Melbourne four-piece ME will be releasing their debut album ‘Even The Odd Ones Out’ on Lizard King Records on 25 January 2013.
Undercover.fm caught up with frontman Luke Ferris (voice, guitar, piano) to talk about what's new in the world of ME.
UC: Congratulations on your Big Day Out 2013 national spot! How did that come about? Did you approach them or did they approach you guys?
Luke: Thanks very much, we're super excited about the slot at BDO. We've been touring the UK and Europe in the last 18 months and things have been progressing along well. We decided to come back to Aus for the summer festival season and wanted to play some home coming shows after such a time abroad. Our bookers here in Aus have been pushing us hard to promoters and festivals and we were lucky enough to score BDO.
UC: A second congratulations on the forthcoming release of your debut album. Making a brand new album is cause for pride no matter who you are or what you play. What about the new album "Even The Odd Ones Out" makes your heart beat fast and/or gives you goose bumps?
Luke: Cheers again! We're quite proud of the album and it's the culmination of our best songs since forming the band 5 years ago. I don't get the goose bumps so much anymore in that we recorded it a year ago and have listened to it way too many times. When we were listening back to the first mixes there were definitely moments of goose bumps and heart flutters. The first two tracks gave me those sensations. Hoo Ha and Trails in the Sky. We're quite proud of those ones.
UC: You have a bunch of eclectic influences ranging from Led Zepplin to Philip Glass, are these influences shared amongst band members or are they examples of what each individual in the band is influenced by?
Luke: Some. We all like Led Zep, The Beatles and Radiohead. Artists like Phillip Glass are more particular to the classical lovers of the band. We all enjoy a vast range of different styles and all have very varied influences. I guess this is shown through the bands sound and is quite evident on this album. We all like to bring something different to the table when sit down to arrange a song.
UC: You guys formed in 2008, how did you get together?
Luke: Damian wanted to start a band of epic proportions. He met Mikey at a festival outside Melbourne and they started jamming together. I moved from Brisbane and was looking to form a band aswell. I found Damian through Myspace and Melband while researching bands to check out in Melbourne music scene. The band pretty much started then with another drummer who was fired soon after. While drummer less we had a 6 month painful wait until we found Spike, the perfect drummer.
UC: In a very rock n roll lifestyle kinda way you guys split your time between the U.K and Australia. How do you finance that lifestyle?
Luke: We're very lucky to have financial support from our label over in the UK and Europe. Once back in Aus, we usually just get by on casual jobs. There's really not that much Rock and Roll lifestyle to it, except that I probably spend too much money on cigarettes and have a rehearsal/recording studio next to my bedroom.
UC: It would seem that not unlike a lot of Aussie bands, you are particularly successful in the U.K and Europe. Is this a good enough incentive for the band to quit Australia altogether and concentrate on the Northern Hemisphere?
Luke: I don't think anyone should quit Australia altogether, especially if your an Australian band. I think it's important to try the hardest on your home turf. Even though it's going a little better over in Europe and Uk, there's no way we're gonna give up on the Australian market. We've built up a little thing over here and still want to give it our best shot. Having said that, if things aren't going so well in your home country, I do recommend getting out and seeing the world and giving your music a shot oversees. There's loads of different territories to build your profile. Australia does have a much smaller population to places like the US, UK, Europe and Canada. These places and countless others have brilliant music scenes. - end
ME are Luke Ferris (voice, guitar, piano), Damian Tapley (lead guitar), Michael Godde (bass) and Spike Rogers (drums).
The record opens with the twisted Hoo Ha ("Mirror, mirror, on the wall, a vain bunch aren't we all"), the band’s feted live opener and a track that really does set the tone of this fully loaded, album. Vampire!! Vampire!! is a straight up, tune about the band’s hatred of reality television culture and specifically its creators. Previous single Rock and Roll Dandy (checkout below) is a catchy homage to past musical glories (or ‘like Suede gone to Download’ according to Q Magazine). Album closer Their Song is the band at their most delicate and gives the album an appropriate happy ending.
The album has been produced by ‘Barny’ Barnicott (Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys, Temper Trap) and Grammy winning engineer Ian Dowling and the full track listing runs as follows: Hoo Ha; Trails In The Sky; Rock and Roll Dandy; Like A Fox; Westward Backwards; Carousel; Working Life; Under The Sun; Vampire!! Vampire!!; Choral; Your Favourite Colour; Their Song.
