raave tapes

We cut our teeth on the local house party circuit which meant we had to make some noise to be heard.

Hi Joab and thanks for taking the time out to speak with us at Musicology.

Firstly congratulations on the new track SUDS, A blistering fusion of fuzzed rock and brutal beats. The intensity belies the message of frustration and that of a lack of respect that can be a little lite in societal interactions. Specifically what was it that you were trying to address on this single?

Thank you very much for the kind words. The track aims to shine a light on people using intoxication as an excuse for poor behaviour. In our line of work, too often we see the actions of few ruining the experiences of many. SUDS politely encourages the listener not be passive in these situations & speak up if someone is making you, or the people around you, feel uncomfortable – especially if your friend is the perpetrator. We want everybody to be able to have a super fun time at the rock show, as long as it’s not at the expense of anybody else. Put bluntly don’t be a dickhead please.

A great video clip to accompany the single, it was produced by David Fulham. Did you arrive to David with a strong story board of how you wanted the clip to take shape or was it something of a more organic approach in its construction and delivery?

Ahhh David is an absolute dream, we cannot speak more highly of that fella. Our creative process for clips in the past has always consisted of us handing the director an almost fully formed script & having a clear vision. This time around, we struggled to find the common ground between an idea that treated the theme of the song with respect & ensuring it still had that cheeky sense of RAAVE TAPES personality. When we landed on the final idea (a montage of scenes detailing frustrating everyday things that people do that impact others), we crowd sourced ideas. I put up a Facebook status calling for submissions of said frustrating acts – 300+ comments later & we had a video’s worth of annoying content. Dave then helped us curate the scene selection, we invited a bunch of friends over & he weaved his directorial/editorial magic. Massive thanks again to Dave, you’re the best!

As a three piece, what do you all individually and musically bring to the collective that creates this harmonious triangle of RAAVE TAPES?

Individually: Lindsay drives a 1979 Corvette Stingray, I won the 2015 third grade Newcastle Rugby League Premiership with the Kurri Kurri Bulldogs & Lewis really, really likes Wes Anderson films.

Musically: Lindsay does all the work, I scream at everyone and makes dumb noises, Lewis plays cowbell sometimes. It’s pretty neat. Actually though, I quite often tend to lean on a repetitive guitar ‘hook’, meaning Lindsay is usually stuck carrying the song with her bassline. Our songs usually rely so heavily on the interlocking individual parts of each member that it can make writing pretty difficult without everyone being in the one room. This harmonious triangle is definitely equilateral – no room for obtuse angles ‘round here.

Hailing from Newcastle, how have you found the area to influence your style of music because on one hand it can be a microcosm that has its own set of influencing factors but on the other, completely free from the trends of capital cities or national tendencies?

I think the biggest bearing Newcastle has had on our sound would have emerged from performing at so many house parties in our early days. We cut our teeth on the local house party circuit, which meant we had to make some noise to be heard. The PA systems were never the best, so we had to really scream to be heard – especially over all the fuzz coming from our amps. This is where I developed my high-pitched, shouted vocal style. Shout or be shouted at.

Known for your infectious live shows which bristle with energy and interaction. Is this ideal something that you simply find inherit in your music and the liveliness of your shows are just a by-product of the enthusiasm you all share or is some of it lifted from watching other artists and trying to avoid those lacklustre performances of band members who appear to just be going through the motions on stage?

We play upbeat, dark, glitterly dance-punk. I think we’re pretty much contractually obliged to dance like idiots up there. It’s also a massive by-product of Vodka Red Bull x Espresso Martini’s - go fast juice.

You have just come off the back of some impressive performances, including Groovin The Moo, Festival of the Sun and Mountain Sounds. Can you shares with us any crazy tales from the road and bizarre events that befell you?

Not so crazy, but I think the best thing about playing all of these festivals has been getting the opportunity to meet and form friendships with so many genuinely wonderful people. Then at the next festival it’s like a big family reunion. So nice. We’ve been playing our sets pretty early, so after a few beers we usually end up fawning over acts we admire. I got to meet bloody Paul Kelly ffs.

Having performed with so many different artists over the past year and having met so many interesting characters, were there any words of wisdom spoken to you that really resonated with you and has altered the way you approach your craft?

Not so much words of wisdom, but just watching how damned hard some of these musician’s grind has definitely inspired me to knuckle down.

During our ‘k bye’ tour, we played our Brisbane show on a Saturday, then played a house party the following night with Horror My Friend, Sweater Curse & The Pierce Brosnans (dreeeeeem bill). We had a pretty big night & remember saying our loving goodbyes to the sweet Horror My Friend boys at some ungodly hour, taking pity on their 6am flight home. We didn’t fly out until later the next night & while sitting at the airport violently hungover, flicking through my Instagram stories I saw Horror My Friend in the bloody studio. Still not sure if this was a once off for those guys, but it’s something we still reference to this day.

“Hey I’ve had a big day at work, not sure if I’ll be able to make practice”

“Yeah but HMF were in the studio the day after that Brissy house party”

“Ah yeah so true, be there in 20 xoxo”

Set for your own headline tour kicking off in June, will you approach this a little differently than you have previous performances or treat the tour as you would any other and enjoy that you get to spend a little extra time in the green room?

Ahhhh we’ve got heaps of fun stuff planned for this tour. We’ll be road testing some hot nü tracks + reworking some of our back catalogue. Basically, giving some old tracks a bit of a birthday. Spark ‘em up. We’ll barely be in the green room judging by some of the support acts, can’t wait to share the stage with them.

What does the rest of 2018 have install for RAAVE TAPES?

The Newcastle Knights not coming last & new music.