Heartbreak Club is back, with a new single ‘Are You Leaving Me?’ hitting stores in September and their debut album on the way. To celebrate, the lads will give their fans a sneak peek of the new songs at shows around the country. I recently caught up with the band’s lead singer to chat about the tour, the single, and what comes next.
You’re heading back on the road again to promote your new single and forthcoming album. Are you looking forward to road testing your new material?
Actually, we road-tested the new material before we went into the studio with a regional mini-tour of places we didn’t make it to on our last national tour. The experience was really beneficial as we got a lot of feedback (both directly from fans, and also from general reception and spontaneous reactions). We felt that having already bounced the songs off of a live audience we could arrange them appropriately in the studio, rather than record the album first and then regret the arrangements if/when people thought they sucked.
The short answer however is we’re absolutely champing at the bit, as it were, to get back on the road an tour the new material
You’re touring for a massive nine weeks this time. How on earth do you amuse yourself travelling all over the country for that long?
You know, I really don’t know how to quantify that fully! I mean, the nine-weeks-on-road thing says it all. Are we stupid? Are we stubborn? (Probably a little of column A, a little of column B). Playing a good show to a responsive crowd is always ‘enough amusement.’ That and each tour we do, we try and get to at least a couple of places we’ve never played or been before.
What do you miss most when you’re on the road for an extended period?
Depends what kind of travelling we’re doing, but usually it’s in a van, so we miss our own beds and not having to constantly have the aroma of dudes around you.
You’re playing plenty of capital cities and regional centres in that time. Are there any places you’re particularly excited about visiting?
We’re headed to Townsville and Cairns, which is the furthest north we’re been before, so that’s grouse. Also, regional Victoria we haven’t explored enough of yet, so I’m looking forward to the Warrnambool gig.
I mentioned you’re promoting your new single “Are you Leaving Me?” I hear it’s about male narcissism and ego. Was it inspired by anyone in particular?
Haha, well, perhaps in the most literal aspect of the male narcissism/ego bit, it’s based on me. Or at least a fear of what could happen if I didn’t keep my ‘male narcissism’ in check. So, yeah, I guess what I am saying is I have this deep-seeded fear I’m an obsessive jerk. Don’t worry, I hate me too.
The song’s from your debut album, which will be released next year. I hear it’s a little darker than your previous EPs. What’s influenced that change in your sound?
Self-reflection and evaluation; musically and personally. There wasn’t much more we could do with the whole tongue-in-cheek thing, particularly enough to last a whole album, so that was a factor. Also, this may sound obtuse, but personally I have recently been more inspired by the writing in the TV shows I have been watching than by music. Shows like Entourage, Deadwood, The Wire, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer are good examples. There was an aspiration to layer the new songs as much as these shows do with their topics – none of them are limited by genre per se; they can all have moments of humour, drama, satire and sympathy. Similarly, I hope the album captures a sense of that.
Also, we had been listening to some of favourite albums (Pinkerton, In Utero, etc) and they have darker edges. It felt right.
Oh, and the zeitgeist answer is: Global Financial Crisis made us do it.
You’ve recorded a couple of EPs before this album. Did you approach the long-play format any differently?
Absolutely. I think it’s fair to say EPs are often grounds for experimentation and finding your feet. An album, I think, should be a 30-40 minute snapshot of what a band is about, or where they’re at – short enough to delve into their core elements, long enough to showcase the peripherals without distracting from said core. Further, with the new album (which, incidentally, has been titled Our Horse Is Dead) has a thematic arch throughout, which the flow of the songs is meant to convey. It not a Green Day rock-opera by any means, but there are similar traits – linking songs, several motifs etc.
I hear you recorded the album in February or March, but we have to wait until next year to hear it. Why so long?
Honestly, we had ‘to get our shit together’ before we started dropping singles (aside: that term ‘dropping singles’ sounds like a gross euphemism to me … anyone? Or is it just me with my mind in the gutter?). The album was expensive! That, and we didn’t want to just put the album out willy-nilly (again, anyone?); we needed to build up some anticipation, some ‘hype.’ We need to get some mileage out of the album, and naturally we want to expose as many people (OK, I’ll stop now) to the new material as possible. I do however agree the wait is long.
You worked with Ed Rose on the album. Now he also produced your O Tempora! O Mores! EP. What was it like to get together with him again?
It was great, and way better than OTOM session. Not to say that OTOM session wasn’t fun, it was great experience, but the different this time was a superior studio (Sing Sing, and Sing Sing South), additional and awesome crew (engineer Matt Voigt and studio assistant Alex Beck), the greater amount of time, better songs, greater pre-production, and a cheerful and laid-back attitude. Having already got to know him from the previous session, there were no social-training-wheels days also. I think the album reflects the fun we had.
After this tour, what’s next for the Heartbreak Club?
Plan the next national tour to coincide with the album release. There’s talk of another US tour in 2010 also, which would be rad.
You can see Heartbreak Club at the following venues around the country. More regional tour dates will be announced soon.
28 August 2009 – Hard Rock Cafe, Gold Coast
29 August 2009 – The Jubilee, Brisbane
30 August 2009 – Empire Church, Toowoomba (All ages – 2pm)
2 September 2009 – Rubys Lounge, Belgrave
3 September 2009 – The Tote, Melbourne
9 September 2009 – The Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle
10 September 2009 – Bull & Bush, Sydney
11 September 2009 – Candy’s Apartment, Sydney
19 September 2009 – The Underground, Adelaide
20 September 2009 – We Are Godzilla In Store, Adelaide (All ages – Free)
Image used with permission from AAA Entertainment