“I think we’re trying to prove we’re not just a niche at the moment, that we are a credible, and incredible, band,” says vocalist Nkechi Anele. “That’s what we’re trying to do with this album. I guess what makes us different is that these are songs we’ve tried out for at least a year to live audiences – some of these songs were being played when the first album came out. It has taken a lot of work to make sure the stuff that’s different, songs you wouldn’t normally link with what Saskwatch is, still has merit, that they’re not just an idea outlined on the album. That’s been hard to make sure people take it seriously, that it’s not us trying to do somebody else’s genre badly.”
Though exploring a variety of genres, the album retains a striking sonic cohesion. “We recorded with Lachlan Goold, also known as Magoo, who lives in Queensland. We recorded at his place in a converted church an hour out of Brisbane. It’s the first time, apart from the single, that we’ve had a producer really work on an album with us, having a strong input in where we could take songs,” Nkechi states.
“Recording in that space, being taken away from Melbourne, we were able to put that focus on the sonics of the album. Magoo has so much input into the sound, he’s one of the engineers that works on songs like he’s an instrumentalist, getting the best out of every song.”
In between albums, Saskwatch teamed up with garage super-producer Mikey Young for the seven-inch I Get Lonely, creating a track with a loose, live atmosphere. “Mikey was another interesting experiment. We went that way because of Royal Headache and that live sound he produced with those guys. We had been playing live for three years, that’s our audience base, and I guess for all of us with the first album, sometimes it felt like it might have taken away that live quality. So with Mikey, we wanted to experiment.
“Playing that song, I first felt really uneasy trying to sing. It’s easy to be happy when playing in front of a bunch of people that have come along for a good time. The song is really dark, but it is also a song about being really strong and being able to stand up and say how you really felt. Liam [McGorry] writes all the songs, so it’s about his experience and feelings. So it can be hard to portray that while being genuine in how it comes across. That’s my biggest struggle – making sure the songs are genuine, that I’m not taking the piss out of anything.”
Looking back on those nascent days at Cherry, Nkechi feels a mix of pride and slight wistfulness. “From the band perspective, nothing’s really changed. We were playing Cherry every week for three years, so the challenge was to make sure we were getting better, that we didn’t have a shit week, thinking that people would get sick of coming to see us. But that wasn’t the case. We have played bigger venues, supported big acts, played overseas, played festivals we never imagined playing at this age. Looking back at Cherry, I love it for everything it’s done for us. I miss that Cherry was that big thing for us in the week. Playing that stage with those crowds.”
BY LACHLAN KANONIUK
