Interview with Ocean Alley.

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Interview with Ocean Alley.

Written by: Parry Tritsiniotis
Ocean Alley: 
Mitch and Angus
 

1.     Firstly, congrats on the killer singles and the completion of what will be an absolutely killer album. Did you know ‘Confidence’ is currently the favourite to win the triple j hottest 100 on sportsbet? Nah, we didn't know that. Probably should put some coin on that one. Would be paying more than the trots for sure.
 

2.     Personally, I feel your song-writing as a band has really become even better than it already was across your new singles. What skills do you guys believe you’ve most improved in the making of Chiaroscuro? We spent more time this record in the studio recording the tracks and finishing some writing. It felt good to have more time to get things done rather than feeling a bit rushed like the last record Lost Tropics, which we recorded in just over a week. So I guess we have improved or streamlined our recording process which I think is a product of a little more experience this time around.

 

3.     Throughout your vast discography, you’ve kept your sound pretty consistent to your awesome surf-rock meets reggae vibe. What do you think is the biggest change sonically on Chiaroscuro? The main difference would be more focus on the individual instrument tones which we tried to vary throughout this album. We have also worked on giving the sounds more space by focusing on the arrangement of each track. 'The Comedown' is a good example of this.

 

4.     I love how you lads maintain this laid-back vibe whilst simultaneously putting great effort into writing really personal lyrics. What are your thoughts on the value of meaningful lyrics in your music and across different types of music? Lyrics are important but I think to be most effective they need to be accompanied by meaning, as well as emotive music. Baden and Lach write the lyrics and the rest of us lads focus a lot on providing a complimentary feel sonically. We don't think too hard about what we are creating nor do we censor much as we are writing. By doing it this way, I think it lets our 'vibe' shine through.

 

5.     As a big band releasing music pretty consistently, how do you begin your writing process and how do you ensure that everyone in the group is creatively pleased throughout the process? Again it's a pretty laid back method we take to write music. A group jam and a few ideas brought to the table act as a catalyst to creating a new song. Once we are all happy with the direction of an idea we each write our own parts to play. It feels comfortable playing something that you yourself have written. The process is democratic and everyone's input is welcome and I think that's a major factor in our unique sound; there's a little bit of each of us in each track.

 

6.     It feels like it has been a long time coming for Ocean Alley’s big breakout, you lads have a heap of touring experience and sizeable discography under your belt. Do you think this experience and your early fan base gives the band a competitive advantage before being thrown out onto the big stages? We've been playing live for 6 years now and it's just been a gradual progression of playing bigger stages and to bigger audiences. We've slowly gathered experience and more fans so it's felt like a natural progression. Our first fan base of friends from around where we live definitely helped us to sell tickets to our local shows when we first started. That's why we keep writing music, to perform to our wonderful fans!

 

7.     With that in mind, how are you anticipating the release of your album Chiaroscuro and your massive upcoming tour around Australia?  We are looking forward to spending time off work and on the road instead. These are our biggest shows to date so it should be a good party!

 

8.     The Ocean Alley sound is so unique and wouldn’t be done justice by categorising it into a specific genre. With such an individual sound, which other artists do you consider your peers? We all have different tastes in music and we all write together as a group so I think that could be a reason why our sound is not easy to label under one genre. We don't try and write our music to sound like any specific style. It kinda just comes out how it is.

 

9.     How much credit do you give to your upbringing on Sydney’s North Shore in impacting your overall artistic direction? Not much to be honest. I think if we grew up in let's say Dubbo the music would sound pretty similar. Our artistic direction is more of a product of each of the members and our musical tastes.

 

10.  On a similar note, you’re really candid on social media and come across as a bunch of extremely great, relatable blokes. Do you think that being yourselves has been a key part of your success, and has it been more of a strategic choice or occurred naturally? Definitely occurred naturally. Again we don't think too hard about much we just show people what we are actually like. It's easy that way instead of trying to fabricate a story or a look, that takes too much effort.

 

11.  Coming off the back of a pretty big set of Europe dates (recap video was legendary), what do you think are the main differences between Australian and international crowds and overall tour experiences? The language barrier stitched us up a bit while we were in Europe. I think the crowds are kinda similar. We saw the same kinda heads in Europe as we see here in Australia. We played a whole bunch of different shows in Europe too. Some cafes, small stages, big stages, festivals, markets and music venues so for each of those places you get a different experience but nothing too shocking for us.

 

12.   Is there anything specific that the Australian music industry does well/could improve on compared to the overseas circuits now that you have experienced them first hand? I don't think we have a strong opinion on that either way. Except to say that the beers in Europe are too warm and have too much head. As longs as we have some cold frothies in hand, be it here or overseas, we are happy boys.

 

13.  What does it mean to you to be playing the prestigious Enmore Theatre in your home town of Sydney? It definitely means a lot. We have played plenty of small rooms in Sydney and also the Metro Theatre last year. But to move up to the Enmore is great! We can't thank the fans who have already bought tickets enough and we plan to put on a ripper show. We have big plans for this big stage, don't you worry.

 

14.  Lastly, Lost Tropics was extremely well received and very successful. What are your goals for the release of Chiaroscuro? Thanks heaps for the chat, hope to see you guys at your Enmore show! Well let's just keep it short and sharp and say that we hope it's extremely well received and very successful. But best let the audience decide that ay.

 

Chiaroscuro is out this Friday 9 March independently via UNIFIED Music Group, available to pre-order here.


Ocean Alley are touring nationally throughout April and May, tickets are on sale now via oceanalley.com.au

Saturday 14 April – The Tivoli, Brisbane
Saturday 21 April – The Enmore, Sydney
Friday 27 April – Groovin The Moo, Wayville
Saturday 28 April – Groovin The Moo, Maitland
Sunday 29 April – Groovin The Moo, Canberra
Saturday 5 May – Groovin The Moo, Bendigo
Sunday 6 May – Groovin The Moo, Townsville
Friday 11 May – Metropolis, Fremantle
Saturday 12 May – Groovin The Moo, Bunbury
Saturday 19 May – The Forum, Melbourne

 

 

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