Despite having their debut album at their fingertips over the past two years, Melbourne indie-rock band Tiny Little Houses have been holding on to a handful of tracks in a bid to ensure ‘Idiot Proverbs’ was as strong as possible.
“We essentially recorded an album in January 2016 and we ended up scrapping around six of the songs, and it turned into an EP ‘Snow Globe’,” frontman Caleb Karvountzis explains.
"So then, there was just a backlog of songs. We didn’t end up making that album because we just felt like it wasn’t going to be strong enough.
“When we went into the studio with our producer Steve Schram last May, we wanted to try and write something that was quite confident, something that sounded big. And I definitely think Steve helped us do that.”
‘Idiot Proverbs’ wryly reflects on the confusion of life in your teens or 20-somethings, finding your place among the chaos and falling short of your (and others) expectations.
“The themes are essentially about growing up and not taking yourself too seriously,” Caleb says.
"I feel like a lot of people have a lot of valid points of view. From the boomers to millennials.”
“Some of it’s more serious, some of it’s less serious. I’m personally trying to find a balance between the two, and find the humour in life and in myself. And that’s kind of what ended up coming across in the record.”
Single ‘Entitled Generation’ has already made an impression, added to regular rotations on radio stations and creating plenty of noise online.
The song explores similar themes to those in previous hit ‘Garbage Bins’ as Caleb questions the arguable shortcomings of Generation Y & Z. “I don’t subscribe to politics, but I’m very interested in society, and I feel like a lot of people have a lot of valid points of view.
"From the boomers to millennials. I was trying to write a song that summed up feeling a little bit trapped and bamboozled by it all, and I didn’t want to take any sides on it, and I hope that came out. That’s what I intended,” he laughs.
While Caleb’s the primary songwriter for Tiny Little Houses, he insists it’s the band that ensures he doesn’t recycle the same ideas a million times over. “It’s hard, because you can get in your own head and you can have a hundred different versions of the same song.
"But when you take it to other people, they tell you what needs to change, and then suddenly, you’re getting somewhere with it and it progresses and it solidifies.”
‘Idiot Proverbs’ was written from an entirely different perspective on life, according to Caleb; he says he was in a totally different place while composing. “Right now, I feel very happy, but when I wrote it, I probably wasn’t all that happy; I lost a friend.
“And I think having those experiences gave me a little bit of a kick up the bum, it made me have a hard look at myself and that’s a positive thing. Now, I feel quite liberated, it’s like I can let go of those songs.
"Hopefully people will listen to the album and think ‘yeah, I’m in a bad place. But it gets better.'”
‘Idiot Proverbs’ is available now.
Tiny Little Houses Tour Dates
Sat 24 Feb – Karova Lounge (Ballarat)Fri 2 Mar – Corner Hotel (Melbourne)
Sat 3 Mar – Republic Bar (Hobart)
Thu 8 Mar – Strawberry Boogie @ Wollongong Uni Bar
Fri 9 Mar – Oxford Art Factory (Sydney)
Sat 10 Mar – The Brightside (Brisbane)
Fri 16 Mar – Jack Rabbit Slims (Perth)
Sat 17 Mar – Fat Controller (Adelaide)
