In recent times New Zealand has put some promising faces on the music map, such as Ladyhawke, The Naked and Famous and Kimbra. Auckland’s She’s So Rad have been testing the waters as a four-piece band around their homeland, Australia and the UK since 2011, uniquely spinning their own take on lo-fi and alternative/grunge music, whilst avoiding the overkill of the drone ‘buzz’ sound which so many shoegaze-influenced bands seem to drown in.
In the lead up to their next album release (due late 2013), the band have worked with Tony Hoffer (The Kooks, M83, Air) and Dave Cooley (Silversun Pickups) to mix their two latest singles in order to achieve that classic ‘reverb’ sound. Frontman and guitarist, Jeremy Toy, discusses why the 90s has been influential in defining the sound (and flannel attire) of She’s So Rad.
What are your fondest memories of the 90s?
My fondest memories of the 90s would have to be learning how to play the whole of Nirvana’s Nevermind on guitar, and going to the record store every day for a week waiting for Pavement’s Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain to come out.
This particular era was definitive for many alternative bands. Why do you think there has been resurgence in these styles recently?
The aesthetic of 90’s alternative bands was so grounded and real compared to the glam 80’s styles that preceded it. I think that indie music now is going the same way as a response to the computer generated electronica that is completely saturating the airwaves - big call I just made, feel free to slag it off! In saying that, I make electronic music and I think alternative music and electronica go hand-in-hand. Maybe it has just been long enough now since the 90s for us all to appreciate and reflect on how good it was back then and not get embarrassed about the amount of flannel that was used. I still wear flannel.
Speaking of the 90s, you draw many of your influences from this era, such as Smashing Pumpkins and My Bloody Valentine. What is it about this era that inspires your music?
I am a fan of so much music: Soul, Jazz, Blues, Shoegaze, Alternative, Boogie, modern R’n’B, however, it is bands like My Bloody Valentine, Smashing Pumpkins, Ride, Bailterspace, Field Mice and Teenage Fanclub that make me excited to be a guitar player and make cool, fuzzy and loud guitar sounds. Among the fuzz and the haze of Smashing Pumpkins or My Bloody Valentine there are some really pretty songs that are playable in an epic fuzzy style or can be stripped right back to an acoustic guitar. Their music always sounds fresh to me no matter how many times I listen to the records.
Some material for your new album (to be released later this year) was mixed by multi-Grammy nominee Tony Hoffer (The Kooks, M83, Supergrass, Air). What distinct flavours did he bring to the recording process?
Tony Hoffer has mixed the first single and Dave Cooley has mixed the second. If we can, we will get either of the two to continue mixing songs for the record. Tony did an amazing job of mixing Confetti. He got it straight away and from what I can tell by talking to him on the phone, he gets excited by the same things that I do. We talked about using cassette 4-tracks to distort drums and using washed out sonic reverbs etc. I had recorded the single at home in our spare room so it was pretty amazing to know Tony was going to mix this home recording in one of Los Angeles classic studios, and also that he had just come off mixing the M83 record. What Tony brought to Confetti was a polished mix that I could only dream of being able to do myself. It is really loud yet dynamic, drenched in the perfect amount of reverb, plus the mix is super wide.
Auckland has become a surprising hub of music acts in recent years – connecting you with fellow New Zealander Ladyhawke. What are the most predominant music styles coming out of your hometown at the moment?
There are some really great - for lack of a better description - droney rock bands. Bands like Opossum and Popstrangers are killing it right now. There is also a really healthy underground beat scene with artists like Julien Dyne and Jellphonic, and Frank Booker making forward-thinking electronica.
It’s been over two years since your debut full length release In Circles. What can fans expect from the new material?
The new material is an expansion of the first record. The first record is extremely lo-fi and gritty. We want this new record to be hi-fi but still gritty which is why we had Dave Cooley and Tony Hoffer mix songs for us. I think it is more high energy this time around. We are a four piece band now and are about to go cut some more tracks for the record live in the studio as an experiment to see if it can be big, raw and live sounding. The first album was made at home. This time around we have our own studio which means we have now got a consistent sound and setup that definitely translates into the music that we are making.
Famous last words...
I’ll leave that up to Alan Partridge:
"Big Yellow Taxi there by Joni Mitchell, a song in which she complains that they 'paved paradise to put up a parking lot' - a measure which actually would have alleviated traffic congestion on the outskirts of paradise. Something which Joni singularly fails to point out, perhaps because it doesn't quite fit in with her blinkered view of the world. Nevertheless, nice song."
