After the incredible success of their ‘Puddinghead’ album last year, 2015 offers new challenges for Ball Park Music frontman, Sam Cromack.
For indie-pop rockers Ball Park Music, 2014 was a fantastic year. The Brisbane band not only released their third album, ‘Puddinghead’, but they also received unanimous acclaim for it, it shot to number #1 spot on the iTunes album charts, #2 on the ARIA charts and was voted second best album of the year by Triple J.
When it came time to create ‘Puddinghead’, the band decided to DIY, recording in a share house in northern Brisbane. As Sam explains this decision was inspired from their previous recording experiences. “I think the first two albums were done so quickly. They were done in a real whirlwind, we were having that experience that emerging bands have, where it’s all stations going all the time. We were sort of doing everything we can to get tracks moving forward. It’s funny that it took us two albums before we could properly sit down and spend some more time just focusing on making a record.”
After months of hard work, the band released ‘Puddinghead’ in April last year, the title a Shakespearian insult for “someone who fucks up the most basic of tasks”. When asked if fans can expect a future album with another Shakespearian insult, Sam doesn’t sound confident. “I don’t really know many more Shakespearian insults ... The only thing I could think of that’s insulting is ‘peckerwhit’.”
The next record will once again see the band steering into new territory, with Sam saying he has always wanted to create a “more cohesive album” with an “overarching theme or idea”. “We did a little bit of writing during [last] year. We’ll be doing plenty more, I’ll say we’ll spend 2015 doing new music. I don’t know if I’ll see a new release from us or not. We’ll see but either way we are pumped to start working on it again.”
Aside from BPM duties, 2015 looks to be a busy year for Sam. “I am working on the music for a stage production, which is in the works… it’s kind of very different for me having to kind of write music that has to be put to action, put to dialogue and fit into themes that have specific moments that happen – it’s fun. I took it on, as I needed a new challenge.”
Sam is also trying his hand at mentoring students at the Queensland University of Technology. “I’ll sort of be going in there to oversee a subject where students compose and perform songs. I’ll be helping them put that together and assessing them as well, which is kind of new territory for me as well. I popped into the uni once or twice this year to give kind of a guest lecture and that went well, so yeah I’m going to go back and help students with writing and performing and that kind of stuff.”
To top it all off, Sam has a New Year’s resolution. ”The other thing I want to get into more, but I haven’t had the chance to yet is to produce other people’s music. I’ve done the band’s records. I’ve always been recording my own music in my spare time. I’d love to maybe set a goal in 2015 and do an EP or something like that for an up and coming artist.”
Written by Nicholas Ivanovic
Ball Park Music Tour Dates
Fri 16 Jan - Beat The Drum: Celebrating 40 Years Of Triple J @ The Domain (Sydney)Sat 21 Feb - Lake Kawana Community Centre (Sunshine Coast
