As is the norm these days, they’re bringing their brand of heavy, progressive, instrumental music down to Oz for the very first time in September. “Yeah we’re all really excited. The band has never been to Australia before,” confirms bassist Brian Cook. Although the excitement is clearly evident when speaking to Cook about their upcoming maiden Australia tour, it’s also clear that the three members are trying their hardest to keep a lid on things and not get too carried away. “I don’t really know what to expect,” Cook admits. “I’ve been to Australia once before; I used to play in a band called These Arms Are Snakes. We opened for this band Isis and the shows were way bigger than I think any of us had anticipated. I have no idea what to expect from this tour because, you know my only other Australian experience was so, surpassed my expectations. Yeah, I’m trying to not get my hopes up because I think I’d rather be pleasantly surprised.”
Russian Circles have been constantly progressing and evolving since their inception in 2004. They’ve toured extensively with the likes of Minus the Bear, Coheed and Cambria, Mono as well as rehearsal buddies and fellow instrumentalists Pelican. Their musical output is just as impressive, having releasing a number of EPs, singles and split records as well as three LPs; the last being 2009’s Geneva which evidently made it all the way into the Billboard charts. Considering the amount of time that has passed since their last album the conversation quickly turns to their much anticipated fourth record titled Empros. “Yeah it’s slated for late October I think,” confirms Cook on the release date. “We almost took a step back in some ways with this record and went away from the sort of more polished, I guess, approach that we had on the last record,” he adds. “It’s a little noisier and a little uglier I’d say at times. There’s still some more sort of soothing parts on the album but it’s a lot harsher, there’s a lot more noise. I think we have made an angrier record.”
As has been the case since the band formed, the music they wrote for the new record was through an organic and natural progression of their sound. As with a lot of instrumental bands, when it comes to writing music, the scope and possibilities – not only in terms of sound but also in terms of direction – seems endless. “I don’t think that was necessarily the first line of reasoning for going without vocals but it is sort of one of the advantages where you know we don’t really have to think about how someone’s going to sing over this or worry about vocal range,” explains Cook. “You know, we can write a really sort of heavy, angry song without feeling like it’s going to be sort of over the top. We can also write sort of a more accessible and pretty song and not worry that it’s going to be sappy once someone’s singing on top of it.”
One can only imagine then what the three-piece have in store for their fans on the new record. What’s in store for the band themselves once it’s released is much more certain. “We’re kind of in the midst of planning a US tour in the fall and talking about going back to Europe in the spring,” confirms Cook. “And last year we actually went out to Singapore and Malaysia and I think we might try and go back and do a little bit more of South East Asia early next year as well. Once the record comes out that’s kinda, you know that’s when the heavy touring cycle kinda kicks in.” Lucky for Australian fans, that touring cycle not only includes us, but will be more importantly reaching here very soon.
