Redsunband Shining Brightly

Fri 27th Aug, 2004 in Features

Sarah Kelly, vocalist and guitarist for theredsunband is awake. And I am immediately startled – usually interviews so early in the day are greeted with sluggish response, but as you soon learn with theredsunband things in this Sydney three-piece always seem a little left of centre.

“But I am awake now,” she assures me, “I’ve got more of a normal life now, so I have to get up in the morning. I am going university – this is my last semester. I just deferred a couple of hundred times. So I’ll have a degree and an album by the end of the year.”

It’s a strange (but true) story, the one which brings Sarah and John Matthews [drums] together. When, as a couple of three-year-olds they met in the sand-pit (or it could have been the swings, neither really remembers) at Arncliffe West Public Kindy in Sydney. They didn’t immediately start banging away at pots and pans, but fast forward 18 years and a meeting under more conventional circumstances yielded the first incarnation of theredsunband.

Sarah chats animatedly down the line from Sydney and is keen to explain theredsunband’s players, but what does the front woman for one of Sydney’s most dynamic young bands study when not on the road?  “I am doing sort of strange subjects – like Buddhist meditative practices and stuff like that. It’s very easy to sort of not go [to uni] so it’s better you do something you enjoy.” And while the prospect of a cap and gown upon graduation is still being fleshed out, there is one finished moment she can embrace: the fact that theredsunband’s debut album peapod, will be available in shops August 30.

“It’s going to be amazing. I mean it already is! Like when I held it in my hands for the first time, it was quite an amazing experience…I don’t really go into record shops that often, but I suppose I’ll have to go in to one, check it out …see what it looks like in comparison to other records.”

What ‘it’ looks like and what ‘it’ sounds like are two areas of crucial importance for the band. With a sound that melds Slint and My Bloody Valentine with a vocal splicing akin to Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval, it’s impressive theredsunband manage to not sound overly dense.  Instead they balance on that precarious edge, delving into their own, dare I say ‘pop’ sensibilities and skewed visions adopted from the likes of Pavement and the Pixies. And as Sarah explains, the artwork is drawn from the same origins as their songs.

“It’s really pretty [the cd]. Mathematics – they’re a little company in Newtown – did it, and we have done a clip with them, and they have done all the layout for our other CDs, so you know we can kind of boss them around and not feel bad about it.” It has to be noted that Sarah says this with more than a hint of humour, as there is mutual respect between image artists, and the musical ones.

“The painting on the cover John did, and obviously all the handwriting I do, and all the drawings, I did them as well…well all the little patterns in the background – and the designer chose all the colours which are so beautiful.” As hues of amber and burnt orange glint along the discs cover, maybe a resulting vinyl pressing would do the artwork further justice? “You’d have to ask my label that!”

The record was completed with Dean Turner (of Magic Dirt) in Melbourne in a few short sharp bursts:

“We did the Pavement single sort of separately, quite early on, and then we went back to do the album, and we did that in about 10 days, and that’s where all the tracks – except for Pavement - were laid down and sort of finished. But we did go back twice, for two-day periods just to do some singing on songs like Sleep Forever and Devil Song. So just making those songs a bit more polished.”

Finished in around November last year, it is typical of labels to hold off on artist releases for a certain time, and for a variety of reasons. For theredsunband the delay allowed time to build a profile: namely through touring, a few key support slots (Sonic Youth, Spiral Stairs, Grandaddy) and allowing them the opportunity to cut their teeth away from their regular Sydney haunts.

“I think because we were a relatively unknown band they [the label] wanted us to release a few singles and see how that went before the album came out. I wanted it out immediately, but it doesn’t work that way. We are a touring band – having a rest at the moment.”

But don’t expect too many shows in the very near future (aside from some launch parties in Sydney and Melbourne), theredsunband, in sticking with their education and eclecticism have yet another demand on their time. Liz, keyboardist and younger sister of Sarah, is still in high school. But they will be out on the road again in November/December.

“Yep touring time. It’s really sad for her [Liz] though, it sucks, because she is still in school, doing the HSC, and unfortunately she sometimes misses some shows cause she’s got exams and stuff.”

I guess that explains her absence on Sunday night gigs? “Yep, cause she has school on Mondays!” That must be somewhat surreal… “Well we try and book the shows in the holidays, but it doesn’t always work that way.”

With such the family connection, is their any animosity seeping out of the walls of the van on those long hauls in the ‘Rago?  “No we do get along really well. Liz is quite a bit younger than me obviously, and we’re very different. She is very none confrontational and hates fights – you know it just doesn’t work. Even if I wanted to have a fight with her it wouldn’t happen. “I just have to get out of the car and run into a field and yell at all the sheep or something.”

Well you were in New Zealand for awhile, doing your clip for Sleep Forever, “Oh less than 24 hours!  We didn’t see any sheep – I think that might be a myth.”

Theredsunband launch their debut album peapod (Slanted) at The Newtown RSL September 4th with support from the Red Riders, and at The Tote in Melbourne, September 11th  with support from Crayon Fields.