Our music is a real mix of soft rock, with songs like Will You, through to metal, with songs like ETM. Our philosophy is if we write something we like, we should keep going with it.
What was the recording process like for Brooding?
We recorded all of the instruments separately at Hamish, our drummer’s house. We started with drums and a rough guide track for Hamish to follow. We then moved onto bass, then guitars, then vocals. There was a lot of experimenting with sounds and microphones, which was very time-consuming but also fascinating. We’ve definitely spent enough time to learn what works for us and what doesn’t. We’re looking forward to applying that knowledge in future recordings.
You self-recorded, produced, and mastered this, what do you think about this approach compared to recording in a studio?
There are definitely pros and cons. The pros, and ultimately the reasons we went about it this way, is that we can take all the time we need to lay down tracks and we’re fully in control the whole way through. There’s no struggle to explain what we need something to sound like to a third party. That translation of sound to words is always tricky, even at a professional level. Since we bought the equipment we used, we can continue to use it too, in the long run that’s definitely saving us a bit of cash. Of course, the con is that there’s a lot of work for us, it’s not shared between a lot of different people.
Your stated musical influences range from Nirvana and Soundgarden to The Beatles. With so many varied and potentially conflicting influences, does that present challenges when songwriting?
I haven’t really come across any challenges, often we’ll just throw ideas around until something stands out and we go with that. Usually we’re on the same page in terms of style for any given song and if we try something that doesn’t work with one song it becomes the beginnings of another.
The songs on the album were written over the past five years, since the band formed in high school back in 2015, how do the older songs fit alongside the newer ones on the album?
The oldest songs we’ve recorded fit in pretty well with the rest of the album. Even combined with the real mixture of rock subgenres, the album still sounds coherent.
What should people expect from the release gig?
The release gig is going to be super high energy with Chuwnes and The Slinks opening the night. As always, we’ll be putting everything we’ve got (and we have a lot) into performing too. We’re going to play Brooding start to finish as well as a few extra songs for good measure.
The gig
Saurian Brooding EP release with Chuwnes and The Slinks. Saturday, July 18 at The Crown Hotel, doors 8pm. $5
- Fraser Thompson
