Covering a classic: MiamiHorror and Phrase

Sun 14th Aug, 2011 in Features

From the Ground Components’ cover of Our Sunshine to the The Herd’s version of Redgum’s I Was Only 19, there is a long tradition in this country of young bands reinterpreting Aussie greats. The Snickers Sessions play on this very tradition by getting two contemporary local acts – Miami Horror and Phrase – to record their version of an Aussie classic. The catch with the Snickers Sessions, however, is that fans get to decide what that classic song is.

After over thrity thousand votes on The Snickers Sessions website, it was decided that this Friday Phrase will release a cover of Australian Crawl’s Reckless while Miami Horror will try their hand at Under The Milky Way by The Church.

To gain an insight into just how they plan to tackle these tunes we had a chat to Phrase and Miami Horror, as well as tracking down the men that penned the songs originally, James Reyne and Steve Kilby, to get their two cents on how best to cover a classic.

Miami Horror – Under The Milky Way by The Church

When was the first time that you heard this song?
I think it probably would have been around age 16 or 17 in the movie Donnie Darko, which of course is a little embarrassing to claim. Although that movie did have an amazing sound track and I probably was too young to have heard it anywhere else.

What does the song mean to you or remind you of?
I don’t really have any memories or associated feelings with it yet. We’ll have to wait and see the effect of having it on repeat for 5 days does. Haha.

How has the artist influenced you as a musician?
I wouldn’t say The Church has been a huge influence on anything we’ve done, although Under the Milky Way did help inspire the use of acoustic guitar on Moon Theory, or at least help reinforce the feeling that using it was a good idea.

What are you going to change about the song, or bring to it to make it different and something that is uniquely yours?
I think mostly the production and voice will be the noticeable differences. We’ll probably get rid of the bagpipe bridge. Haha. I think our focus is to modernise the drum production, add some interesting changes, and maybe make the song more progressive. I think we’ll focus on creating new sounds more than anything. It’s hard to actually have ideas for a song like this, one you actually like…because you don’t have anything you want to change. It’s much easier to have ideas for a song you only like parts of.

Steve Kilby – The Church

How do you feel about Miami Horror covering Under The Milky Way?
Well on paper I like that idea…I hope they give that song a good hiding.

Have there been any covers of Under The Milky Way you’ve enjoyed from other artists?
Oh yeah lots of good covers, lots of awful ones… lots of mediocre ones.

Are there any elements of the original track you’d like to see retained? Are there any in particular you’d like to see reworked?
I think everything is permissible except changing the lyrics….ah you can’t do that!

What makes a ‘good’ cover in your opinion?
A good cover finds something new in a song whilst retaining the original spirit in some way.

Do you think that the advance in technology, since the release of Under the Milky Way’ will have a positive or negative impact on Miami Horror’s version of the song?
Could go either way just like technology in all fields…..I hope the technology doesn’t drown the music, that’s all.