Interview with The Dardanelles
1. First off I guess I should ask how the album experience went? Was recording an album everything you ever hoped it would be?
Yeah! I find it very exciting to be in the studio as its where the endless ideas and dreams about different songs can take on a concrete form. It can also be quite stressful as you want to make sure that these ideas are done justice. We were really happy with how our recording went - it probably exceeded our expectations. It is definitely the first recording that we have been happy with.
2. Did you guys always set out to record the album locally? Do you think money played a huge factor within that decision?
We were lucky to have a really good producer from Melbourne who we had recorded our EP with, who was really into what we were doing. We trusted his judgement and experience and didn’t really want to work with anyone else. We didn’t think there was any point in going elsewhere to record; we decided we’d prefer to have longer in the studio than spending money recording in some exotic location.
3. I’m yet to actually hear the album, I’m sure I will soon, but what can I expect from it? Is it different to last years EP?
It is quite different to the EP. The EP was basically a demo that was recorded after we had only been together for a few months that ended up getting released. We had another guitarist then and a different drummer. In an ideal world that stuff wouldn’t have seen the light of day but releasing it allowed us to get the money to record an album. Our sounds developed a lot since then, especially since finding the right line up. The album is a lot more mature sounding than the EP. it is still groove based and energetic but it has more layers, especially vocally. We tried to capture a much wider soundscape than the EP.
4. “Footsteps” is such an incredibly infectious song that mixes such a vast variety of genres. Is thing something you guys always had intentions of doing? To be different from all the rest?
I think we’ve always approached songwriting that way. All the music we like has sought to push boundaries and create an original sound. I don’t think we bother writing songs if we were just going to sit within a genre. We are lucky in that we are each interested in different sorts of music but we are able to write songs that lie where these different points of view intersect. We’ve learnt that the best way for this to happen is to work fairly instinctively and organically. When we first started we probably over-thought the process a bit. When it came to the album we were forced to write a lot of songs really quickly, which ended up benefitting us because we didn’t have time to over-analyse things too much. “Footsteps”, for example, was written in about 10 minutes, it’s probably the simplest song on the album. We didn’t really like it at first but our producer convinced us to record it.
5. You guys have a nice list of bands you’ve toured around with. Who has been your favorite and has supporting big acts, do you think, opened yourself up to a wider audience?
Its been good to play with a lot of those bands who only a few months before we had been going to watch ourselves. I guess the best ones have been the bigger shows where we got to play to a lot of people who probably wouldn’t normally come to see us. We played one of these a few weeks ago with Cut Copy that was pretty big and a few months ago we did a free gig at the corner with the Howling Bells that was sold out. We’re looking forward to doing a lot more supports in the next 6 months; we haven’t really played to that wide an audience yet. We doing a tour with a Scottish band called the 1990s in August which should be pretty cool.
6. Your EP back in 2006 was lapped up by just about everyone. Are you hoping to receive the same attention with the album or do you think critics might be shocked this time around?
As I said we weren’t really satisfied with the EP, although it was really good that one of the songs did well on the radio. We think the album’s a lot better so hopefully the critics will be shocked in a good way.
7. From friends and workmates, I’ve heard a lot of strange similarities, some comparing you to Pulp, some to Morrisey, and some to even Expatriate. How do you take to some those comparisons? Is it nice to hear or would rather not be compared to anyone at all and be your own thing?
One of the only ways that music writers can describe you to people who haven’t heard or seen you play is to compare the sound to more familiar acts, so I don’t mind being compared with other bands. In fact, we get compared to such a wide range of things that it doesn’t bother us at all. I’ve never heard anyone mention those references before, but everyone has different reference points when they listen to music. I guess its good when someone compares you to music you like. I like Pulp and Morrissey.
8. You have, what seems, like a huge tour planned for July to promote Footsteps. What’s next for you guys once that’s all finished. An album tour? Some support shows?
After that we are doing a national tour with 1990s then hopefully in November we are heading overseas to do a few shows in New York and London. The album tour will be later on in the year I think.
9. How did it feel to be recognised as being “a band to watch in 2007″ by iTunes and even being apart of Triple J’s “next crop”?
Yeah, its good to get things like that. Because of the distances and costs in doing tours Australia its important to have things like that to get the music out to new people.
10. Getting to where you are today. Has it been a tough trip or has it been all smooth sailing?
We’ve been lucky to get the support of experienced people who believe in us and have helped us a lot. Having said that we’ve always worked really hard and sacrificed a lot of things to make sure we make the most out of our opportunities.
11. Whats the best thing about what you do. Is it being able to have the freedom to record what you want or is it being able to go out and tour your butts off for an extensive period of time?
Both. I really like recording because its where your creative ambitions can be fleshed out. Touring is really good as well. Its great to get to see different parts of the country and meet other like minded people.
12. A lot of bands get their tracks remixed nowadays, including you guys it seems. Do you find that remixes help spread your music just that little bit more or do you just like hearing what other takes people can make for your music?
The remix things become a bit stale. It seems every release now has some type of cheesy indie electro remix tacked onto it, no matter what genre the original track was. I think the whole indie dance thing has been killed pretty much now that the mainstream clubs have got into it. It we get any remixes done for the album they will be something quite different, like an orchestral remix of a track or something.
13. Do you guys hope to achieve an International status sometime in the near future?
We’re hoping to head overseas in November to play at the CMJ festival in New York, In the city in Manchester and a few shows in Japan.
14. It seems the Internet is a one of the main ways of a band to get their music across these days. Is that what Dardanelles started out doing? Or were you guys more focussed on doing gigs and hoping to get recognised?
We had myspace like every band but we never really had anything else going on on the internet. It was probably more about the live show for us. On the other hand I think we all use the internet a lot to keep up to date with music from around the world. Its great to have new music from anywhere at your fingertips. Its definitely changed the velocity of the music world.
15. A lot of people have pinpointed your clothing fashion as apart of your music. Not just for you guys, but do you think audiences go for a band these days because of their fashion? It’s something that’s been troubling me for a while and I thought I’d get your opinion considering your clothing is definitely some eye candy and you may fall into this.
We just wear the clothes that we’d otherwise wear. Its not really something we think about. Fashion and music have always been inextricably linked I think there has been a certain movement of late where this has gone a bit far. There’s been a lot of vacuous and throwaway music in the past few years which has probably been more fashionable than substantial. In making this album we wanted to really distance ourselves from that world because we have always made music with a lot invested in it than that.
Purchase Dardanelles EP