When musicians from The Dandy Warhols, The Galvatrons, and Lazy Sons came together, great things were always going to happen. From these bands and a few more we get Immigrant Union, a rock act that inspires nostalgia with their new double A-side single. I caught up with the band’s Bob Harrow to chat about that release, the album to come, and what’s next for this exciting new band.
Your new double A-side single features a cover of the old Cheech & Chong song “Up in Smoke.” What inspired you to put your stamp on the song?
Thats always a fun one to pull out at cap fires, and we dig Cheech and Chong. We dont really play too many covers, but that one was we felt we had a nice spin on and at the end of the day it’s a dark song. We like dark songs.
The other song on the single is an original called “Oregon.” Why did you decide to release that song to the public?
That’s a song that was written before we travelled to Portland, Oregon, to record our album. It’s a good song to drink beer to, and it encourages dancing. As well as this, it might be the darkest song on the album. It’s interesting writing songs that can get people dancing but lyrically are quite dark.
Your band features members of so many other acts, including The Dandy Warhols and The Galvatrons. How did you all find one another?
Brent (Dandy Warhols) and I met at the Cherry Bar on AC/DC Lane in Melbourne around seven years ago. Basically we became good mates over strumming guitar and digging on the same type of music. Five or so years later when Brent relocated to Australia we thought, “Heck we better start a band.” I had known Gamma from the Galvatrons for years. He is one of those ridiculous musicians who can play and sing super well, so I called him up and that was that.
You’re releasing your first album in April. What can you tell me about it?
It’s a culmination of songs written in our good friend Val’s backyard in Melbourne. We wanted to make a record that could be versatile in different situations, for example putting it on at a party or have it playing on your headphones whilst drifting off to sleep on a plane to Amsterdam. We like to call it psychedelic campfire core music.
You recorded the album at The Trench. What made you decide to head to Portland, Oregon to lay it down?
Portland is one of the coolest places in the world. We have a strong affiliation with that city because Brent hails from there. We were given the opportunity and once that happened there really was no decision to be made.
You worked with acclaimed producer Gregg Williams on this disc. What did he bring to your sound?
Gregg was killer in the studio. He liked to use traditional recording methods. However he has done much work with The Dandy Warhols, so he also had some cool modern tricks up his sleeve. I think overall Gregg bought a beautiful big dreamy sound to our record. I am very happy with what he did, and on a side note he has funny-arse sense of humour!
You worked at such a frenetic pace, recording 14 songs in 14 days. Why do you think it all came together so easily?
Yeah, we kind of just jumped in head first. I think as a band we knew we just had to get the songs down, and then after that deal with nuances in the mixing mastering process. Our ‘American’ band were incredible at what they did and we basically gave them free range to do what they wanted with their instruments. We all get along really well, and enjoy getting excited about things together. Even if it’s just one tiny little note that Jessie played on his mandolin or a $2.35 sandwich from the deli up the street from The Trench. I think that’s important in things running smoothly.
I’ve heard your music described in the same breath as Neil Young and Bob Dylan. How does it make you feel when you hear comparisons like that?
Cool.
If you could model your career on that of any other musician, who would it be and why?
I’d model it on musicians who are able to consistently able to change their sound and or genre. For me that is art; art moves. Dudes like Zappa and Dylan do/did that. Dylan got booed in ’66 for going electric, and people now think that was ridiculous. However I’ve seen people boo and walk out of his shows in recent times because his songs sound different. Those people will eventually realise how cool it is that he is able to progress and rearrange, or they won’t, whatever. But yeah, I really dig people that can do that well.
After this album drops, what’s next for Immigrant Union?
We have been writing for album number two for a while now. We are very excited about getting back into the studio for that one. It’s going to be a little different from the first, so as soon as we get time that is what we are going to do. Apart from that, touring and shows.
Image used with permission from Longtime Listener