It's been four years since Brisbane band Tape/Off released their debut album, 'Chipper', and now they're back with their sophomore effort 'Broadcast Park'.
Speaking with drummer Branko Cosic, he has a pretty solid explanation for the delay between releases. “When 'Chipper' came out it was a bit of a tough time because I had gone through a nervous breakdown during the making of that record,” Branko says.
“I was recording and mixing it at the same time, so I started biting off more than I could chew back in 2013/ 2104 when working on 'Chipper'.
“And 'Chipper' was a really fragmented process of putting [it] together because all the songs on there were written in bits and pieces underneath my house and I glued it all together to make a cohesive record.”
For 'Broadcast Park', Branko says the writing and recording process was much more enjoyable and fruitful as it was done with the whole band as a joint effort, rather than a solo venture.
“Then in 2015 we all got in a room and started thinking about record number two, and we wrote all the songs for 'Broadcast Park' in a room together. Whereas 'Chipper' was literally bits and pieces recorded in ProTools.
“We kept that all through the process; we recorded the whole record as a band as well underneath our bass player Cam[eron] Smith's house, because he runs Incremental Records from his joint. I mixed it again this time, but it was definitely a much smoother time doing it.”
By working collaboratively and relinquishing responsibility for the recording aspect, Branko says mixing this album became a much more enjoyable experience than the previous one.
“Over time when I was mixing ['Broadcast Park'] I started to like the songs more, whereas with 'Chipper' I was starting to get sick of the songs because I was not a fan of the process and what it was born out of.”
With the release of 'Broadcast Park' on 13 July, Tape/Off undertake their biggest national tour yet, which will see them reach as far as Western Australia for headline shows and also to perform as part of the Revelation Perth International Film Festival's Music Days showcase.
“This is the second time we're going to Western Australia because lots of people have been begging us to come back, but the tough part is we're so far away from each other and we just don't have that much money because we're a band in Brisbane in 2018.
"We're just really proud of the record, so we wanted to try and play it to as many people as possible,” Branko says.
“I'm a film buff, we all are… the next single off 'Broadcast Park is going to be called 'Wake In Fright', which is named after the classic Australian film that came out in 1971.
"We had a song on our second EP called 'Hell Comes To Frogtown', which is a Roddy Piper B-grade film. We're all film buffs so to play Revelation is pretty nuts, pretty awesome.”
'Broadcast Park' is available from 13 July.
Tape/Off Tour Dates
Thu 12 Jul - Prince Of Wales (Bunbury)Fri 13 Jul - Mojos (Fremantle)
Sat 14 Jul - The Boston (Perth)
Fri 20 Jul - Bloodhound Bar (Brisbane)
Sat 21 Jul - Sonic Sherpa (Brisbane)
Thu 26 Jul - Transit Bar (Canberra)
Fri 27 Jul - Marrickville Bowlo (Sydney)
Sat 28 Jul - The Gasometer (Melbourne)
