Hailing from Melbourne, future soul quartet Hiatus Kaiyote have secured a comfortable space of their own on the global stage.
“We're an international band,” bassist Paul Bender says.“It feels like we come back to Australia to chill, work on records and work on other things, but our bread and butter is America; we make our money playing in America to American crowds, so it's very strange in a way. A lot of Australian bands really struggle to get the support to leave the country and tour other places, but we've been really lucky and we've had that support over there.”
The immense success Hiatus Kaiyote have experienced overseas leads Paul to wonder where the love is from audiences back home. “I don't know what it is with Australia and us,” he says.
“Not to get bitter about it, but I'm in a bit of a mood so I'm going to say this: out of every, single video of any kind that's ever been put up of us on the internet, the one with the most horrendous, sh...y, nasty comments and just bad vibes and sh.t beef was when we did Like A Version on triple j [their cover of Gorillaz' 'Dare']. It was a sh.tfight.
“When we put ourselves in front of that particular audience, so much grief: 'what's with these pretentious c...s? What's this f...ing bitch wearing on her head? What's going on?' Okay, I guess we'll go get larger recognition from a bunch of our idols in all different parts of the world, yet old mate f...ing Kenny from f...ing Mildura has got some serious sh.t to say about it.”
When it's suggested the country's youth broadcaster seems like a natural home for a band like Hiatus Kaiyote, Paul's response is whip-smart and razor sharp.
“Nah, are you serious? Triple J crowd? Triple J at this point in time, sonically it's barely imperceptible the difference between that and Nova, or any other commercial station,” he says.
“There might be slightly different songs and slightly different subject matter, and yeah maybe it's been released by an Australian artist this year but the actual sonic imprint and texture and production – the depth of it – you might as well listen to Chris Brown or some sh.t. . . F... triple j.”
Having travelled the world and played to thousands of people, gracing stages all over the Americas, Asia and Europe, Paul expresses disbelief that Hiatus Kaiyote have only ever been to Tasmania once. “Which is crazy because I'm from Tassie, you know?” he says.
“When we were in Hobart, in my home state, we played the Brisbane Hotel and it was f...ing lacklustre to be honest.
“I would love to go down to Hobart and play Dark Mofo or something, but the motherf...ers still haven't asked us, so I got a little beef there. Come on David Walsh, give us some f...ing love, man. Give some love to a local boy, that's all I'm asking. A little, cheeky gig; just a reason to go home, see the family and play a show.”
One festival Hiatus Kaiyote will definitely be playing is WOMADelaide 2020 where they share a line-up with soul great Mavis Staples along with a raft of Australian and international performers in a colourful celebration of global cultures. “Oh, [WOMADelaide] is a f...ing great festival,” Paul says.
“WOMADelaide is awesome – there are really cool musicians there and it's cool to be part of a festival that's so diverse and international, and celebrating culture in a much wider sense than whatever sh.t is popular this month with 18 to 25 year olds.
“What some people are presenting [at WOMADelaide] goes real far back with some ancient roots and that's cool, that kind of thing is more inspiring to me and all of us really; something that's got that depth of tradition. There are very ancient musical traditions in Australia, but not anything that we are raised [with] in the general populace, so it's a cool thing to be part of a festival that celebrates those sides of music.”
Hiatus Kaiyote enter 2020 following a tumultuous and uncertain past few years; in 2018, lead singer Naomi 'Nai Palm' Saalfield was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent surgery.
Asked about her progress, Paul happily reports Nai Palm pulled through the situation with the same fearless style she approaches music and life in general. “She's doing great,” he says.
“She's remarkably good at dealing with major drama. As a band, as humans, we all tend to get caught up more so in the minute dramas that can be very distracting, annoying and irritating, but when some sort of huge adversity like that occurs she deals with it really well.”
With Nai Palm back in her rightful place at the helm of the band, Hiatus Kaiyote push on with work on a new album, which will be their third studio record and their first since 'Choose Your Weapon' in 2015. “There's a bunch of music on there that's in a pretty well finished state,” he says.
“The hard thing with albums is that nothing is quite finished until all of it is finished and you've decided that's the album and it all goes together like that, the sequence and the shape of it. I definitely believe that it contains our deepest work yet; it definitely has our deepest work on an emotional level, which is great.”
