knievel interviews : : youbored.com | splendid | time off

This interview was originally supposed to take place via phone, but due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, that didn't happen...so e-mail was deemed the next best thing.

Splendid: How did the American tour go?

Wayne Connolly: Pretty good -- about half the gigs we played were well attended and half weren't. Every gig had its own reward, though, in terms of encouragement from various people. It was good to find that we could go back and tour these places again -- no one ever said "don't come back here again!". At times it was pretty intense for us since we are totally self managed and we travelled without any backline gear, crew or pre-planned accommodation and little experience of navigating around the east coast freeways. You can sort of imagine the virtually infinite possibilities there are for things to go wrong! That said, nothing really went badly wrong except for me getting hit in the head by a flying Mosrite thrown by Dave in Swearing At Motorists (note to self -- stand further back at their gigs...). The hospitality of people along the way was brilliant, though, and was the only thing that made it possible.

Splendid: This was your first tour of the US, right?

Wayne Connolly: We have been over twice before, and played a few gigs in New York for CMJ at Brownies, Luna Lounge, etc.

Splendid: Were there any particular places where you were received better than others? Any places where you were surprised (either positively or negatively) by the crowd reaction?

Wayne Connolly: Generally it just depends on whether you are on a sympathetic bill. Our San Fran show with My Morning Jacket and Swearing at Motorists was brilliant, largely due to the fact that those two bands have built really strong followings. We were surprised when we played in Seattle at the Crocodile and no one came!

Splendid: Name Rings a Bell was actually recorded in '99/2000, and released in Australia in, what, 2000, or 2001, right?

Wayne Connolly: Right at the end of 2000, so we mostly toured and promoted it through 2001. We had planned to travel to the US on September 15, 2001.

Splendid: Is it frustrating to be playing songs that are three years old and having to say "here's another one from our new record", when it's anything but new?

Wayne Connolly: No. The rate at which we do things is generally on the slow side, so we know when we record that we will be spending plenty of time playing the songs. Consequently, we try and stick with songs that we really, really like! There is a lot of the "under your own steam" ethic down here since the market is small and no one is working to any deadlines. It's not dissimilar to New Zealand, where bands like The Clean have only released a few albums in all their years.

Splendid: Has the delayed US release of the record prevented you guys from moving on and writing/recording new songs?

Wayne Connolly: Well, yes, 'cause we spent all our money going to the US and Japan. But a lot of effort went into the record so we are happy to try and make as many people aware of it as possible.

Splendid: So do you have a whole slew of new songs ready for recording?

Wayne Connolly: Yeah, we do but we are also working on putting our own studio together so we probably won't get started 'til we do that.

Splendid: Now that you have US distribution, will your next record be released in the US around the same time it comes out in Australia?

Wayne Connolly: It's easier for us to stagger releases, being self managed. Our album has recently come out in Japan and will come out in the UK and Europe in a few months. Coordinating those things ourselves takes plenty of time and energy.

Splendid: How did you get hooked up with In Music We Trust, anyway? Up until you guys, it seemed that Alex was mainly putting out local (to Portland, OR) stuff.

Wayne Connolly: A friend of ours who lives in Adelaide and promoted the Ken Stringfellow tour that we played on put us on to Alex -- I'm not sure how they knew each other. It may have been through the Sydney band Bluebottle Kiss, who Alex had been involved with in a failed label venture.

Splendid: How have they (the label) been doing for you? Did they foot the bill for your US jaunt, or did Architecture help out as well?

Wayne Connolly: Alex has done an amazing job with promo for us getting us preview write-ups in the main papers of every city we played in, and reviews in lots of magazines. The tour was mostly financed by ourselves with some assistance from an arts grant and an advance from our Japanese label.

Splendid: Name Rings a Bell obviously has a much more lush, subtle sound than your earlier stuff. I must confess I haven't yet been able to get hold of a copy of Steep Hill Climb -- but definitely, compared to We Fear Change, there's been a huge progression. Was that a deliberate thing, saying "we want this record to be quieter and more subtle", or did it just sort of happen that way?

Wayne Connolly: Steep Hill Climb was generally reviewed down here as our "great leap forward" but we certainly worked hard at trying to find our own sound on the most recent record. This time around we moved towards more repetitive hypnotic textures and away from songs with standard verse/chorus song structures. It's more in line with our original intention for the band, which was something more understated, as we are big fans of the Go-Betweens and Flying Nun bands. The turning point may have been when I met Graham Downes from the Verlaines several years back and he showed me a couple of their songs. It was really inspiring in terms of showing me how much melodic stuff can be incorporated into chords.

Splendid: On We Fear Change, I felt that your voice bore a strong resemblance to Tim Rogers', but that on Name Rings a Bell there aren't so many obvious reference points. Producing as many fine bands as you do, to what extent are you influenced by the bands that you work with? If anything, on Name Rings a Bell, I detect a slight Underground Lovers circa Rushall Station influence, what with the beautiful, lush pop songs with slight electronic underpinnings, but only superficially.

