This is the case for an established band, for a new band, doubly so. But that’s just what this Melbourne-based alternative/progressive rock band have done. And not only that, the fortitude they have displayed in creating such an ambitious piece of work is multiplied even further, since this new band have also chosen to bypass the traditional way of doing things, that is, release an EP before doing their first full length. These guys have leapt straight in the deep end, releasing a full length concept album as their first major release, and they are only to be admired for their boldness. Daniel Viktor from the band joined us recently to tell us all about it.
“We sort of decided to jump the gun,” he begins. “It’s sort of a ‘Melbourne’ thing to do an EP first. We thought coming off a single which did quite well for us, getting us shows and so forth, we just thought, ‘Let’s go the whole hog and get a full album going.’ We spent a lot of time honing in on what we wanted to do. It’s a concept album, from start to finish – it’s sort of got a theme.
“There’s a lot of stuff lyrically going through the whole album, linking it up together,” he continues. “It’s a story about somebody who goes through depression, someone who goes through that stage where everything is falling on top of them. There’s a turning point where things go more positive… Redesign is the name of the album, and the whole concept is just making yourself a better person.”
So what inspired you to write such a complex album? Is it autobiographical, personal, or just from the outside looking in?
“I wanted to make it really personal, but also very generalised, so everyone can take from the piece what they wanted to get out of it,” he explains. “So obviously there are bits in the songs that are very personal and very specific, but also generalised enough so that anyone listening to it can make up their own mind about what they want to get out of it.”
The band officially launch the album this week, Saturday December 14 to be precise, at Ding Dong Lounge. Daniel feels that, since the band has been tucked away out of the public eye for quite some time incubating the album, the band is absolutely raring to go. They are very excited about the launch, and aim to give the punters who show up to the show their absolute money’s worth.
“Yeah, it’s a massive build up, and we’re trying to get as many people there as possible,” he says. “We’re doing all the right steps, we’re practising really hard for it, very excited about releasing it officially, because it was three years in the making.
“We’ve been out of the loop for a while, we haven’t played many shows in the last two years,” he goes on. “But we really come into our own, with our live set; we really do aim to entertain people. I find that a lot of bands these days, they just pay to play. We’re not like that, we’re actually going to give you a show that you can go away from and say, ‘Well that was a great show!’ We pride ourselves on our live playing, and we’ll try to stay as close to the album as possible.”
BY ROD WHITFIELD
