Ball Park Music's sophomore LP, Museum, is certainly a better record than its predecessor, but it's not a happier record.
A bleary Sam Cromack talks false impressions, the ugly side of the music industry and sexy death threats with Rohan Williams.
Hey Sam, how are you?
Oh, I'm... a bit hungover, actually.
Excellent. Is there a story there?
It's pretty pathetic, really. I only had three beers last night, but it's really rattled me. I think I must have been drinking cheap beer or something.
… Are you on any sort of medication?
No! I don't take any medication for anything. But I feel pretty lousy. I'm just moseying around my room feeling sorry for myself.
In happier news, you've just released your second album. As one or two people have mentioned already, it's come out just a year after your first album [Happiness & Surrounding Suburbs]. Why don't more bands work to that sort of schedule?
I'm not sure. I think really big, successful bands can afford to take a whole bunch of time off between records, because they probably sell gazillions of copies and have the luxury of doing nothing for a while. But I'm not sure why other young bands do that, because once you stop doing stuff, everything does just... stop. Everything dries up.
I don't think we were particularly interested in having a quiet period. I think we figured that if we stop working, the band may just disappear into oblivion. We're just a small Australian band, really. It'd be so easy for us to slip off the radar.
Is this a way of sidestepping the 'difficult second album'?
Yeah! I guess that was all part of it. I'm making it all sound like it was a strategic move, but I do write a lot so there was material we could use. It was more a matter of having that material there and saying, well, we don't want to wait around just because that's what everyone else does. We want to keep playing and recording now, so let's do that. And then once we started to look at it from a strategic point of view, it seemed to make sense. If everyone thought the record was really shit, they might excuse us because we did it so quickly.
You've said in the past that you enjoy sad, gloomy music, but the first Ball Park Music album didn't necessarily reflect that. I think this one does. Do you agree with that?
Yeah, I do agree. A lot of people have made comments along those lines, and it's weird for me because I never knew Happiness & Surrounding Suburbs would come across so happy. Everyone labelled us as this jolly old band, and I'm not sure that was ever my intention. I really don't know how I even created that. I still think there are some grim moments on that first record, but there are plenty more on this one.
What attracts you to those grim moments? Are you a fairly downbeat person?
No, it's not like I listen to one mood of song exclusively. There are some really upbeat, energetic bands that I love. I guess I just always... the songs I really love and hold dear, the ones that attract me the most, are a bit down. I guess it's the same for a lot of people. The songs you love the most are often quite sentimental, and to create that sentimental mood you need to take a more serious tone. As a music listener and music lover, it's great to stay up late by yourself listening to records when everyone else has gone to bed. There's a romance to that.
Given the year you guys have had with the success of the first album and sold-out shows and whatever... I mean, things seem to be going quite well. Does that make it harder to write sad songs?
Not really. You never want to come off as being a whingey rock'n'roll guy, because everyone hates that character, but the success of the band is a bit of an illusion a lot of the time. It's easy to show up to a photo shoot and put on a smile and put all your achievements up on your Facebook for everyone to know about, but behind the scenes... there's plenty of stuff there to stimulate some miserable songs.
The more you learn about what it means to be in this industry, the more underwhelming it gets. It's a lot of work, a lot of repetition, and then you just have times when you go, you know, do I want to keep doing this forever? What's the point? A lot of the songs on this record are dealing with those feelings.
It's funny, but maybe the first record was so happy because it was our first record, and all those experiences were brand new. You bring that youthful naivete to it. Everything's so exciting when you're doing that stuff for the first time. You bury your head in the sand when it comes to a lot of the business stuff that goes on, but — at least for me — it gets to a point where you want to start paying attention to that stuff to make sure you're doing everything correctly. I don't know, it can just be a bit uninspiring.
So in a song like 'Pot Of Gold', when you talk about doing what you're told for your little pot of gold, is that reflective of how you feel about the music industry?
I guess. A little bit. But I think a lot of people are misinterpreting that lyric. That song was more inspired by some of the people we'd meet on the road. When we tour we get the opportunity to catch up with a lot of friends from school who moved to different cities. I mean, sure, we're musicians and we're broke as hell and touring really bleeds us dry but meeting a lot of those people who have gone on to study and get good, stable jobs and a solid income... they were the ones saying to us, “oh, I wish I was occupying your lifestyle”.