Wayne Connolly: I would probably feel embarrassed if I thought a song bore an overt resemblance to something I had recorded, but some kind of influence definitely filters through in unconscious ways. I realised recently that the melody of "Don't Explain" bore a slight resemblance to an unreleased Died Pretty demo that I had heard, and I was mortified! If anything, working with music all the time causes you to really strive for something different when you start on your own stuff. The instrumentation, though, is largely influenced by what you happen to have around you. The studio we made this album in had a giant pedal board full of vintage pedals and delay/samplers which more than anything caused us to experiment with a lot of looped guitar sounds. That in turn led us to write more linear, repetitive songs that allowed room for those textures.

Splendid: Do you foresee Knievel's sound heading in more of an electronic direction (as the Lovers have)?

Wayne Connolly: We have done a bit more of that with some tracks that were released as "The Panel of Experts" on a compilation called Novella. We really enjoyed it, but it all depends on whether we can continue to borrow the pedal board!

Splendid: Do you see yourself as primarily a producer or primarily a musician -- or are they inextricably entwined for you? Do you use the same set of skills when producing another band's record and when making your own record?

Wayne Connolly: It's great to do both, as you constantly get to refresh yourself. Also, you don't get as easily disheartened as you see other bands locked in the same struggles as yourselves. It's a bit of a revelation when you see that no one is ever happy with their own level of success since there is always someone who is getting more successful faster!

It's quite a different set of skills required for producing another band, as your vision isn't as important as how well you can interpret theirs. Bands I've worked with are generally pretty independently minded and a bit suspicious of any attempts to change their sound drastically, so it's often more a case of trying to find the sounds they are imagining and guiding them to where you think they want to go.

There is obviously a lot more creativity involved in writing and recording your own songs from scratch.

Splendid: How did you wind up being Ken Stringfellow's Australian backing band? Did it have anything to do with his involvement in the Orange Humble Band?

Wayne Connolly: It was the promoter Jared Bertram who hooked us up and suggested it to Ken.

Splendid: How does the Knievel songwriting process work? Are they mainly your songs, to which Tracy and Nick add parts, or does everyone have an equal part in the process? Do you come to rehearsal and say "Okay guys, here's a new song", or do you sort of jam things out until you arrive at a mutually agreeable consensus?

Wayne Connolly: It can happen either way, but often I will have chord structures to start working with. "Don't Explain" is a song that came out of Tracy and I jamming, and it's one of my favourites since the bass and guitar are so tenuously related, but still wholly dependent on each other. Ken remarked that it didn't sound like a song you could write on one instrument. It's something I kind of aspire to, since I really like early Go-Betweens or Television where the instruments are interleaved to the point where they don't work without the others.

Splendid: This isn't really a question, but I just wanted to comment on how amazing Tracy's bass work is. It's very unobtrusive, but perfect in the context of each song. I noticed this far more on Name Rings a Bell than on We Fear Change. Then again, the whole band's sound is much more cohesive on Name.

Wayne Connolly: Yeah, there is an air of unpredictability in the bass that I love -- it really keeps the tension in the songs.

Splendid: Did you have the intention with Name that it would require a little more effort on the part of the listener? We Fear Change has hooks that jump right out at you ("Might As Well Be Gone" or "Someone Had to Tell You", for instance), whereas I found that I needed four or five listens to really get into Name. But when I did, I wound up liking it a lot better. At first, it sort of comes across merely as pleasant indiepop, but after it's sunk in, you realize the depth of what's really going on -- all the subtle lyrical tricks and stuff that's buried just below the surface of the recording.

Wayne Connolly: Well, I would rather that it was apparent that there was complexity from the first listen! But yeah, it was an intentional thing to move away from writing hooky choruses, and also to have lyrics that generally don't repeat themselves. We've changed from repetitive lyrics to repetitive chords! We have gotten into drone notes that keep a line throughout a chord progression, and that lends itself to adding all the looped textures.

Splendid: In the chorus to "Chance Meeting", where you and Tracy are harmonizing, you've created one of those amazing pop moments that tugs at your heart just so. For me, that's what pop music is all about -- those little moments that you can isolate and just say "there!" Those moments are, obviously, pretty few and far between... I think Rushall Station has more than its fair share of them, and there's this one Sloan song called "Snowsuit Sound" that has this amazing little guitar part that does that for me...but let's just say that with this chorus, you're in pretty rare company. Did you feel that way when you were working on that part, like "Oh, now this is really special"?

Wayne Connolly: We always try and get that feeling ourselves whenever we write -- it helps you to know if you have a song that you won't get sick of. But "Chance Meeting" was something that sounded particularly fresh when we first played it. Then I spent about eight months agonising over the lyrics and completely ruined it for everyone involved!

Splendid: Lyrically, a the songs on Name seem to fall into two camps: those about people trying to cope with the mundane nature of day-to-day life and the ensuing restlessness that produces, and the tried-and-true theme of communication difficulties in relationships. Would you care to comment on that?

Wayne Connolly: As Tracy has noted, I tend to whip myself into a frenzy of self loathing whenever I write lyrics, so they tend to come out pretty melancholy -- which isn't really a true reflection of who I am most of the time. Ironically, life is at its most mundane when you are trying to finish songs, since you feel guilty about going out and enjoying yourself!

