A year since releasing their acclaimed, debut album, ‘Humdrum Star’, Brisbane sextet Mosman Alder are still finding new fans in unlikely places.
“You can never tell where it’s going to come from,” violinist Robyn Dawson says. “I had a friend send us an email the other day saying she was really hungover at work and the only thing getting her through was the album… that and when kids like it.
"When kids like it you’re on to something; kids and drunk people, they’re the ones who love it the most effortlessly – there’s no pretence with them,” she laughs.
“We’re the Hong Kong of bands; there’s no space, we’re on top of each other.”
The band recently released their latest video for the song ‘Golden Archers’, which was directed by Adam Webb and features Toby Meadows, both prominent members of Contortionist Studios. “The song itself is beautiful,” Robyn says.
“I love the way it builds and it’s quite an ambiguous song. The imagery is really strong and unusual in that it’s not linear, it doesn’t just tell a story but there is definitely a storytelling aspect to it. It’s a beautiful soundscape that song, I love it and I think the video goes so well with it.
“It was probably the closest we’ve worked with other people for a video, definitely. We were much more involved in this than we have in many of the others… [the video] becomes grotesque but it’s almost comical towards the end which I really enjoy.”
With six members playing multiple instruments as well as singing, Robyn says the most important part of keeping Mosman Alder tight and cohesive as a group is the careful management of musical space within the compositions. “It’s not always an easy feat but I think the main thing we’ve learnt over the years is that managing space is extremely important... definitely the management of space in the band with those different, varied instruments.”
However, when it comes to personal space in the band, there’s a slightly different story to be told. “Oh no, there’s none of that,” Robyn laughs, “we’re pretty much in the Hong Kong of bands; there’s no space, we’re on top of each other.”
In November, Mosman Alder will help the New Globe Theatre celebrate the venue’s second birthday with a massive show that Robyn says will be huge, with a set-list featuring brand new, never-before-heard material accompanied by stunning, original visuals. “We’re really excited.
"It’s our first lot of shows we’ve done since our album tour, just as a gig and not a fundraiser, and we’ve never played at The [New] Globe. Well, I’m almost positive we’ve never played at The [New] Globe, definitely not since it changed hands anyway, so [I’m] looking forward to checking it out as a musician.
“The show will definitely be a mixture – predominantly songs off ‘Humdrum Star’, but we’ll definitely be doing some EP songs and we’ve been working on some new stuff as well, which I’m very excited to be playing.
"We’ve got some visuals from our lovely photographer Kate Sullivan who’s just one of those wizards with everything. So we’ll be bringing everything into that I think, just hit every one hard.”
Mosman Alder play New Globe Theatre’s second birthday party 6 November.
