Streetlight: always achallenge

Thu 30th Nov, 2006 in Features

Streetlight exploded onto the local scene after they won the Next Big Thing competition earlier this year. Visually and musically they set out to challenge themselves and audiences alike. This Saturday they launch their debut single Attack That Gentleman at Amplifier Bar.

Forming in 2004, the band members met through their previous bands playing in the small local music scene in the Perth hills around Mundaring. They added violinist Rachael Aquilina and in January this year, guitarist Karlin Courtenay replaced the departing Daniel Gavin.

“We thought it would be interesting and challenging to include a classical instrument into a rock group,” says drummer Chris James. “It adds so many possibilities to each arrangement – layers of melody and ambience in parts that may not have had [it] without the violin.”

The band has spent countless hours developing their music and honing their sound to get their set to where it is today, and now they are starting to reap the rewards. “We spent the first six months of 2006 writing, rehearsing and recording,” he says. “This year we have had more of a vision about where we wanted to take the sound. [It] has really just grown from more of a raw rock sound to where it is now.”

In July this year, Streetlight unleashed their intense stage show onto unsuspecting punters at the Next Big Thing competition in venues around Perth. “The first heat was basically our first show with the new material and new lineup,” James continues. They blew the punters away with their textured yet exhilarating sound, and impressed judges with the precision of their delivery. “I guess when you spend a lot of time in jams and recording it definitely pushes a ‘tighter’ sound.”

Part of their showcase – a vicious stage performance – where band members thrust their instruments in all directions and leap around the stage with no regard for their own safety, Streetlight leave the punters gasping for breath. “It really does get to a point where the show is hanging by a thread with all the antics and I guess this can make it a bit ‘chaotic’,” he says.

After winning the Next Big Thing competition Streetlight toured Adelaide with crowd favourites Gyroscope, and have since been busy planning for the single launch. They are also planning a small tour of the east coast in February and after that will be releasing a mini-album that has already been recorded and is in the mixing and mastering stage now.
 
“Attack That Gentleman was really one of those songs that came out of a jam and just worked with us,” James says. “The song came from the more recent sessions and is rather indicative of the sound we have been trying to capture lately, so, although our sound is still progressing and changing shape, it is a good example of our collective sound.” The song marks the debut release from Streetlight and is an indication that we can expect big things to come from this band.

After the single launch, what does the future hold for Streetlight? “In terms of direction, it’s so hard to predict. We will continue to write the music that satisfies us and that will never waver, I can see it becoming more melodic and possibly more contemplative, but never losing the intensity that its always had, whether that be emotional or musical. We are looking to spend the first half of 2007 touring and also we will be writing for a full length release a bit later in the year or 2008.”  

You can catch Streetlight at Amplifier Bar on Saturday night the 2nd of December for the release of their debut single Attack That Gentleman. They follow this up with the all ages release at Love Like Violence in Northbridge on Sunday the 3rd, a performance at Fever Fever at the Swan Basement on the 7th and the all ages single release in Mandurah at Player’s Bar on Tuesday the 12th. For more details check out the gig guide.