The most important thing with lyrics to me is that they have some emotional weight and they sound conversational -- when they actually sound like something you would say they are often pretty good. Also, the thing I have come to realise is that a large part of the meaning of the lyric is really in the melody. If the song has a mournful melody, you can sing just about anything, like "I'm going to go and do the washing up", and it will sound sad and despairing. I can think of no better example than the Moles' "This is a Happy Garden".

Splendid: Most of these songs also seem very personal in nature. Are many of them autobiographical, or does it just appear that way? Obviously, there's always going to be some sort of mix of the real-life and fiction, but to what extent are the songs about happenings in your own life?

Wayne Connolly: They could easily be about things that are happening around me, but the combination of the sad melodies and the odd despairing line thrown in makes them sound worse than they are. The second verse of "Thoughts in a Pattern" would be a good example. It was a pretty upbeat stanza about seeing your reflection in a shop window until I added the last line in "we're only joined by a slender thread," which makes it sound a bit more devastating.

Splendid: Have you ever wanted to more obviously step outside of your own skin in your songwriting, a la Ray Davies or Tim Rogers?

Wayne Connolly: "Need to know basis" is my attempt at stepping outside myself, even if it is still sung in first person. I'm not really a story-teller lyricist so I generally lean towards the stream-of-consciousness. I love "Waterloo Sunset" and many of Tim's songs and things like "Penny Lane", but it doesn't necessarily work for everyone. The lyrics have to feel like you really mean them but they can also be completely ambiguous.

Splendid: When we spoke at your Seattle show, you were talking about how the scene in Sydney kind of sucks. How is it, do you think, that so many great bands come out of Australia despite the difficulties in getting heard locally?

Wayne Connolly: It's always hard to say, and a lot of times it surprises me that people you know who don't seem to play or rehearse very much are writing these amazing songs that the world will never hear (e.g. Hoolahan, Sounds Like Sunset, Sandpit, Oliver, Tugboat, Bucket, La Huva, Gersey, Purplene, Starky, etc.). The scene is struggling but there are plenty of things that still inspire people to go out and play. The Big Day Out and Homebake festivals each year, for instance, are great showcases for emerging Australian bands, and draw thousands of kids. And even though every venue here has closed at some point, they all seem to have reopened. There are a good range of small places that have a good vibe, where bands can get started. The problem is when it comes to signing time, there never seems to be any A&R people at any of these gigs! The only choice people are left with is to try and finance stuff themselves, as most indie labels don't really have any money.

Splendid: I was reading an interview with the remaining members of Glide, and one of them, I forget if it was Andy Kelly or Jason Kingshott, was saying how, for pretty much the whole time he was in the band, he was trying to get William to pack up and move to the UK, where he felt that the music press and fans would be much more receptive to their music. I can't really think of too many bands that I know of who've done that successfully (except for the Go-Betweens, of course). Do you blame the stodginess of the Australian music biz for Glide's (and other bands') failure to create much of a worldwide buzz, or do think there were other internal factors that contributed to this? From everything I've read, William worked his ass off in the effort to get his music out there, but for one of the best bands of the '90s, period, their legacy is pretty nonexistent. Do you think that moving to the UK is a good choice for Australian bands who can't seem to break out?

Wayne Connolly: I have no doubt that Glide could have been successful in the UK if they had had the means to go there regularly, as they were a great live band. But it's just really difficult for any band to afford it without major label backing. I guess there have been plenty of New Zealand bands who have given up everything and forged careers in the UK and US. Maybe life is just a little too comfortable here in Australia! But yeah, if you can afford to go anywhere out of Australia, it can do wonders for your reputation at home. That's why we went to New Zealand last year!

Splendid: Considering the amount of amazing music that comes out of Australia, you can practically count on one hand the number of bands who've been able to translate that to worldwide success. Even You Am I, who are obviously huge in Australia, when they come to Seattle, would probably play at the Crocodile, the same club you guys played in. Do you think that American indie labels have just sort of turned a blind eye to all the great bands in Australia, or do you think that the problem has more to do with the cost involved in bringing an Australian band over to the States for a tour?

Wayne Connolly: It really is prohibitive to travel to the US since our exchange rate is about 50 cents to your dollar. You can't blame US labels for generally leaning towards their own bands, who they know can go out and tour consistently since it is a really good way to build a following.

Splendid: There've been a couple Australian "emo" bands (for lack of a better term) who seem to have made a bit more of a name for themselves in the States -- I'm thinking of Jebediah and Blueline Medic here. While they're far from huge, I think that your average US indie fan is much more likely to recognize the name "Jebediah" than, say, "Hoolahan". Do you attribute this to anything besides the fact that American labels have the tendency to slobber all over bands who sound even remotely like Jimmy Eat World or Weezer?

Wayne Connolly: I think Jebediah has the resources to travel to the US and play since they have been so successful here. It comes down to how committed you are to the idea of succeeding in the US and how long you can afford to keep trying it. There seems to be an audience for virtually any kind of band in the US, if you can afford to persevere till you find them!

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