Further Earth

Sat 7th May, 2011 in Features

Forming a little over a year ago, Further Earth have gatecrashed the Perth music scene. Like that friend you only see when there is free booze, Further Earth showed up, guzzled down all the praise and critical acclaim Perth had to offer, and are now set to rush off for their first national tour as a band. FasterLouder caught up with vocalist Ryan Carson ahead of Further Earth’s tour promoting their EP Kingdom.

While the band may be new, its members most certainly are not. Hailing from the now defunct alt-rock outfits Rise Apollo and Crysis, the amalgamation of the two bands came from a suggestion by drummer Nathan O’Brien. Carson recalls, “Rise Apollo had run its course and I was deciding on what to do next. I was possibly considering writing and recording my own EP when Nathan from Rise Apollo got in touch with me. He had already been jamming with the guys from Crysis for a while and they were going [through] a bit of a line up change having lost their singer, so they were in the process of auditioning a whole bunch of people when Nathan suggested me. I went for a jam just to see how it would go and what the vibe was and here I am today.”

What followed was a stroke of providence for the band, from the first meeting both Carson and the band found that all the pieces they were trying to put together fell in to place. “I felt like we all had the right chemistry together. It was like a perfect balance, which is super rare to find. [The band had a] really good blend of personalities that work[ed] well together. On top of that, songs just started coming to us with great ease, which was a really good sign. I remember at one of the first jams we wrote The Coastal Repetition which came together over one session.”

Once the line-up was complete the group wasted no time. Delving straight into writing and preparing a demo, they chose to reject the long-held paradigm among bands to gig frequently and build a following. By the time of the EP launch for Kingdom the band had only played five times, causing some pre-show jitters for the band. “Yeah there was a bit of pressure I think, just in terms of having a successful launch show which people knew about and came down was the main thing.” Carson admitted. “I felt like we spent all this effort in to the EP, it was deserving of a big launch show, which it was. It really surpassed all of our expectations.”

With the successful release of Kingdom the band soon found themselves gaining critical acclaim throughout Perth, though Carson managed to keep his feet firmly on the ground and not lose sight of the band’s goals. “I don’t think there is ever a point in a band’s life where they have truly proved themselves. I think ‘sure it is great now to start to be noticed and have more attention on your band and be playing bigger shows’ but in the scheme of things we are only trying to fulfil ourselves as musicians and every[thing] else is a bonus. However all of the positive things that have happened since the release of Kingdom have been really great and has helped spurred us on to try and break through to that next level.”
The “next level” Carson talks of refers to the band’s east coast showcase in June, as well as a national tour in August that will see them tour every major city. Carson was optimistic of the challenges an interstate tour poses, “We are just all really excited to see what sort of reaction we get from the east coast crowds. It’s exciting having a blank slate and being able to prove your worth based on your live show, it really is like winning people over one at a time. I love traveling so it will be great to be on the road and to see the sights and eat some good food! And I think mainly we are all really excited to be getting away together as a band again and having a ton of fun! We also will be getting to play in front of some key industry people which will be great as well.”

Kicking off Further Earth’s tour will be a performance at the Amplifier Bar on May 14th. Supported by Therapist, All Eyes On Saturn and The Watermelons. Carson speculated on what punters could expect from the gig. “In a nutshell people can expect a diverse line up, great live show, high energy and new songs from Further Earth! What I am really looking forward to is the new set we have rustled up, we are playing two new songs we have been working on so I can’t wait to play them for everyone. Also this is our follow up show after the big EP launch so I can’t wait for the same crazy high energy crowd that we had last time!”

Even before setting off for their national tour, Carson already has plans to return to the studio for the next EP. “We have got about 20-something songs in the pipeline. We just recently pre-produced seven of those tracks which are sounding really cool. We have written a whole bunch of different sounding songs, some are a continuation of the [sound from the] EP’s tracks and others are completely out of left field.”

Remarking on the source of Further Earth’s success, Carson says: “I think if you as a band truly enjoy something that you have created then it is likely to shine through to people as well.”