There are a few great firsts in life that stay with you forever, and for Bloc Party guitarist Russell Lissack recording their first album, ‘Silent Alarm’, is among the greatest.
“It was a super exciting time for us,” Russell says reflecting on the period around recording ‘Silent Alarm’. “It was our first time to make a record and I remember the first time [working with] Paul Epworth who recorded the record; we recorded a single with him first, 'Banquet'.
“I remember going into the studio for the first time and doing it, and then playing it back and I was like 'wow, that sounds like real music'. We weren't just messing around recording stuff on dictaphones, it was actually real. I can still vividly remember that. It was all exciting; it was all new territory for us.”
Bloc Party will be in Australia for a national tour playing ‘Silent Alarm’ live and in full. “We all love going to Australia,” Russell says. “It’s a place that's been really kind and receptive to us over the course of our career, and we've been really fortunate to come there more times than I can remember, so it’s always a pleasure.”
Released in 2005, ‘Silent Alarm’ launched Bloc Party on a career trajectory that has carried them through five studio albums – their most recent being 2016’s ‘Hymns’ – as well as countless world tours and a series of line-up changes.
Thirteen years after the album was released, Russell believes the record still holds up as a complete body of work with songs that represent snapshots in time. “Songs tend to capture a moment in time and that's a really special thing I think,” he says.
“You can go back and listen to something a month later or a year later, and you can hear imperfections, especially in terms of production [and] technology advances, and you can make things better and you think of things you can change but I know at that moment in time everything we did, we did to the best of our abilities and we were happy with it, and it captures that.
“A strong song is timeless, it sounds like it is from an era but that's not a bad thing – you can listen to a song and hear it’s from the ‘60s or from the ‘70s and that's not a bad thing. If you were around at the time it takes you back and if you weren't it makes a picture of a period of time. Ultimately the songs are strong and people still connect with them. There would probably be people discovering it now and hopefully it still resonates with them.”
In many ways, the tour is also a celebration of Russell’s creative partnership with vocalist Kele Okeroke, the pair having spent years writing and playing together before ever seeing the inside of a recording studio.
“It's been a long ride for me and him,” Russell says.
“We started as teenagers, so even though the band started in public I guess around 2004 but for me it was the late ‘90s when we first met and were singing in my parent's garage, strumming guitars and stuff. It’s been a long ride together.”
Bloc Party Australia Tour
Sat 24 Nov - Red Hill Auditorium (Perth)Tue 27 Nov - Margaret Court Arena (Melbourne)
Fri 30 Nov - Hordern Pavilion (Sydney)
Sat 1 Dec - Riverstage (Brisbane)
