You’ve got to admire Evermore’s Peter Hume. He was up late entertaining crowds at the launch of the band’s new album Truth of the World: Welcome to the Show, yet the next morning at 9 am he was calling me for a chat. He might have been little sleepy, but he was happy to talk about his ambitious new recording.
You had your album launch in Sydney last night. How did that go?
Really well, really well. It was the first time we’ve had basically the whole thing together, the whole show, all our screens and all new songs, it was cool. It was great to see, I think a few people were surprised.
Is it hard fronting up for interviews first thing in the morning after a big night like that?
This is the first one so you’ll have to bear with me a little bit.
I’ve heard so many music critics say that the concept album is dead, yet your new album Truth of the World: Welcome to the Show definitely falls into the concept album category. What made you decide to record this epic piece of music?
I think we’ve always loved ambitious music, and we’ve especially always loved albums we’ve grown up on like Pink Floyd and The Who. We’ve never just thought it was about three-and-a-half minute songs. Our very first record, Dreams, was going to be a concept album. We just really didn’t have the experience to finish it. We wanted to make an album that really excited us, and that really stretched us as songwriters. And it seemed like a good idea, especially when you’ve got multiple songwriters in the band to have a story or a structure that you can all contribute to.
You’ve had such success with radio-friendly singles in the past. Did you ever worry about alienating your audience by producing something so different?
Not really. I suppose you don’t think about that at the time. I suppose we were just really getting into music again. We’d moved down to Melbourne, and we’d built our own studio, and Jon was producing the record, and it was just the three of us hanging out. We were just having a lot of fun. I hope that gets across in the album. I don’t think that so far it’s alienated anybody, but we’ll wait and see.
You mentioned that your brother Jon produced the album this time around. It was the first time that you haven’t worked with producers outside the band. What was it like having him on that side of things?
Oh, great. Jon’s always done a lot of the production for the last three records. We do a lot of it in Australia, or in New Zealand for the first record, and then we’d finish it off in America with a name producer. I think every album we’ve wanted Jon to produce, but this is the first time they’ve let us! I suppose it’s sort of a big thing, especially when you’re younger, to go “Yeah, you can produce the whole thing.” They’re all kind of worrying how it’ll turn out. But we were confident. We know his abilities.
You offered the first single from the album as a free download. When so many musicians are against free music online, what made you decide to just give the single away?
We really just wanted to get it out there. We really wanted people to hear our new sound, and as many people as possible, not necessarily people who had ever thought of buying an Evermore single.
How important is the internet as a promotional tool these days?
The internet is huge. We’ve got a really good online community on our website, and on our MySpace and things like that. We used that from really early on. It’s probably the best way to find out about new music. I think that’s how most people find out about new music, through MySpace and things like that.
I can’t imagine ever working with my sisters. What’s it like being in a band with your brothers?
It’s pretty easy actually, because you’ve got that experience behind you. There’s a lot of room for forgiveness. People always ask us that, and I don’t really know because I haven’t had any other experience. I think all bands are slightly kind of claustrophobic. They’re full on things because you’re hanging out with each other all the time. So being family doesn’t seem to be that much of a stretch.
You left New Zealand to pursue your music career in Australia. Was that a hard decision?
I don’t think we made the decision at the time. We couldn’t afford to fly back! We got offered some shows in Australia and we were just like “Well we’re just going to live in Australia, sleep on people’s floors, and see what happens.” I think maybe if we’d had heaps of money we would have gone backwards and forwards for a while. But I think we really fell in love with living here and I don’t think we’re moving for the moment.
You guys have enjoyed such success with your music. What keeps you grounded?
I suppose being a band with your brothers keeps you pretty grounded, because they’ve known you since you were a toddler. I think that would probably be a big grounding experience.
When are you planning on getting out and touring this album?
Really soon hopefully. I think we’re going to be announcing a tour in the next couple of weeks. It’s a kind of multimedia show we’re playing. The giant screens from the video clips are coming along with us. It’ll be a lot of fun.
And finally, do you have a message for your Australian fans out there?
We look forward to seeing you all on the road!
Image used with permission from Warner Music Australia