The John Steel Singers

Wed 16th Mar, 2011 in Features

Thematically The John Steele Singers Tangalooma is a dark album, described by the band as focusing on the desire of the human race to create something superficial to distract from the death’s inevitability. The upbeat songs on the album have a tendency to deceive the listener but vocalist and guitar/keyboard/trumpet player Scott Bromiley insists it wasn’t something done intentionally.

“It’s not as conscious as you might think,” he explains, “I’d be lying if I said every little nuance on the album was planned. You come out with the melody first and then the lyrics, and the lyrics for me are the hardest things to write… You have the music and then you want to write something that goes with it that isn’t cheesy or isn’t going to bug you in year’s time”.

The band spent a few weeks last year making the album which was originally planned to be recorded in an old Brisbane museum. Due to time constraints it ended up being done at three different venues, Sing Sing studios in Melbourne, The White Room Studio in Mt. Nebo and also at band member Luke McDonald’s parent’s home. “We kind of did take over their house, but they are gracious, they were happy to have their house taken over for a few weekends here and there, we’ve kind of been there before to record demos and it’s an inspiring place creatively to hang out”.

The album was recorded with music legend Robert Forster at the helm and Bromiley is quick to declare that it was “an absolute dream” to work with the Go-Betweens singer-songwriter: “that guy’s one of my absolute song writing idols and that goes for the other guys in the band as well”.

After seeing Robert at various functions around Brisbane the boys had been too nervous to approach him to say hello but a chance meeting at the Fire & Flood benefit gig saw them land their dream producer. “We got the chance to meet him and play as a backup band for him at a benefit concert and from there he became our producer…It was a mutual agreement we would get together and he’d be our mentor and produce for us”.