They thought we had more fun, more adventure, a sense of freedom... they were the ones that actually felt like they were towing the line to get the money. But it works both ways. I wish I was doing what I was told to get a little pot of gold. I just do what I'm told for no return.
To what extent are your songs usually autobiographical, and to what extent are you playing a character?
I've had a go at both in my songwriting. I definitely appreciate both styles. Autobiographical is often easy because you can just recount personal experiences and use descriptive language and make a great song out of it. It only works if you've got the stories to tell. You have to do a bit of waiting when you're writing in that style, because you can't force tales you can't exist.
I think that's why a lot of people jump into using characters, and that's a lot of fun too, because I feel like if you're going to do that, you might as well go to the other extreme and tell wild and wonderful stories that would never happen in your own boring, little life. I'm not sure if I've done much of that on the new record. Most of it is probably autobiographical.
But I know a couple of years ago, I was doing one of my solo [My Own Pet Radio] records, and I was more interested in exploring the musical components of the songs back then than the lyrics. I was just browsing Wikipedia, and when I found stories that I liked I'd put them straight to song. I found that really easy, but I haven't done much of that lately.
One song from the previous record that unambiguously reflected your beliefs was 'It's Nice To Be Alive'. Did that song lead to a following for the band within the atheist 'community' that you're aware of?
Not that I'm aware of, but that song certainly has resonated with a lot of people. I don't know, it's a funny feeling when one particular song of yours starts to connect with a lot of people. Firstly, you sort of disconnect with the song. It just feels meaningless to me now. I remember that time and when I wrote it, I remember those feelings, but that's so long gone that it's really hard for me to relate to it. I can't help but see it as being really tacky now.
That song has made its way to America, and has been getting a good response over there, and every day we have more and more interactions with fans in the US who are discovering that song. It's funny, I think a lot of them... well, they're really young, and they're from Christian communities. They might not identify as hardcore Christians or anything, but you know what the US is like. I find that sort of ironic. I'd be really fucking shitted off if it became some sort of Christian anthem! That'd be awful!
It's funny, because in Australia, writing a song that essentially says, 'hey, you're not going anywhere after this, make the most of it while you're here'... it's not a particularly controversial sentiment. Nobody's going to send you death threats about it. In America, that's not the case. Were you worried about more extreme reactions?
Well, who knows what's to come? The song has made its way there, but we haven't really had the opportunity to go there yet, obviously, and I haven't done any press for any American publications, so I'm not sure if anyone has the backstory on the song over there. It could be really interesting if they find out the backstory. All these people might feel like they've been sinning by listening to Ball Park Music! They might have to wash themselves. I don't know. That'd be pretty funny. If I got death threats, that'd probably turn me on.
Well, let's help the Americans out. Would you refer to yourself as an atheist or an agnostic?
Look, I don't really know. There's a song on the new record called 'Fence Sitter', and that's kind of where I'm at now. Not necessarily with that topic, as such, but just with everything. I just can't be fucked picking an opinion and debating people anymore. I just want to shut my mouth and hang out with my girlfriend.
I don't know... I definitely still identify as an atheist, but I don't like to discuss it or talk about it. You have to appreciate that the universe is pretty weird and wonderful. It's pretty foolish to say you know how things work. I mean, I'm a dumbass.
Museum is available now. Ball Park Music play the following dates:
Wed Oct 24 — Uni Bar (Wollongong)
Fri Oct 26 — Uni Bar (Newcastle)
Sat Oct 27 — Metro Theatre (Sydney)
Thu Nov 1 — The Spotted Cow (Toowoomba)
Fri Nov 2 — Andergrove Tavern (Mackay)
Sat Nov 3 — The Tivoli (Brisbane)
Thu Nov 8 — Coolangatta Hotel
Sat Nov 10 — Great Northern Hotel (Byron Bay)
Sun Nov 11 — Alhambra Lounge (Brisbane) (U18s Only)
Fri Nov 16 — Prince Of Wales (Bunbury)
Sat Nov 17 — The Capitol (Perth)
Tue Nov 20 — The Governor Hindmarsh (Adelaide)
Thu Nov 22 — Bended Elbow (Geelong)
Fri Nov 23 — The Palace (Melbourne)
Sat Nov 24 — Foreshore Festival (Canberra)
Sat Dec 1 — Kuranda Ampitheatre (Cairns)
Sat Dec 29 — Ding Dong Lounge (Melbourne)
