Port Macquarie indie-rock trio Royal Chant start their year with the release of a new EP entitled 'Pride & Poverty'.
The new record was recorded and produced completely independently under the guidance of their former drummer Josh Thompson prior to his permanent departure form the group, as frontman Mark Spence explains.
“It was going to be our third LP, which was going to be really exciting,” Mark says.
“Our former drummer – he left the band a little over two months ago – he was producing the record. We had really great results with the first three singles, they got a really good reception.
“We were working on the album and as soon as the vocals were done he announces he's leaving the band. It was a bit of a shock, but the next time I saw him he hands me the final mixes of the record.”
With their sights set on releasing the new material as their next full-length album, upon listening to the mixes Mark said he could tell straight away that the songs weren't quite at the level he wanted them to be.
“The album was good but it wasn't where we wanted to be with it, so we kept five of the best tracks – three we'd already released and two more from the last batch of songs – then we put together two more songs I had done on my own that are a bit more acoustic or anti-folk.
“Then all of a sudden, once we stumbled on the idea to make it a really strong EP, it really made a lot more sense because as an album it just wasn't there.
“I really cared about a lot of these songs so I thought it was worth saving them and doing them later, and that's what we're doing right now actually. Those songs we saved and held back, we're re-recording them and they're going to go on the next record.”
An American expatriate, Mark is carefully manoeuvring the band through the shifting landscape of independent music in Australia from their base in Port Macquarie with moderate success.
Royal Chant will celebrate the release of 'Pride & Poverty' with a January-February tour that will have them play several dates across Western Australia and New South Wales including Dicey Riley's in Wollongong, which Mark says will be a long-awaited first.
“I wouldn't know how else to say it except we're very excited.
“We've actually got one of my old friends from America coming in to play the first two legs of the tour on drums. We're playing venues that we like with bands that we like and revisiting some old stomping grounds that have always been receptive to us.
“We've never played a show at Dicey's; I've been a viewer there but it's only been the past few years that we've been playing Wollongong. I'm very excited to make our first appearance there; we consider Wollongong one of our favourite stops now.”
'Pride & Poverty' is available now.
Royal Chant Tour Dates
Thu 25 Jan - Lass O'Gowrie (Newcastle)Fri 26 Jan - The Townie (Sydney)
Sat 27 Jan - Dicey Riley's (Wollongong)
Thu 1 Feb - Defectors Bar (Perth)
Fri 2 Feb - Bassendean Hotel (Perth)
Sat 3 Feb - The Fire Station (Busselton)
Sun 4 Feb - Mojo's Bar (Perth)
