Little Red

Thu 9th Sep, 2010 in Features

On the eve of their forthcoming release Midnight Remember, Little Red have hit the big time. But it’s business as usual for a band that takes success all in their stride.

“Right from the start, we didn’t really have any aims. We were just doing it for fun. But it just kept snowballing,” vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Tom Hartney explains. “Every single gig we did was bigger and better than the last one. It was really in the first couple of years that we were gigging, then we did this residency at The Tote, which we all look back on as a landmark. Every week of that residency got bigger until it was sold out, and then after that we never played a show in Melbourne that wasn’t sold out.”

Over the course of three years, Little Red have emerged as one of Melbourne’s greatest musical exports admist a renowned scene that continues to flourish. Though the band’s continues to grow and shift evermore into the spotlight, Hartney remains level-headed with respect to their success to date. “It’s nice to have the recognition. When we go into a town and we’ve never been there before and people know who we are and like our music, some of them love our music… it’s amazing really to think that you can affect people through your art.”

Their latest offering, Midnight Remember – featuring their stellar single Rock It – marks a key evolution for the band. The decision to shift from the beloved coarse production of their debut to a more contemporary, hi-fi approach was a very deliberate idea, according to Hartney. “When we got together, it was quite different. When we started making Little Red music, it was very poppy and happy kind of music,” he reveals. “The first record was a really tardy record and it was representative of our lives back then. This record is a lot more truer and more personal I guess and truer to our life now.”

Things have certainly evolved at a steady rate for Little Red, their lives taking unexpected turns for the better. Their success, at least, has enabled them to trade in wheels for wings. “When we started touring we used to take a van, drive up the Hume Highway, drive to Adelaide. That was quite a different experience than it is now,” Hartney affirms. “We mainly fly between the capitol cities and that’s just the way we do it. It’s really easy just to jump on a plane, kind of exciting to do it a few times…”

He breaks mid-sentence for a confession. “I’m starting to get a bit scared of flying actually – we got struck by lightning and we’ve been through a few hair-raising adventures,” Hartney explains. The pros, it would seem, outweigh the cons however: “It seems a little bit adventurous and glamorous and exciting to jump on a plane, play a gig and get a free ride, a nice hotel room and meet all these nice people. It’s been great.”

The band also reflects fondly upon their time in studio, and the recording experience that followed. “We went up to Grove studios in the countryside off the central coast of New South Wales, which was a beautiful place. We never expected to go there – we were ready to record and we didn’t want to wait any longer and that was the only place that was available.”

This environment that became home to the Midnight Remember recordings ultimately proved crucial, however, to the band’s creativity. Hartney claims that “the surrounds were very idyllic and beautiful and when you’re recording in this room you’re looking down on this kind of swamp, grassy knolls and stuff… I think that’s infused into a bit of the music, some of the bells and the Irish-flavoured numbers” .

The five members lived in each others pockets for roughly a month over the duration of the project, coolly and methodically bringing their vision to life. “It went really well, there were no problems. It wasn’t too short that we were rushing, and it wasn’t too long that we over-thought things. We did have to keep moving on a pretty tight schedule.”

Little Red recently enjoyed their third consecutive year on the Splendour In The Grass bill, a feat that few local acts have achieved. Hartney is sure to express his delight in returning to the festival circuit – Splendour especially. “It’s a great festival, really,” he begins emphatically. “There’s a lot of good festivals, but people are always saying that it’s one of the best, and I can pretty much see why. The line-up is always fantastic.”

“For some reason I’m always drawn to the Australian bands… Tame Impala, Wolfmother, The John Steel Singers, The Vines, British India… I watched The Strokes obviously, but the ones I’m really interested in are the Australian bands, the ones we’ve played with before and I’ve got kind of a connection with them,” he muses. “We can watch them grow and develop at the same time as us.”

These days, however, Little Red’s attention is turned to the next chapter their own career: a new record to promote and a string of dates among the most extensive in their career. Their enthusiasm ahead of the release and a packed calendar quickly becomes apparent. “We’re kind of itching to get out on what we call our real tour, the one we’re doing in October with twenty dates in thirty days,” Hartney explains. “We’ve got this product and we want it to get out to everyone, and that’s coming out in less than a month now,”

“Then of course the tour is great because you get to physically take it to the street and connect with the people that are listening to the music,” he adds with earnest.. “Our main credo is that we want people to have a good time at our gigs rather than touch them psychologically or anything. We just want them to have fun.”

Midnight Remember hits shelves on Friday 10th September and then the band heads out on tour for the following dates with special guests Sparkadia:
Thursday 30th September – Settlers Tavern, Margaret River
Friday 1st October – Prince Of Wales, Bunbury
Saturday 2nd October – Astor Theatre, Perth
Wednesday 6th October – The Uni Bar, Wollongong
Thursday 7th October – ANU Bar, Canberra
Friday 8th October – Metro Theatre, Sydney
Saturday 9th October – Level One At Newcastle Leagues
Sunday 10th October Penrith RSL Club, Penrith
Wednesday 13th October – Club Coffs At West High
Thursday 14th October – Joe’s Waterhole, Eumundi
Friday 15th October – The Hi Fi, Brisbane
Saturday 16th October – Coolangatta Hotel
Wednesday 20th October – Wrest Point Showroom, Hobart
Thursday 21st October – Saloon Bar, Launceston
Friday 22nd October – Bended Elbow, Geelong
Saturday 23rd October – The Gov, Adelaide
Wednesday 27th October – Karova Lounge, Ballarat
Thursday 28th October – The Westernport Hotel, San Remo
Friday 29th October – Forum, Melbourne