The Butterfly Effect have a reputation as one of the hardest working bands in the country. What is unknown is that they are also one of the most hospitable and laid-back bands one could ever meet. To be perfectly honest, there is hardly one single term that would describe the enormity of hospitality one receives when working with them.
Sitting in the study/lounge room of the Sing Sing Studios, I spent some quality time with Ben, Kurt and Glenn of The Butterfly Effect. The band is relaxed and very comfortable, as one major component in the production of the new album has been completed – the recording stage, which all took place up at the Grove in NSW. “We did a track for Imago up there a few years ago, and it’s such a beautiful venue. Not to mention the great facilities they have, including a three-hole golf course,” Ben muses. “We like to do something different with each album. Imago was recorded in LA, Final Conversation of Kings was recorded here.”
Today is day 11 of the fortnight they have scheduled for mixing. To kick off proceedings here today, we were invited to join Ben in his metallic-lime set of [hire] wheels to have a listen to the newly completed version of The Window and the Watcher, the first single to be dropped from the upcoming album. “The name came from [lead singer] Clint. It could be because we wrote the song in a rehearsal room, where there was no windows,” Kurt explains with a mischievous smile on his face. “It’s different in that we are essentially a live band, and our previous records reflected that. We would basically try to record what we would sound like live. With this album, however, we went in a different direction. We decided we would do things we hadn’t done previously – went nuts layering sounds and basically utilised everything possible to create a diverse new sound, yet still retain that which is the essence of our band.”
Having established a reputation as one of Australia’s premier live bands, there’s no surprise that expectations are high for the soon-to-be announced tour in support of the album, including the ability to transfer the new sounds onto the live arena. “Well, lucky there’s still three months until the tour, so we’ve got time to work out any kinks we have to!” Kurt continues.
“By the way, that’s old news,” Ben chimes in. “We were considered fairly decent as a live band up until Karnivool came and smashed all preconceptions of an amazing live show. Another amazing band to see live would be Cog. Whilst they aren’t the most physical band on stage, they do amazing things with their lighting.
“Mammal is another awesome band to watch – frontman Ezekiel Ox is just great to see on stage He’s so full of energy and just a wonderful performer,” gushes Ben. “We’ll go see Cog, and try and figure out how they conduct their lighting shows. We all wish we could play as well as Karnivool. Everyone tries to carve out their little niche in the industry.” Those aforementioned peer artists have also released new albums this year, as well as Birds of Tokyo and Gryoscope. “We are stoked. These bands are guys we’re all friends with, and it feels great to have a record to add to the collection of great local music that has been released this year.”
The journey of creating a new album involves inspiration, getting people on board, writing the music and rehearsal, rehearsal, rehearsal. For a moderately young band, who have been kicking around the scene for around seven years, is there pressure to equal or better a well-received debut? “Of course there’s always pressure,” Ben confirms. “The difference between creating Imago and Final Conversation of Kings essentially came down to our partying. The Imago era was a non-stop party.”
“It’s all about the cake.” Kurt injects. “We made lots of little cakes. This time round, however, we’re just going to keep it simple with a big cake.” Hilarity ensues in the room as Kurt’s obsession with cake punctuates the rest of the session.
The new album is due to be launched on September 20 2008, and has been dubbed Final Conversation of Kings. “Clint came up with that,” Glenn explains. “It was like with Imago; we wanted something that sounded different, and so we looked up a thesaurus to see what we could find. In Latin – because Latin is a fairly cool language. There was a phrase – ‘Ultima Ratio Regum’ – which loosely translates to ‘Final Conversation of Kings’. It refers to the final conversation between kings, and the next step is war.”
“It sounds a lot better than… Fight!” Ben laughs. “Or Biff!” Kurt adds. “ The Butterfly Effect brings back the Biff!”
Following the album released, they band are also on the edge of announcing a slew of dates to promote the album. You’ll have to stay tuned to FL for full details, but Melbournites rejoice! “We’re playing in Melbourne on [Thursday] October 23rd at the Queensbridge Hotel, which we’re pretty stoked about.”
Stoked they should be. Coffee and biscuits in hand, sitting in the little hidden oasis that is the Sing Sing studios, they’re on the last stretch of album production. The record is being handled by none other than Forrester Savalle, the man behind the desk of Karnivool and Dead Letter Circus albums. “Forrester is great to work with. We worked with him to some degree on Imago ... basically had the album in order before flying over to the States to record, but had someone else [Joe Barasi] producing. For all his hard work, we felt we owed him one, and invited him to jump on board for this album, which has been great. If only he’d stop beating me on average in ping pong,” Ben sighs.
With the album almost complete, Ben could spend his time perfecting his ping pong before the band hits the road. Lunch signalled our departure and perhaps, for the band, the gong to get back to work. The end of our visit was tempered by the fact that we would see them again very soon when they toured the new album.
Lead single Window and the Watcher released on 23 August. New album Final Conversation of Kings is released September 20. And stay tuned for details of a Butterfly Effect tour in October.
cathy_022
said on the 18th Jul, 2008