They thought they might never be able to do it, but two-piece rock band ROI and their bass-heavy, guitar-absent sound are launching their brand new record this May.
Matt Schrader and Barnaby 'Barney' Gickel, or ROI, are releasing their debut ten-track album, 'August City', just two days before their Brisbane gig. Though with their collaborative layering of looped bass guitar, synths and a variety of vocalists, the duo initially had doubts about getting to stage their project.
Forming the band just a few years ago, the pair had been working on a variety of musical projects and rock bands together. Though swarmed by the overwhelming guitar focus, the men believed their basslines were strong enough to stand on their own. "We don't need to have 96 layers of guitars over the top of us like all the heavy rock bands we've been in. That's partly why we wanted to branch off," Matt laughs.
'August City' was born from a jumble of jam sessions after previous band rehearsals and in Barney's bedroom with a loop pedal, video camera and Matt's talent for song cutting. Though the boys finally found their groove, and "fell away into the trance of the moment" in a one-take recording session. "We just went into my mate's house studio, and we did four days and nights straight. We slept in there and everything, and pulled a whole bunch of ideas out together," Matt reminisces.
Their second single, 'Maths And Engineering', was released earlier this year and has begun to make waves on local and national radio stations, with reviewers and listeners alike expressing a deep, personal connection with the song's lyrical content.
For many, the mellow yet hard-hitting track has captured and often torn apart their hearts, as the lyrics follow the real story of a young Brisbane lad dealing with a trauma. Though the track is a little different from a lot of the duo's work, it has been described as being 'heart-shatteringly normal' with the tying together of simplistic piano and the haunting and somewhat soothingly familiar vocals of Stephen Ryan (Good Oak).
Each of the songs from 'August City' depict very similar, real stories from a wide range of people, as the duo approached each of their vocalists to not only perform on their tracks, but write the lyrical content as well. However, 'Maths And Engineering' was not entirely written by Stephen, as the true story was gifted to him by a Brisbane friend for lyrical use, around the time that Matt sent Stephen the musical recording.
Though Matt now laughs that the main reason for their vocal collaborations was due to the pair's complete singing inabilities, the result is simply astounding. "We went on a search for vocalists and picked a whole bunch of people that we really liked, and never met or worked with before," he says. "It made us far less comfortable with people… and [challenged] us to meet people and expand ourselves in that way, a creative way as well as a professional way."
The collaborative project will culminate at the boys' hometown launch gig, playing 40 minutes of smooth, rhythm-based rock without break. "Without sounding too cocky, we nailed it the first time we did it. So we're really confident now and really pushing to play everywhere… With vocalists coming on and off, the singers aren't the focal point, which is very different for a rock show," Matt says.
ROI launch 'August City' at The Brightside (Brisbane) 22 May.
