Thunderstorms and the red sands of a desert. Clouds clearing, the branches of trees swaying. Crying at a funeral and smiling at a wedding. Being stabbed in the heart. Sitting on the cliffs at Coogee. Falling asleep as you ride an empty train. Yep, all that comes close to describing what theredsunband sound like. Their music is intensely evocative, all lush melodies and urgent, fuzzed-up guitars. They can rock out, slow it down, speed it up, quieten down, go nuts, get nasty, get nice.
And they’re debut long-player is about to come out. Entitled Peabod, it’s an 11-track rockfest that demands multiple listens. It’s the kind of album that you can leave in your CD player for a week and not get tired of. It’s loud and dreamy at the same time.
Theredsunband are a trio from Arncliffe. The press release speaks of John (drums, vocals) and Sarah (guitar, lead vocals) playing in a sandpit at Arncliffe West Public Kindergarten years ago. Years later, they met up through mutual friends and decided to rock out. Sarah’s younger sister Liz later joined, providing organ flourishes and tambourines.
I ask Sarah why they enlisted Liz. ‘I guess we wanted a third member. Two-pieces were too cool. We just got her. She couldn’t play or anything at first, but that’s kind of a good thing... getting someone in who hasn’t really done very much stuff before. You can make them do whatever you want them to’ she laughs.
Liz wasn’t the only one who had to learn her instrument. ‘When we first started the band [John] was the guitarist and I was the bass player,’ Sarah says, 'But we got sick of that. Finding drummers is always hard, so we just got him to be the drummer.’
Sarah still lives in Arncliffe. I ask her if she has any plans for a concept album about the suburb, and she laughs, emphatically stating ‘no!’ Concept album or no, Arncliffe still treats the singer well. ‘I like it here. The fucking food! Like, really cheap,’ she says. ‘Even when I moved out of home I moved to Arncliffe. I love Arncliffe. It’s a little bit of a different place to grow up.’
From the obscure southern Sydney suburb, theredsunband have gone on to support some big names: My Morning Jacket, Sonic Youth, Grandaddy, Little Birdy, and others. Who was the most fun to play with? ‘I really liked playing with Grandaddy actually,’ says Sarah, ‘They were the best because they were really, really friendly and after the show we just all got drunk together.’
So what’s been the highlight of the Sarah’s musical career so far? ‘Oh, the album making for sure. If you’re in a band, it’s something that you always dream of being able to do.’ The band recorded the album at Hot House Studios in St. Kilda. ‘[Recording] is the perfect freedom. It was the best thing I’ve ever done in my life.’
Dean Turner, guitarist with Magic Dirt, produced the album. It’s been said that Turner and theredsunband are kindred spirits. ‘Oh, that’s beautiful,’ says Sarah, ‘It’s true! He’s a really lovely person and we all got on immediately.’
Sarah obviously has a lot of justifiable pride in the album. ‘It’s really good to have a record made,’ she says. ‘I think it’s a lovely album.’ She particularly digs the album closer, Astrovisionary, a seven and a half minute mini-epic. ‘That’s the one where we went a bit crazy in the studio and did all kinds of exciting things.’ The track opens with Sarah softly singing, seemingly miles away, and them burns its way into a slow rock groove. Sarah’s breathy voice is at its best on this track, as she sings ‘I try to imagine what your eyes would see if you were a cat like me.’ Her voice melds in to the music, creeping in and out, slipping in to the gaps left between notes.
Before the year is done theredsunband will play much of Australia, delivering the sort of shows that have built them an impressive reputation as a live band. The first tour will be small one. ‘We’re doing album release shows, but we’re just doing one show in each city on the east coast plus Adelaide,’ says Sarah. ‘A proper tour would take a lot longer and we’re gonna’ do one of those in November. Just play everywhere, because there’s heaps of places to play, like regional centres. Like, last time we went on tour we played in Ballarat and it was fucking awesome.’
(Originally published in The Brag).
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