Nick O'Mara and Jac Tonks live, love and write beautiful music together as dark and contemplative alt. country duo, Amarillo.
Releasing a self-titled EP in 2014, the pair have completed work on their debut album 'Eyes Still Fixed' and will officially launch the record in October. Jac explains how the album came together after a road trip into the Outback. “We went on a holiday up around the Top End and did some writing up there,” Jac says. “We were touring the Northern Territory and started writing again in hotel rooms and stuff.
“We started collecting a bunch of songs and thought it was about time we put them together and release an actual, fully-realised album. We felt the EP was a great little start. But with us playing together more and writing together more, I feel like in a sense this is a truer collaboration for us.
“Not everything was written on the road and we do a lot of writing at home. Nick always has a guitar in his hand and it's not often that he doesn't. He's always playing different things and he'll be noodling away and I'll say 'what's that you're playing?' and we sometimes stop and try to capture what's happening. Because I'll sing a vocal melody over the top of that and quite often that's how we start, with little ideas for songs.”
The first taste of 'Eyes Still Fixed' came with single 'All I Can See', a sparse and moody track that embodies the vast and desolate country landscapes, which influenced its creation. The accompanying video, entirely shot, edited and produced by Nick and Jac, adds a visual dimension to the theme of isolation in a barren land the song entails. “Basically it was written in a motel room,” Jac says.
“We went up to Darwin and Kakadu and were really struck by the vastness of the space up there and it looks like nowhere else. We were relating that to relationships between people, how you can be close but there can still be distance between you, and the vastness is reflected in that song, so we tried to show a bit of restraint in recording it.
“We shot the video together at home and I tried to create that same feeling visually and take that and make it really cohesive. We shot that over a weekend in Melbourne and cut it together. It was all about keeping the same sense of what you're hearing to what you're seeing, and trying to express ourselves visually as well.”
'Eyes Still Fixed' is released early October, and Amarillo present the official album launch a week later in Melbourne. In the lead-up to the launch, Nick and Jac are preparing with two shows in and around Sydney. 'Eyes Still Fixed' isn't even available for sale yet, but Jac says she and Nick are already working on new music, as well as another video. “We're still putting all the nuts and bolts in place for the launch show and it's exciting,” Jac says.
“I'm going to have a guest singing with me to do some harmonies and we'll probably have a few other special guests pop up as well. We've got another video in the works as well for another song, 'Congratulations', so there will be a few other things along the way. We're going to be premiering that soon.”
Amarillo Shows
Wed 21 Sep - Newtown Social Club (Sydney)Fri 23 Sep - Marmook & Poom Poom's Cafe (Maitland)
Sat 8 Oct - Bella Union (Melbourne)
Sun 16 Oct - The Bearded Lady (Brisbane)
Sat 29 Oct - The Three Brothers Arms (Adelaide Hills)
