With the likes of Kylie Auldist. Mojo Juju, Hiatus Kaiyote, The Bamboos and The Cat Empire pushing the soul-music bandwagon, Melbourne band Saskwatch are ready to strike while the iron is hot with a 30-date national tour.
You'll be on and off the road for four months to start 2016 with 30 live dates; excited about the tour?
(Liam McGorry) Totally. Playing live is the best part about being in a band, so I can't wait to get back out there.
The tour will also see you traverse a large chunk of regional Australia; how important is it, getting to these rural areas?
It's very important to us. When we play in more rural areas, the crowds are great and people come up to us after the show and implore us to come back. Obviously more often than not they don't get the same volume and variety as we do in the big cities and the people we've encountered love live music and want to see more of it.
Life on the road for Saskwatch... what is it like? How do you keep things light, fresh?
It's pretty good. Touring is pretty taxing but I think everyone has learnt how to survive on tour in their own way.
And who's the band member who hates travelling the most?
Probably me. I'm not great with travel, but the shows make up for it!
You started out busking outside of Flinders Street station; how does it feel to go from that scenario to a 30-date national tour?
Yeah, that was a while ago now. Six or seven years ago we were really just a jam band trying to make some extra cash for the weekend, not even thinking about being a 'band' or anything that entails. It's pretty amazing that we're still playing to be honest, and I would never have dreamed we'd be doing our biggest tour yet in 2016.
Has your approach to music – creating it etc. - changed since those early days?
So much. We literally played our favourite funk/ soul/ jazz covers and nothing else at our first few shows and to be honest it kinda sucked, but we really made a concerted effort early on to rehearse every week to get better and write our own songs and it's something we've stuck to for about five years now. Personally, I guess writing wise I started writing because no one else could be bothered and now it's become my favourite thing ever, so playing in a band is strange.
Your latest album, 'Sorry I Let It Come Between Us', was recorded at Mt. Slippery near Philadelphia in the US, which was once a Silversmith mill. What interested you about that location/ studio?
It was 100 per cent Dr Dog and in particular Scott McMicken. We've loved Dr Dog for years now. Their whole ethos really. Songs. Production. Playing. We reached out to see if Scott would be interested in working on the album with us and luckily he said yes.
Did the location/ travel to the US lead to a different sound than your previous two albums?
Yeah definitely, although we had a similar cabin-fever-like experience recording 'Nose Dive' in outback Queensland; this time, we recorded the album in a warehouse in a 24/ 7 delirium state over two weeks. The sound was different due to a guy called Nathan Sabatino. Together with Scott, Nathan really brought a different sound to the recording – together with Dr Dog's wealth of musical gear and Nathan and Scott's unique, studio techniques.
What was it like to work with Dr Dog?
It was great. Dr Dog are seriously one of my favourite bands and Scott is one of my favourite songwriters, so it was pretty scary on that level too. The 'cabin fever' thing was pretty full on too, though it was like zero degrees outside so we rarely left the warehouse.
How do you think your music has evolved during your career?
Hopefully it's not getting worse. I think, as a band, we're on a pretty good path at the moment and we're gradually defining our own sort of style. It's never ending though I think.
Industry commentators have called your style 'soul with pop elements'. Do you see your music as beyond classification?
I don't think we're beyond classification, but I think the genre thing is a bit broad.
Australia's soul scene seems strong with the likes of Kylie Auldist. Mojo Juju, Hiatus Kaiyote, The Harpoons, The Bamboos... can you pinpoint why so many young, soul acts have emerged recently?
I think soul music is great music. Its musical aspects are fun and its subject matter is generally pretty universal. Everyone can generally relate to feeling good or heartbreak, but also there are so many talented Australian musicians and songwriters at the moment. Bands like The Bamboos, The Cat Empire and Dynamo have influenced us and I'm sure many others. More importantly it's great live music.
All of your album covers have wonderfully retro designs, what made you go with that sort of aesthetic? Do you use the same designer?
'Sorry I Let It...' And 'Nose Dive' we're both done by Jason Galea who's also done some clips for us too. Lucy Dyson did the amazing collage for 'Leave It All Behind'. With both Jason and Lucy, we just love what they do so they've always come up with very beautiful and very different work.
The next six, twelve months for Saskwatch; what does the crystal ball say about the band's future?
Hopefully another album and more touring! Love to get back overseas again.
Saskwatch will start a massive, 30-date national tour in Melbourne on 21 January taking in every capital city plus major regional centres. Click here for dates. They also play OzFest at Miami Tavern 23 January (Gold Coast) and Waterfront Hotel 24 January (Sunshine Coast).
