By: Jordannah Elizabeth
PRELUDE:
There are a few bands who seem like unicorns to me; I have so many friends who have played with and spent time with The Morning After Girls, that I only get the pleasure of hearing about their kindness and the remnants of their presence.
Last month, The Morning After Girls played a short string of shows with My Bloody Valentine in Australia. I am simply fascinated by the reemergence of Kevin Shields and his band, and wanted to ask The Morning After Girls what it was like to play with MBV. I was also curious about when we would hear a new album from TMAG, and what would motivate the process and progress of the writing and recording.
It was a great honor to talk to this band who’s reputation precedes them as very kind and lovely people, as well as talented musicians.
You guys have kicked off 2013 with a bang, including a string of Australian shows, a few of which were opening slots for My Bloody Valentine. How did you receive the awesome opportunity to play with MBV?
It was rather flattering, actually, as we were personally asked by the band themselves to join them on this tour– rather than it being some default, industry process. I believe they caught one of our shows in London when we were living there temporarily in 2007. Perhaps they wanted to see how we had evolved…
Did the shows with MBV run smoothly?
Very much so! When you’re touring with an act that equally respects the music you create, it obviously makes everything else so much easier. Plus, to achieve their sound, they require a lot of equipment to be transported from each show, so there was a day off between each performance– which meant we got to see the sunrise quite a few times…
You guys have been doing well, booking great shows in Australia. Will you be going into the studio to record soon?
We’ve been spending a lot of time in the studio already this year, preparing for our next release. We’re working on two new records at the moment, both of which will display very different sides to our sound.
One will be mammoth, and the other so minimal, you can almost hear a pin drop! The latter will be appearing very soon..
If/when you do immerse yourself in the studio will that stunt your touring?
We try not to play shows at all when we’re creating in the studio. If we know we have a block of creative time up ahead, we’ll tend not to book any live appearances as it simply distracts the productive/organic flow of creating an album. A tour will come and go; the record lasts forever.
What are your plans for the rest of the year? Do you have any other dream bands you’d like to play with?
At the moment we’re trying to focus on completing these two particular projects. We’ll be headlining a full tour of Australia in a couple of months and making a few appearances at a few select festivals around the country. To be honest, we’ve had the privilege of playing with most of our ‘dream bands’… unless, somehow, The Beatles were to get back together… we’ve always wanted to play Coachella Festival!
How is the rock scene in Melbourne? You seem to get a lot of love there; do you enjoy playing the United States, when you’re afforded the chance, more or less than when you play in your native country?
We’ve only been based back in Melbourne a short while now after establishing ourselves in New York City for almost five years, so we’re still grasping the scene here, I guess. We love touring the U.S., as you can literally perform 50 shows back to back… then, once that’s over, you can revisit them all over again till your body says; okay, that’s enough!
How do you plan on expanding your reach and fan base? Did the MBV gigs help bring awareness? Were the audiences receptive to you?
We work hard on and for our art. I think if you create something that’s unique and honest, it’s going to reach the people it needs to. There seemed to be a lot of people familiar with our material on this most recent tour, though I’m sure we converted a lot more along the way. One must respect that it was fundamentally their [MBV’s] night, so it was important for us to create the perfect pallet for their return.
If you do begin writing a new album, what will it be about?
Desire.
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