depending on who’s there. So the albums are the fully realised versions of the songs, which I like, because it also means they sound different to when we play them live.”

And playing live is what the Gin Club do best, which they proved by graduating to opening slot at the Big Top tent at this years Big Day Out on the Gold Coast. “Yeah, it was really good. We were on first, so we got there in plenty of time, and got to have a real soundcheck, which later bands don’t get.” The Big Top tent was packed, and early adopters were rewarded with a rocking set from the usually more laidback band. “It was really fun for us, we were surprised by the number of people there, pleasantly surprised.”

And do the Gin Club plan to continue moving up the BDO roster? “Absolutely,” reports MacDonald. “Next year, we’re aiming for the main stages, the 4pm to 5pm slot, somewhere around Regurgitator or Silverchair. They’ve played enough Big Day Outs, surely?”

You can catch the Gin Club preparing their ‘chair and ‘gurge takedown moves as they continue their tour around the country to celebrate the release of Junk;

9 April – Victoria Hotel, Wagga Wagga, NSW
10 April – Oxford Tavern, Wollongong, NSW
11 April – The Greenroom, Canberra, ACT
12 April – Annandale Hotel, Sydney, NSW
13 April – Brass Monkey, Cronulla, NSW
16 April – Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle, NSW
17 April – Great Northern, Byron Bay, NSW
18 April – The Globe, Brisbane, QLD

Junk is out now through Plus One Records and Shock