Bullhorn
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Bullhorn

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“We just didn’t want to restrict ourselves,” says founding member and sousaphone player, Steve Buchanan. “We wanted to put together a band where we just play awesome music. Our instrumentation is what defines our sound, so we don’t need to be defined by genre. We’ll try all concepts, everything from hip hop and funk to a lot of electronic dance music – drum and bass and break sort of stuff. It’s a constantly adapting process to just see what works.”

Players/Sounds follows up Bullhorn’s self-titled debut from 2012, an album which came together just months after the group’s formation. While Bullhorn is neither a scrappy nor a jumbled record, Players/Sounds is a better depiction of the band’s collective strength.

“[Making Players/Sounds] was a really planned process,” says Buchanan. “The whole album has been nearly two years in the making. We knew exactly what tracks we were going to do from the start, but at the same time, after two years you work out a lot of things as you go along. All the tracks we were gigging live. There’s some things that work really well live and then you take it into the studio and it doesn’t work quite as well, so you really have to adapt it.”

The most obvious distinction between the two records is the recent introduction of MC, Roman Albert. Players/Sounds still features a handful of instrumental tracks, but it’s at its most interesting when Albert’s front and centre, either spitting rhymes or busting out an uplifting chorus melody.

“We were going [for about a year] before Roman came into the band,” Buchanan says. “We started writing a lot for his being in the group and our sound really started to change. Being the frontman, the vocalist, you really have to work closely with him on your writing as well.”

Grouping nine people together in any situation is enough to create a noisy mess. When there’re seven conspicuous brass instruments involved, chaos could quickly ensue. While each member of Bullhorn makes a constructive contribution, the band’s songwriting method is exceptionally controlled.

“It’s actually all written out,” Buchanan says. “Individuals generally will come up with an idea and they’ll write a song out, totally arrange it, bring the charts, put them on the music stands in front of everyone and we’ll sit down and rehearse through them. There’s definitely collaborative input, but it’s individuals who are writing songs.

“When I was first putting the band together,” he adds, “I wanted to put a band together that was a party band and all about getting people on the dance floor, but also [the music was] charted so it was adaptable. I’m sick of playing in bands where one person couldn’t do a gig or someone leaves town and the band just folds. Bullhorn, because it’s all charted, we can just get different players in if we can’t do gigs. Bullhorn is nine people, but we’ve probably got about 14 or 15 regular players, depending on who can do the shows.”

Bullhorn launched Players/Sounds at Brunswick’s Spotted Mallard just last month. They’re heading back our way to support Nahko and Medicine For the People during next month’s roots music extravaganza, AWME. Buchanan – a proud Brisbanian – looks forward to the visit.

“It’s going to be a great show. Stoked to be playing with Nahko as well. Looking forward to hitting Melbourne again – always love it down there. We’ve only been down there a few times, but we already seem to be getting a good following.”

BY AUGUSTUS WELBY