New Gods guitarist Adrian Beltrame laughs off the oft-used tag 'Supergroup', which refers to the band members' roots in other successful bands Little Red, Eagle and the Worm, and Ground Components.
“It's a little bit amusing to be honest,” he admits. “I guess it's kind of true that we've come from other bands, but it just kind of makes me laugh a little bit. If you call Led Zeppelin a supergroup, then well you know, we're not that good! We're not famous or anything. But, you know, I hope that our music's gotten better; that's all, really.”
Beltrame and lead singer Dominic Byrne wrapped up with Little Red in early 2012 to focus on New Gods, which Beltrame says reflects the direction they wanted to take their music. “Dom and I, music's sort of a full-time thing for us. [We] wanted to go to another place, and sometimes you have to start again to get somewhere else.”
That new place has been prosperous for the Melbourne five-piece (made up of Beltrame, Byrne, Richard Bradbeer, Sam Raines, and Dale Packard), who, following the release of their debut self-titled EP, have toured Australia supporting the likes of The Rubens, Gypsy and the Cat, and alt-J. A support slot with LA indie group Local Natives will see them bring “really loud” guitars and “a lot of songs [audiences] haven't heard” to Brisbane in May.
Beltrame readily admits that building a working musical bond to replicate the six-year one formed in Little Red has taken some time. “For the type of music we want to make, which is very expressive music, it takes a little bit of time to learn how to play with other people. It's all starting to come together nicely. There were magic moments right from the start, but it was a lesson that I learnt. With the old band, we knew where to go with each other, almost instinctively. Now we can do that with the new band too.”
Although grateful to be playing plenty of shows, Beltrame says the band is keen to focus on finishing and releasing their album. “It shouldn't be too far away,” he says. “And then it would be good to do more touring when it's done, because I like that sort of cycle of being able to just record music and then go out and play on the road. We haven't really had that cycle going properly for a while, so hopefully it can start to happen soon, because I want to play more shows, but we also want to finish our recording, which is maybe more important. To make something that we're really proud of would be the best thing.”
New Gods support Local Natives Dates
May 15 - Metro Theatre, SydneyMay 18 - Forum Theatre, Melbourne
May 19 - The Zoo, Brisbane
