A musical escape with the nostalgia of being at home.
The band from Newcastle tells us about what inspired their latest album and their performance in Mexico.
After a tour of several cities in the United States since July, Jake Johnson and Joseph Van Lierthe band's bassist and drummer, respectively, chat with us before preparing for the sound check of their concert. They say they feel more than ready to play, although only the soundcheck will confirm it.
No Place Like Home is the band's third album, released on January 12th of this year. Composed of 10 tracks, the album is the result of the introspection of Campbell Burnsvocalist and composer of the group, after being diagnosed with Pure Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, coupled with the experiences of the members away from home.
“It’s a real album that tells the stories of the last few years we’ve had since COVID ended, and we got back out on the road. We’ve spent so much time over the last two years away from our own home in Australia, having amazing adventures, but also with that sadness of missing people and places, and feeling torn between two lives, at least musically. That’s where we came from, and Campbell (Burns), lyrically, he’s been touching a lot on his own relationships, both with himself and with other people. So there’s a lot of ourselves that we’ve put into this album, I think.”
In addition to capturing their personal experiences in this album, the Australian group was greatly influenced by American landscapes and culture by using sounds characteristic of Nashville and country music. They also revealed that their musical influences come from bands like Men I Trust, Coin and Dayglow.
“Yeah, I guess, in short, the relationship with the U.S. is based on how much we’ve played here, and our experience of coming here and making a career here, really. It’s been the most supportive place, along with South America and Central America, it’s been, yeah, the foundation of our band. So that experience of our first tours here and spending whole days driving around the countryside in a van and seeing all of America, I think that was very influential for the lyricism of Campbell on the album, and, yeah, the themes on the album in general. And, you know, it goes hand in hand with that feeling of being away from home, but also having this incredible, profound experience of being on tour and playing sold-out shows and stuff like that.”
“There is a lot of really beautiful nature and geography that we hadn't seen before at home, driving through snow-capped mountains and the Rockiesand pine forests and stuff like that, which inspires a lot of the visuals behind the music as well. And as he said Joey (Van Lier), it was like an adventure of a lifetime, going out and doing these things, but mixed with this melancholy or homesickness. We tried to bring a lot of those feelings together and have them inform the sound of the album.”
This recognition of the North American country is no coincidence. The band experienced a meteoric rise in the country thanks to the viralization of their single “Young” on TikTok. This success allowed them to become known and now position songs from their latest album, such as “Midwest” and “Next Exit”on the main indie and alternative radio stations of SiriusXMconsolidating its presence in the American music scene.
“The biggest change, honestly, we've been pretty lucky to have some moments in our career where we've reached a huge new audience group, and we've jumped in scale or listener base. Having the opportunity to do Jimmy Kimmel Live! It was a pretty huge experience. Being on American television and in CBS “On Saturday mornings it was really surreal too. The biggest thing for me, I think, has been being able to achieve a larger listener base back home in Australia. It’s been our home for the last 10 years of our career, and we’ve gotten really used to playing pretty small, intimate shows there. And it seems like, with this latest album, we’re finally seeing a larger number of people in Australia finding our music. And we just finished a tour there, which was the biggest one we’ve done so far. So it’s nice to feel like we’re getting some recognition and traction back home, I think that’s the biggest thing for me.”
After his last concert at the Indie Rocks! Forum In 2022, the band is excited to return to a Mexican stage and make up for last year's cancellation at the Lunario of the National Auditoriumwith a record signing in the Roma Records.
“We were supposed to play there last year as part of our joint tour with Last Dinosaurs call Tourzilla. Unfortunately, the night or two nights before we flew, Campbell “He lost his passport, so we ended up having to cancel the show at the last minute. So we really hope to take this opportunity to make it up to the Mexican fans that we didn’t get to see last time.”
The evening is a complete tour of the album No Place Like Homefrom hits like “Midwest” to lesser-known tracks, including crowd favorites like “Telephones”.
“It’s a bit more of a theatrical show than we’ve done in the past, and a bigger ensemble as well. We’re touring with a fantastic keyboardist and synthesist called Graceand also with an Australian musician and great friend of ours, Alex Leahyplaying saxophone, guitars and doing backing vocals. So yeah, it’s a bigger ensemble and a much more significant stage performance than we’ve typically done in the past. We’re always trying to improve our live experience.”
The band is not only promising a great show, but also looking forward to enjoying the local cuisine, which they consider to be the best in the world, and an enthusiastic reception from their fans.
The fans in Mexico always give us a great show in return. So there is a great exchange of energy when we play in Mexico City.”
“We also hope to increase our collection of Doctor Simi. We have two Doctor Simi. We need to increase that. Maybe double, maybe triple the number of Doctor Simi that we have.”
Before they left for their soundcheck, I asked them if their short stay in Mexico inspired them as much as the North American landscapes they mention on their album.
“Our trip to Mexico also inspired No Place Like Homeas well as a lot of the feeling and the visuals of that. I think sonically there’s a lot to learn from Mexico and Latin music as well. It’s such a beautiful city that it’s hard not to be inspired by it. So I’m sure in some way, shape or style it will come through.”
