Guys, crazy exciting to hear you’re hitting Canberra next month! What can Canberra fans expect from the Chiaroscuro live experience?
We are stoked it’s gonna be our first headline in Canberra! We’ll be playing a mix of old songs and new ones off Chiaroscuro and bring a brand new light show to complement it all. Canberra fans can expect a big one with lots of noise and pretty colours to match.
Where does the concept for Chiaroscuro stem from?
The theme behind the album is that of light and shade with all the songs falling into one of those two categories. ‘Happy Sad’ was the first track we wrote and that set the theme for the rest of the record. The overall theme is reflective of each of the songs bi-polar nature too and ties the tracks together nicely. It’s a concept we haven’t explored until now but we are very happy with how it’s all turned out.
You’re currently touring across Europe and the UK, how has the experience been over there so far? What were some highlights?
It’s been amazing to come back two years later and play bigger venues to some bigger crowds. Europeans know how to party and we are always happy to travel around and see new things and meet new people. Our show in London was definitely a highlight – we played to a crowd of 600 at The Garage, half of which were Aussies, so it was a very welcoming vibe. Zurich was a bit of a dark horse. We played at Bogen F and spent the afternoon surfing in a wave pool near the venue called Urban Surf. The crowd is typically quite reserved but it was awesome when we got them all moving. We also went swimming in the river at night after the show which was very cool.
I loved the vibe in your performance of ‘Baby Come Back’ for your Like a Version, what inspired that song choice?
There was obviously an endless choice of songs we could have performed but I guess it was just luck that led us to that track. Baden heard it on the radio one evening and thought to himself that it would be a fun song to cover but also all the parts were appropriate for us to recreate live with our 6 piece. It’s always important for us to play live with a fully natural sound, that is, no backing tracks or effects pads… just us and our instruments. We rehearsed it over and over and gave it a good crack on the day and we couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. The triple j music team at the studio are so experienced and it was a pleasure to have the opportunity to work with them.
You’re touring the US with Tash Sultana in November – how do you find the vibe playing over in the states compared to Aus?
Everything feels new for us when we tour overseas. It’s super cool to be able to meet people who live on the other side of the world and perform for them. In North America we’ve played in a lot of different places to many different people all over the continent but when push comes to shove everyone just wants to have a good time. So if you’re thinking like that then it never feels too far away from home.
Tickets here
