Heartbreak Club started out as a three mates who wanted to take the piss out of the emo scene that flourished in the early to mid ’00’s. However, the joke soon became a viable reality with people falling for their pop punk/geek rock sound. Last year the band found themselves in the hands of producer Ed Rose of Motion City Soundtrack fame and the debut record “Our Horse Is Dead”. The band are in the process of writing some new material and have just launched their new single ‘Chin Up’ and are hitting the road this month. Nick from the band was kind enough to have a chat to Music Feeds about the single, the writing process for the new record and how cool the Karnivool guys are.
Music Feeds: What’s been happening lately for Heartbreak Club?
Heartbreak Club: We’ve just started touring on the back of ‘Chin Up’ as a single. Just got back from Melbourne and Adelaide, which were both fantastic shows. We’ve been writing new material too (there’s two newbies in the set, and a re-boot of one of our earliest tracks).
MF: Tell us a bit about the new single ‘Chin Up’? Whats it all about?
HC: There are innumerable males who take advantage of their partners; partners that keep them grounded, support them, and get taken for granted. Even though the song has an undercurrent of sentimentality and confession, the general tone is a satirical jab at that brand of male narcissism.
MF: Run us through the songwriting process in the band. Is it collaborative effort or do you all bring in songs as individuals?
HC: The general line is I have melody/structure/lyrics fermenting in my head, then bring it to the band. It’s usually pretty bare-bones; the band as a group bring fresh ideas and perspectives to the material, we flesh it out together. Sometimes it’s a case of arranging tastefully what was already there; other times, it’s a radical (and welcome) departure from what I originally had.
MF: When can we see a new Heartbreak Club album?
HC: We’re writing that now. I did a stock-take today of new material, and we’ve almost got enough to do an album, which is awesome! Hopefully track at years-end, for a 2012 release 😉
MF: I want to ask about opening up for bands, as you guys and every band does at one point. Who have been some of the coolest bands you’ve opened for and who have been arseholes?
HC: We played a mini-festival a few years back with a heap of great bands, including Bodyjar, Karnivool, and The Sleepy Jackson. The Karnivool dudes were sweet guys. There’s no arseholes that come to mind; partly cause I just forget about them, it’s easier and better to remember who was cool. One thought though is we’ve met plenty of arseholes from all levels of fame; it’s not like being a ‘big-band’ is a prerequisite to being a jerk.
MF: As support act, how hard is it to win over the crowd who are there to see the main band?
HC: I kind-of like being the support act for a larger band. You can bring your own crown, and have an excellent opportunity to perform for people that may not have come across you otherwise. It’s a risk-free endeavor in many ways. It can be hard to win over the unfamiliar crowd, but that’s as much to do with making sure our house is in order i.e. we’re tight, aren’t arseholes, engage the audience etc. So really, we’re focused on what we’d normally want to be doing, and be happy knowing “you win some, you lose some”.
MF: Give this tour a bit of a plug?
HC: Pretty whirlwind – 3 states and a territory crammed into 3 weeks, intimate venues (there was no room left in the rooms in Adelaide and Melbourne last weekend), new songs, catchy-singles, and with a little more raw exuberance than the recordings may indicate. Amazingly diverse crowds too, from punks to geeks to indie kids.
MF: What do you guys do to keep from going crazy out on the road?
HC: We’ve made sure we have breaks between show legs. We’ve done 25+ date tours crammed into 6 weeks and it sucked. Too much time in vanes, too much guy-smell, too much band-name-game, too much discussion of coffee enemas. Keeping it simple and calm helps stymie the crazy.
MF: For those in two minds about coming to the shows, why should they come along?
HC: Hmm, I don’t think I could ever argue that someone “should” come along to a show. I would however suggested that it’s a pretty risk-free proposition; The Optionals are headlining this show and they’re sticklers for 90’s puck-rock awesomeness. The show is free, and the venue (The Lansdowne Hotel) is very social, with cheap meals and drinks. I think the whole bill involves bands that are good at what they do, and lack the pretentiousness of Hipstervillians.
MF: The drunk guy down the front wants to buy you boys a drink after the show, what should they get you?
HC: Coopers (Vintage, or Stout), a Chris Ringland Shiraz, or some Tasliskers.
MF: Finally, whats the first song you’d put onto a mix tape?
HC: ‘Waiting Room’ by Fugazi, or ‘El Scorcho’ by Weezer.>
Head along Friday May 27th at The Lansdowne Hotel in Broadway and the best thing is the gig is totally free!!
