Jovial Adelaide high school buds, now grown-up indie rockers, The Montreals say their latest single, ‘Sardines’, is a group effort about “taking the negatives and flipping them into something cool”.
Stefan Athanasov, lead singer and guitarist, says the band is excited to hit the road for their east-coast tour this April to support the single release. “We’ve done a few cheeky ones [tours], but this is our first proper kick out of Adelaide.”
The tour will land in Sydney and Melbourne before the boys return home to Adelaide for a grand finale. The band love to play shows everywhere, but truly appreciate their home city, even if they think at times it gives itself a bad name.
“The [local] support is unreal. I think everyone in Adelaide knocks its own legs out from under it, but it’s actually ragin’, it’s its own thing… from day one they were just throwin’ [love] at us.”
In regards to the band's songwriting process, Stefan says it’s an organic process that starts at home and quickly ends up in the studio. “I kind of write a skeleton in my bedroom then I bring it to the boys because I can’t play drums or bass very well, and then we put the flesh on it.
"We generally take it straight to the studio... the producer is sort of our fifth member if you know what I’m saying.”
Despite the difference in sound, Stefan says he finds a lot of inspiration in hip hop. “Obviously it’s a completely different genre but [I try] to give the rhythms more flow like they do because they do it like nobody else.”
However, sometimes it’s best to keep it simple when understanding where influences emerge. “I think we’re in clubs a lot so it’s what’s playing there I guess.”
In terms of fashion, The Montreals are not shy of getting colourful. One peek at their Instagram and you’ll see they don’t mind expressing themselves.
“I’m just so bored of the black and white aesthetic; I think so many bands have rocked that for so long. I like to be fun and colourful in every dimension, not just visually,” Stefan says.
For this band, it’s all about pushing boundaries and having fun. “Anything new and creative, I don’t really care about genres and all that jazz, if it’s cool it really doesn’t matter.”
The Montreals Tour Dates
Thu 12 Apr - Moonshine Bar (Sydney)Fri 13 Apr - Selina’s (Sydney)
Sun 15 Apr - The Grace Darling (Melbourne)
Fri 20 Apr - Fat Controller (Adelaide)
