Oceansize

Wed 20th May, 2009 in Features

If there has been one thing that consistently puzzles journalists when it comes to Manchester-based band Oceansize, it is how to label their music. In a world of pop, rap, metal, emo and whatever, Oceansize have managed to easily avoid any tag that does them justice.

In fact, the only label the band accepts is a genre they coined: ‘Progressive Death Indie’; a prime example of their humour. The five boys from the UK – lead singer/guitarist Mike Vennart, guitarist/keyboardist Gambler, bassist Steven Hodson, drummer Mark Heron and guitarist Steve Durose – are well known for their down-to-earth vibe and ability to crack a joke, even at their own expense.

If you haven’t yet heard of Oceansize, I don’t blame you. In fact, this author only recently stumbled onto the band thanks to a late night drinking session, in which a certain pay-television music channel was playing in the background. Unfamiliar, the band’s lead track from their most recent release Frames, appeared amongst what had previously been a night of awful hair metal. It was love at first listen. It was hard to comprehend that the band had released three albums and a host of EPs which had never before graced my ears. Lead singer Mike Vennart admits the band has been somewhat of a “slow burner”.

“It’s amazing that 10 years down the line that people are still finding out about us. We always knew that it would be a bit of a slow burner. We’re still turning new people on. If we were looking and noticing that the same people were coming to see us time after time, I think we’d be pretty fucked.”

And so, since forming back in 1998, the band are about to finally made it to the shores of Australia – thanks to an offer from Aussie legends Cog to support them on a national tour. Oceansize are no stranger to support tours, having been taken on the road with the likes of The Smashing Pumpkins, Porcupine Tree, Biffy Clyro and their own personal heroes The Cardiacs. However, this particular tour was an offer that the boys from Oceansize rate as high as any other.

“From the moment [the tour] was mentioned, I was just hammering our manager, going – œMake it happen!’” says Vennart. “We’re really, really, fucking excited. We’ve known about this tour for a few months now and all of us are beside ourselves. We’re fucking gleaming. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Indeed, Oceansize are very aware that this is Cog’s headline show, and that they will be playing to an audience likely to be unfamiliar with their work. The band has recently been in the studio recording an EP, which they hope to release in September. However, the band is unsure whether this material will make an appearance during the Cog tour.

“The [new] stuff that we’ve got completely ready, I don’t know if it will work for Cog’s audience. I’m sure we’ll do some of our trippy stuff, but I guess our set will be a little more weighted towards the heavier stuff. I can’t imagine we could play something like Legal Teens [a song from the forthcoming EP]. It might start people thinking that we’re fucking gay cocktail waiters or something,” he laughs.

So just what does the new Oceansize EP sound like?

“There’s no big fucking blast beats, no metal, there’s no riffs, there’s no – œloud loud’ on it. The whole EP is a more gentle affair. There’s stuff on it like Music For a Nurse (from Everyone Into Position ), that sorta stuff. There is stuff on this EP that every time I listen to certain bits of I think people are going to go, – œOh my god!’ I try not to worry about what people think, but certainly there’s at least one song where people are going to go, – œWhat the fuck are they doing?’” he laughs. “It certainly sounds like us, but it is a bit different.”

On top of the forthcoming EP and the full-length studio effort due in March 2010, Oceansize will also be releasing a box set to celebrate their 10 years in music. Feed to Feed is tentatively scheduled to see a June 29 release. But outside of music, the band is reluctant to set any goals.

“After the second album we stopped trying to make goals. We started getting a chip on our shoulder about not having broken through and being broke. We were getting to the point where if you start expecting certain things to happen, you’re going to be pretty fucking bummed when they don’t.

“So we’ve got to the point where we kind of literally float through the whole thing. We don’t really think about any long term plans. We really do live for the day. I’m sure that our record company or our manager have some kind of financial expectations of us. All we really want to do is to be able to pay our rent. We really fucking don’t care about anything else. Having this kind of mentality has paid off.”

So how just how can a band like Oceansize possibly get by in the modern musical and financial climate?

“Most of the success, financially speaking, that we’ve been afforded is via movies and adverts. You know, people getting in touch with us who want to use our tunes for a horror film or something like that. A lot of post-rock, experimental bands don’t sell a lot of records. But if you can get into the movie thing or anything like that, it’s going to make life a whole lot easier.

“The money from a mobile phone advert has enabled us to build a recording studio. If we can afford to keep the rent up on that place, then that means that we can make records forever. We’ve all got a purist sense that we don’t want to tarnish the sentiment of our music, but at the end of the day we’ve got to continue, we’ve got to survive, and that doesn’t mean compromising the music. It means letting the music be used in ways that we didn’t necessarily have in mind.”

Oceansize’s use of three guitarists would generally lead an observer to assume that the music is incredibly messy, with each guitarist fighting for prominence. However, Oceansize have been able to create beautiful, layered, guitar-driven music. I asked Mike just how the band has been able to create such a coherent, textured sound without it turning into guitar overkill. His response, as ever, was incredibly humble.

“I honestly don’t know. We don’t really talk very much about it. It just works out. We just sort of subconsciously look at what each other is doing and work out where you would fit in with that. There will be a couple of instances where you’ll see all three of us working out something [but] it really is instinctual. There is a new song that we’ve been fucking about with and there was a part that Gambler was playing, so Steve wanted to work out a harmony for it. And that’s it. That’s about as in-depth as it gets really,” Vennart says, laughing.

In my mind, it’s a minor miracle that an Oceansize tour of Australia is about to take place. I asked Mike if there was any chance we’d see the boys down under again. He suggested that unless they become “rich and famous”, this is likely to be the band’s only stint in Australia, given the costs to tour overseas. So if you have not got tickets yet, you had better get in quick. If Michael Caton were to attend the tour, I am sure he would leave asking himself, “How can one band have so much talent?”

Oceansize joins Cog on the road this winter. Catch them in full flight at the following stops.

Wednesday 27 May – The Hellenic Club, Canberra
Friday 29 May – Wrest Point Showroom, Hobart
Saturday 30 May – The Saloon, Launceston
Thursday 4 June – Metropolis, Fremantle
Saturday 6 June – The Hi-Fi, Melbourne
Sunday 7 June – The Hi-Fi, Melbourne
Thursday 11 June – The Hi Fi, Brisbane
Friday 12 June – Newcastle Panthers, Newcastle
Saturday 13 June – Selinas at Coogee Bay Hotel, Sydney
Sunday 14 June – Entrance Leagues Club, Bateau Bay
Wednesday 17 June – Sugarland Tavern , Bundaberg
Thursday 18 June – Great Western, Rockhampton
Friday 19 June – Andergrove Tavern, Andergrove
Saturday 20 June – Bombay Rock, Townsville
Sunday 21 June – Brothers Leagues Cairns, Manunda
Thursday 25 June – Sands Tavern, Maroochydore
Friday 26 June – Hotel Great Northern, Byron Bay
Saturday 27 June – Coolangatta Hotel, Coolangatta
Thursday 2 July – Waves, Wollongong
Friday 3 July – Port Macquarie Panthers
Saturday 4 July – Sawtell RSL, Sawtell