I Know Leopard have been spreading their spacey sounds around the country, and the people they have encountered are hungry for more.
Thankfully their appetites will be satisfied as the band will be playing some of their new tracks during the upcoming tour with The Paper Kites. Frontman Luke O'Loughlin explains all. “For the first time we introduced some of the new songs into the set and surprisingly we adapted them quite easily.
“We usually work in the studio first, then learn how to play them live later and sometimes you realise when you start putting them together for the live show that you've kind of done yourself in because you've made everything way to tricky and way to extravagant. This time 'round it seems to have adapted quite well and it turned out way more 'bandy' than we thought.”
Each band member seems to really appreciate the others and this is reflected in their sound. “We try to be really good to each other. We spent so much time together last year on the road, so we're kind of like a little family. We got really excited the other day [at rehearsal] because we've had such a great time on the road.
“Todd and I, who plays guitar, we grew up in Adelaide and about eight years ago we made the move to Sydney because we wanted to expand our horizons musically. We started working on newer songs and we didn't really know what it was going to be for a while, and then it became I Know Leopard.
“I wanted someone to take control of the keys because I wanted to be more of a frontman and be a bit more free live, so my friend told me about Jenny and I was like 'Wow yeah girl vocals would be awesome too, I hope she can sing! That would be a whole new texture added to the project.' And she came in and she was just amazing. Then I was like 'hold on a second, you play violin?' She had brought this violin in one time and it's my dream to have string sections in a song because I love orchestral music.
“With Rosie, it wasn't like we wanted it to be a two-guy, two-girl thing, she was just another friend of a friend and we needed a bass player, but then it turned out to be sweet having dual-girl back-up [vocals]. And she's such an amazing musician and it all came together really neatly and now I couldn't think of it being any other way. I want this to be the line-up forever.”
Though there's no release date for the band's first album, the recording location sounds pretty dreamy. “It's this place down near Ulladulla on the New South Wales south coast. I've been there before with other friends and projects and stuff, and it's just a holiday house but it doesn't really have any neighbours at all. It's around this lake called Burrill Lake and it's just full of wildlife. You're constantly looking out the window, watching pelicans make the most spectacular landings.
“We made a studio in the main living room and used the bedrooms as amp rooms and drum rooms and brought down a bunch of mattresses. We got some amazing drum tones down there.”
Written by Ryan Grice
The Paper Kites Tour Dates
Thu 23 Jun - Enmore Theatre (Sydney)Fri 24 Jun - Athenaeum Theatre (Melbourne)
Sat 25 Jun - The Tivoli Theatre (Brisbane)
Fri 1 Jul - Astor Theatre (Perth)
Sat 2 Jul - Norwood Town Hall (Adelaide)
