Beat On Beat Off - Now In Technicolour!
Hello, well I have managed to jam all the interviews I have compiled into a neat zine so that you don’t have to sift through the incredibly difficult wordpress layout.
The interweb is a scary place, I should know.
So download the zine below. Cheers.
(it’s only a cheeky 14 mb)
Oak Tree Suite will be playing at the upcoming Slingshot Festival
Local emerging indie-rock outfit Oak Tree Suite took time out to answer 10 questions and spoke about their upcoming EP due in March.
What sort of sport would your music be most similar to?
Funny you ask that, as we recently received an email asking us whether these people can use our
song ‘The Same Disease’ for a motor-cross DVD… I don’t know how that works!! I see our music
to relate more to movies/TV shows rather than sports, but in saying that, a few of our songs could
definitely work for sports like Soccer.
How did you come to make your music?
A bad lunch at Subway. It’s as simple as that.
Best/any gig/s so far?
We’re playing at Slingshot Festival on the 18th of Feb which is pretty exciting – 2000 people!
However our gig in September which will take us to a 5 star hotel in Bali, is sounding pretty
exciting!!
What sort of sport would your music be most similar to?
Funny you ask that, as we recently received an email asking us whether these people can use our
song ‘The Same Disease’ for a motor-cross DVD… I don’t know how that works!! I see our music
to relate more to movies/TV shows rather than sports, but in saying that, a few of our songs could
definitely work for sports like Soccer.
How did you come to make your music?
A bad lunch at Subway. It’s as simple as that.
Best/any gig/s so far?
We’re playing at Slingshot Festival on the 18th of Feb which is pretty exciting – 2000 people!
However our gig in September which will take us to a 5 star hotel in Bali, is sounding pretty
exciting!!
What is your inspiration?
Inspiration comes from everywhere. Often I’ll look at a particular concept, others I’ll imagine a
story and write about it. If you listen to our song We Saw You Running which will be available on
our debut EP Enid’s Place (available March/April), you’ll notice that it’s a story about someone struggling in some way or another; regardless of the song, one thing I do try to do is make the
lyrics open enough to relate as much as possible to every listener. By the way that song
concludes in a happy way.. we’re not trying to be the next Coldplay in terms of lyrics!!
How did you come up with the name for your band?
Oak Tree Suite was nothing artistic, political or code – in fact it really doesn’t mean anything. In
reality it is merely 3 words that were put together after months and months of hard thinking about
what to call the band. We even had a series of band name nights, where we just yell out words
and hope they work. We came to the point where we were so over band name making, that we
saw Oak Tree and the word Sweet next to it, so to make it classier we used Suite instead!
Where are you with your music?
2010 was our first year as a band. We had a few decent gigs and a very positive response.
However 2011 is already panning out to be our biggest so far. We have a series of gigs planned,
we’ve even been asked to fly to Bali to play (all expenses paid)!! Our first EP, which was recorded
late 2010 and mastered in Nasville, will be launched most likely late March. Finding a big enough venue is proving extremely difficult.
What is the your favourite song?
Favourite song ever????? Wow.. I’m going to cheat and talk albums.. I dig The Arcade Fire and
The National, and other bands, however my favourite album (I know I’m cheating) would have to be by Radical Face – Ghosts. No one has heard of them but they are the best!!!
What is your favourite night of the week to make music and do you have any warming up rituals?
To be honest it’s never a scheduled event. Song writing actually occurs mostly when I don’t have
a pen or paper to write ideas down. Band rehearsals on Tuesday nights (which can be watched
live from http://www.whotune.com) often begin with a decent game of FIFA, or Nerf guns!
What’s next for the band?
We just need the right people to hear our music. Like most bands in Perth, we have the
disadvantage of being in Perth! Our EP launch is the next step along with the launch of our
website. We just have to say yes to as many opportunities as possible!!
What transformer would you turn into?
Octopus Prime!
Check out the boys from Oak Tree Suite here:
Good Night Tiger's initials are also a delicious beverage...
‘We’re going to play a love song now,’ Jill from Goodnight Tiger told her audience one sunny afternoon. Perrin, the other half of GNT promptly chimes in, ‘people say all we write are love songs, but we really don’t ’*.
It’s a striking statement from the Perth-based duo since some people would assume their soft indie-folk must be full of love and nonsense just because the music is so pleasant. The girls from Goodnight Tiger, Jill Chrisp and Perrin Date are as enchanting and whimsical as their music, evident from the following interview.
With the help of some poetic license, Perrin shared how it all started with a love for light bulbs.
‘I (Perrin) was galloping across a glacier on my miniature unicorn Curtin when I stopped at a servo for a cornetto,’ she said.
‘There I found a girl holding a guitar who was a bit distressed because her dinosaur moon suit had run out of batteries and so, because it was dark, she couldn’t find her way home.
‘She hitched a ride with me and Curtin to Coles to pick up some light globes and along the way discovered we had similar tastes in music and ideas regarding the kind of music we’d like to create.
‘We needed some money to pay for the light bulbs so we serenaded some wealthy aristocratic tigers in a generous mood and thus Goodnight Tiger were born.’
Pretty intense stuff! But with influences from the likes of Washington and Kaki King, it’s fair to assume this creativity leeches into their writing process.
‘Kaki King actually played lapsteel on two of the songs on our EP coming out in a few months, which I still can’t really believe actually happened, given how much we both admire her as a musician and songwriter.’
‘Picking one favourite song is incredibly hard but at the moment for me (Perrin) it’s St Vincent – Strangers and Jill informs me hers is Kaki King- Spit It Back In My Mouth.
‘Our old manager once said all we write are love songs but on the contrary, 95 per cent of ours songs are either anti-love or some kind of self-questioning shindig.’
‘So I guess our inspiration, besides the desire to create something we are proud of, is just your typical life events that leave you somewhat bedraggled. We should write a happy song!’
Riding off the recent nomination of Best Newcomer at the WAMI’s last year and placing first at Ampfest, 2010 was a significant year for the girls.
As for the new decade, GNT have already been busy with their first performance at Southbound this year and their debut EP on the way.
‘We just recorded our first EP; so at the moment we’re really looking forward to releasing that. We’re also writing lots, changing direction somewhat and ditching some old songs but (we’re) very positive that the new stuff will be better.’
So what’s next for these radical ladies?
‘Hopefully more wicked-awesome fun times and sick-rad tunes. If not, jail.’
Catch these trendy ladies about town, check the website out at www.goodnighttiger.com or www.myspace.com/goodnighttiger.
Benn Dorrington
*the above quote may not be 100 per cent accurate since I had drank a couple of bulmers by this point. But I think it is the exact quote.
