Photo: Press
The hype that surrounds Australian duo Jagwar Ma has been more than fulfilled by their stunning debut album Howlin. Not only is it the perfect summer soudtrack but it makes for an accomplished blend of brilliant electro, baggy sounds and a whole pallette of pop.
But it hasn't been as easy ride for them to get here. Making yourself heard from the other side of the planet is no mean feat, especially when illness strikes and cancels a world tour.
Ahead of their debut album dropping next week, we spoke to singer Gab Winterfield about Australia, their influences, success, and 'bringing warmth to the machines'...
Hello Jagwar Ma. You guys have got a really infectiously hypnotic sound, where psycadelia meets dance. Very much like Beach Boys meets The Avalanches via Liars. Would you agree?
Yeah. That is a really good call, because we thought that last Liars record was really sick. I think one of them is Australian too. We listen to all of those bands and we looked at all three of them so we definitely consider that a compliment.
What kind of process do your ideas go through before you arrive at the Jagwar Ma sound?
I don't know, any really. People have asked me that in the past and I try and give a straight answer but I don't really know. It's always different and the truth is that Jono and I get into a room together and whatever we make becomes Jagwar Ma because it's all of our ideas combined. Having said that, we do have respective role - like I'll write something or he'll start tinkering around with synths and then it will all cement into something. We did start writing songs together right from the start, or alternatively I'll come in with something I've written on a piano or a guitar or he'll come in with a six-bar loop that he made the night before and we'll riff on that.
So there's never a clear set design on what you're trying to do?
Not really but sometimes we have goals that we want to achieve in a song. Like with 'Four' - there was a mission stattement before we wrote that. We were on a plane or a train leaving Berlin and I said that I wanted to write a song where the vocal was the rhythm section. I didn't want to be singing - I wanted to be a drum machine, and Jono really liked that idea.
You're getting a lot of attention and radio play over here. How does it feel to be making such an impact on the other side of the world?
It feels amazing. We were emailing each other the other night, just talking very straight about business, and Jono just sent a P.S. just saying 'can you believe the amount of love that we're getting for this record?' And I just said 'I know, it's unbelievable'. It's a bit scary sometimes because I was just focused on making the record and the show's really good. On the one hand I love it but on the other I try and shy away from it.
What is it about Jagwar Ma that you think has struck a chord with audiences in the UK?
I love that the record has a real warmth to it. It feels like a very personable record. When I was writing the lyrics I really wanted to there to be a person at the centre of it - almost like an author or a narrator throughout the album. As opposed to quite a cold voice. I think that when other records don't hit it as hard as they could, it's because they don't have that character or personality in there - especially in electronic records. I would still describe it as an electronic record, especially because of how we made it.
So it's an attempt to bring a little warmth and humanity to the machines?
Yeah, I'd say so, but with them still remaining as machines. There's definitely quite an accurate representation of our two personalities in there and there's a ballet between the two throughout the record. It almost sounds like a conversation between our ideas.
You've spoken before of how a wide variety of stuff influences your sound. From hip hop and The Avalanches to Marvin Gaye. How do you feel about Stone Roses comparisons?
I love The Stone Roses. I was so excited when they got back together because I missed out as I was about one when they broke up. They just make great records - 'Fool's Gold' is amazing and 'She Bangs The Drums' is one of my favourite guitar solos. But they're very different to us, they're a band. But the comparison is definitely complimentary.
But you don't see much of them in your work?
I can see some similarities and I think that there's some common ground with a lot of that baggy Manchester stuff from the late 80s and early 90s,but I almost think that's a coincidence in some ways. A lot of producers from that time and people like Bobby Gilespie were very influenced by the 60s and very into Phil Spector, and I know that Jono loves Phil Spector too. I think we all share the same ancestors.
Australia couldn't be much further away from 'Madchester'. Does that scene carry much weight in down there?
At the time, I have no idea. But I know that lot of my friends are massive Stone Roses fans. A few of that actually went on a pilgrimage to go see them in Manchester. There's that summery warmth to them which a lot of Australians can relate to, although we made most of our record in Paris. You can take the boy out of Sydney...
There was a lot of disappointment the tour dates were cancelled. What was the reason behind that?
Unfortunately Jono got sick and wasn't allowed to fly. It wasn't an easy decision to make and cancelling shows was the last thing we wanted to do but we had to. At the end our dates with The xx Johnno just turned green. It wasn't pretty. We've rescheduled the dates now.
Do you worry about missing out on exposure from touring after not having much of a live presence in the UK so far?
I'm not concerned about having a live presence. I love playing and that's not because I want exposure, I just don't think about it like that.
There are a lot of great artists coming out of Australia at the moment. What is it about the country that you think inspires such free and escapist sounds?
Maybe it's the perception of the grass always being greener. There are a lot of bands coming out of Australia which is impressive considering how small its population is, but when you go over there the bands are so far apart. We get asked 'do you know Tame Impala' quite a lot. I'd love to say that we all hang out, but the distance between Sydney and Melbourne is like the distance between London and the Czech Republic.
Jagwar Ma release Howlin on Monday 10 June. You can stream it in full on NPR here.
The band will perform at The Scala in London on 23 October, after performances at Reading and Leeds festivalsin August 2013. For more information visit Gigwise Gig Tickets.
