Daytime lawyer and nighttime multi-instrumentalist Patrick Elliott is taking a break from work and pondering whether he would ever be willing to shake of the shackles of the 9 to 5 for a life on the road. “I think about it all the time and some days you think, ‘You know if I got paid a third of what I do now to do what I love I’d jump at doing it full time’ but by the same token I don’t know,” Elliott says. “Without having experienced it it’s really hard to say. I’ve seen people who’ve made the jump and it’s either not turned out to be what they thought it’d be or they totally lost balanced. I think it’s probably always safest to assume, in our case anyway, that job number two will always be there. I reckon it keeps your head in check too.”
Looking down the barrel of an upcoming album tour is exciting times in the Little Scout ranks. “For us it gives us something to really look forward to and that’s the best part of having a weird, split life,” he says. “We have this full time hobby that we get to look forward to, keeping us sane during a long day so we don’t just feel like we only have one fire going.”
Elliott is happy with the album without ever coming across like he selling a product. Recorded in a relaxed way in and around Brisbane and then finished off by some industry heavyweights (mixed by Lars Stalfors of Cold War Kids, Deap Valley and The Mars Volta fame and engineered by Joe LaPorta), the album is a step forward without being a move out of their comfort zone.
“I think for the most part the impression that I’ve gotten is that people can see that we’ve worked pretty hard to try and make a step up,” he says. “I never really like the connotation attached to a band that has matured because sometimes it implies that they’re become a bit boring, but I think, if anything, we’ve become more confident. I think the maturity lies in the fact we’re playing to our strengths a lot more. With the first album, and I think this happens a lot, people kinda went, ‘Oh well we knew they were OK and they put out this album and it’s pretty good for a first album.’ So this being our second record you can’t hide behind any of that unknown stuff. People seem to be picking up on the stuff we wanted them to pick up on this album as well.”
Stalfors and LaPorta’s involvement in the project is a testament to the band’s growing reputation. “That was all a happy mixture of luck and the right connections,” he says. “Lars heard one of our songs online and approached us first. Given his background we totally thought it was a hoax email. That relationship formed really easily and nicely and he had a big influence on the final product. Given the artists that he’s worked with, we were really happy to take cues from someone like him and have him give us what was really great guidance. From there he works a lot with Joe anyway so that’s how that came about – it was a no-brainer to make that happen.”
BY KRISSI WEISS
