On the New Estate Myspace, you describe your first album as a combination of ‘noise’ and ‘catchy pop/rock’. Since that time you have switched bass players and released two albums. The scratchy vox and messy guitars are now juxtaposed with group harmonies and melodic chords. How has changing your line-up affected the mood of your band?

Changing the line-up (getting a new bass player) shook things up for a while as the new bass player, Brad, played far more intricate, funk-inspired parts, as opposed to Mindy who pretty much kept to the root notes in an indie-pop kinda way. Initially, I found the change difficult as I was a very self-indulgent guitarist and wanted someone to hold down the notes while I could make a lot of noise over the top and still have it sound like a song. Our drummer, Larry, seemed to gel with the change really well and, being part of the rhythm section, found it a lot more interesting to play with. Mia – as wonderfully optimistic as she is – was not too phased and, despite having some hang ups, was confident that we’d eventually come up with a great compromise between us. And she was right.

Have you mellowed out or just become more sophisticated musically?

We haven’t mellowed at all and still maintain the noise element, more so in live shows. In fact a couple of our recent songs have bordered on being heavy metal, as an outside observer, to our great shock, pointed out! It’s more a case of less is more. We generally play parts that are needed for the song… not just making a big racket all the time, speaking for myself in particular. And when we do make a big racket, it’s selectively positioned and, therefore, all that more exciting. In that sense it’s perhaps a bit more sophisticated. But we still like to have a lot of fun and improvise now and again, have a drink, tell some jokes.

You list your influences as My Bloody Valentine and Dinosaur Junior, how have they evolved?

I guess we listed those bands as influences simply because some journalists tend to make those comparisons so it’s just an easy way of describing our perceived sound. It only gives a very small insight as to what the band as a whole listen to though. We have extremely varied tastes.

Which artists were you listening to when you recorded Out of the Ground?

Brad, Larry and Mia all told me to write that they’ve been listening to Gene Clarke a lot lately and during the recording. And it’s too true! In the car, during breaks at rehearsal… all the time, Gene Clarke! I’ve been listening to a lot of pop/dance music over the past year. I find it refreshing and a welcome change from distorted guitar all the time! I can’t really see how Gene Clarke and Top of the Pop’s have really affected our album but, oh well.

You describe the Melbourne indie scene as ‘ultra conservative’, and yet you have shared a stage with many of its artists, who are also your MySpace friends – including Architecture in Helsinki, and Box Freezer Romance?

I was responsible for that little boo boo and have since removed it, not so much because I thought it was an off hand comment but rather because it comes across as fairly self serving.

What is it about the indie scene that makes it so conservative?

It appears to me that the indie scene harbors a severe case of tall poppy syndrome and feels uncomfortable about change or development, yet prides itself on being cutting edge or whatever. It tends to ignore bands they feel threatened by, that are more interesting and refuse to be involved in their incestuous circles.

It’s interesting that you’ve mentioned those two bands as I believe they’re outside of the indie scene on opposite ends. Box Freezer Romance are not a fashionable band and don’t seem to be involved in any kind of networking which perhaps would make it hard for them to get gigs, despite the quality and originality of their music.

A Sydney venue recently told us that we’re not allowed to have them play as our support and gave us no explanation as to why. But I can guess why. The band they ended up letting us get on board are evidently more in the loop with what’s going on and, don’t get me wrong, are equally as fantastic. That’s kind of what I’m getting at though: Box Freezer Romance are more indie than ‘indie’ it seems! On the other hand, Architecture In Helsinki, I would say are pretty much a pop act. We have nothing but admiration and respect for this band because they are comfortable with themselves and have gone through a lot of change and development in their time and, through it all, have remained their own entity without ever being snobbish. Without having spoken to them for a few of years or ever managing to go to their shows, they recommended us to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah which eventually led to an Australian tour with them. This kind of attitude is what I thought ‘indie’ was supposed to be about. All in all, I’m making fairly big generalisations and, ultimately, my statement was meant as a token of camaraderie on behalf of our band. I don’t lose sleep over it. We have a good bunch of friends, a small but loyal fan base and there are some great bands to play with all over Australia so we’re in a pretty good position over all!

Do you think there is a definitive ‘Melbourne sound’?

No. There’s so much different stuff going on, a lot of which I wouldn’t even be aware of. Melbourne is a fairly big city and I think a particular sound would more often come from a smaller area where it’s more tightly knit. Dunedin and Geelong are good examples.

How would you distinguish yourselves from it?

In all honesty, I wouldn’t bother trying to distinguish ourselves from it. I think we have a fairly distinct sound but wouldn’t say we’re Melbourne outlaws!

You will be touring extensively to promote Out of the Ground
What do you like to listen to just before you go onstage?

Usually the other bands (if we’re headlining). Or we just sit around and talk to friends.

Do you have any pre-show rituals?

Some drinks… and the last minute going to the toilet! Definitely not as interesting as The Red Hot Chili Peppers – getting in a huddle and praying to the sun god or whatever they do.

On your website there are photos of the band in basically suburban scenes – on trains, in front of rolling green hills and red brick houses. The news estates of suburbia (and once upon a time the Sleepy Township) are a constant theme. How does the band feel about suburbia, are you critical or nostalgic?

Mia’s an artist when she’s not playing music and has always been fascinated by outer suburbs and new estates (hence the band name). Also, we rehearse in an outer suburb of Melbourne called Jacana that involves two train journeys to get there (when we’re not being luxuriously driven by Brad). We just seem to always be in that kind of atmosphere, though I don’t feel we’re making any particular observation about it. It’s just circumstance, really. Some of Mia’s songs have a fairly romantic suburban feel about them though

You released your first album simultaneously in the US and OZ before migrating to the Low Transit Industries record label. Do you think this commentary on suburbia is one reason for your popularity in the US?

No, not at all. It was a case of a guy running a small record label over there, hearing our music on the internet and wanting to release it. He was very organised and got the album out to all the college radio stations in the U.S. and Canada. That’s loads of people that would have heard it! So the music might have just appealed to a miniscule percentage but that’s still a lot!

Have you maintained your US audience?

No idea. Probably not as we haven’t released anything else there since the first album.

Do you have plans to tour there again?

No set plans. It would be a pretty big deal for us. More of a pipe dream.

UPCOMING SHOWS

September 20th – Ric’s, Brisbane ( album launch)

October 11th – The Curtain Bandroom, Melbourne

October 16th – The Hopetoun ( Sydney)