Betty Yeowart, member of one of Australia’s latest independent buzz bands, The Trouble With Templeton, talks about their admirable debut, Rookie, on the heels of receiving an APRA and Queensland Music Award for their songwriting muscle, and teeming publicity from a host of “Album of the Week” spots across Australia in the last month.
- ROOKIE -
We were coming from a space of exploring different perspectives of people, life, anything really, but I think we’ve ended up with a complete journey on the album. It seems to flow together so well, yet the songs by themselves are so complete; a story within themselves. The album would not be complete without even just once piece missing. I feel like everything on there has its purpose, its place, and makes it what it is.
- YOU ARE NEW -
I love this song. I feel like it’s hard not to love because it makes you feel good. Musically, it has this sweetness about it that a lot of the other songs don’t have, but there’s so much more to it once you start listening to the lyrics. I think it’s a relatable song, and listeners can take different meanings from it with each lyric being sentimental. That’s the right word – sentimental.
- STORYTELLING -
Exploring light and shade comes naturally to us. We love being able to explore different dynamics as a band but also, the stories we are telling demand it - the light and shade wouldn't be the same without it. I guess we really tried to give each song the space and time it needed in order for it to be the best it could be, so we explored all avenues to get the album to the point of where it is now. Sometimes it was very natural and everything would just fall into place; the light and shade either obvious or figured out quickly, but sometimes it wasn't so easy. We really wanted to focus on making sure that what we were doing what hadn't really been done before.
- INFLUENCES -
The thing I remember was driving home late at night after a day in the studio and listening to artists like Split Enz, Death Cab For Cutie, Elliott Smith, The National and The Beatles. It just inspires you more, listening to these artists that you love while you’re in the process of making music. There’s nobody out there quite like them and that’s the individuality that we always want to achieve as a band.
