Cloud Control has been nominated in the Jagermeister Independent Music Awards after just being signed to UK label Infectious Records.
This also means fans of the band also have a chance to win flights, accommodation and 2 tickets to the event in Melbourne on Friday 1st October 2010 just by voting for their favourite artists here.
Not bad so far for an independent band huh? Yeah we thought so too. So NovaFM took a moment to quiz the bands keyboard player and vocalist Heidi Lenffer.
Explain how you guys came to be a band in a different type of stage setting?
The chaos and opportunity of university campus life can make for bold decisions. Entering a band comp, flippantly, and without a band, falls into this category. I assembled the members once the entry was in and four songs were written in less weeks. Withdrawing from the comp was always an option if the whole thing fell on its face. In fact, the whole experiment was meant to be over in 5 weeks... but sometimes you just need to run with something when it's working and now it's been nearly 5 years. Who could have known?!
What drew you together and explain some of the influences that make up your band that people wouldn’t expect?
Aphex Twin on beats. Gordon Lightfoot on melody. Robert Miles on song structure. Yo La Tengo on cool.
What was your first musical memory that inspired you to want to make your own music?
My mother enrolled us in group music tuition when we were little tackers. The teacher told me I was good at inventing melodies and encouraged me to transcribe them in a little booklet. The book had 9 songs, and I lost it, but not before I performed one of them on a grand piano at the Joan Sutherland performing arts centre when I was 8 - my biggest gig.
What was your reaction when you found out about this year’s nominations?
We're pretty out of the industry loop- which happens when you're from the mountains- so to be honest, the accolade wasn't on our radar at all, which made the nomination all the more exciting. And to be chosen along with some of our band-friends adds to the party - like being picked for the same soccer team! There are so many great local bands and Australia has a small enough scene that it's pretty feasible to be able to tour or play with all of them at some stage. That's pretty special.
How badly do you want to take home a trophy at this year’s awards?
There's a trophy?! Well wouldn't that be great! It would go straight to the pool room next to Ulrich's 'best and fairest'!
What do you have to be wary of on tour and why?
Making time to break out of the limited space circuit of plane-taxi-venue-taxi-accom-taxi-venue-taxi-plane. You could tour Australia your whole life and quite easily just transfer yourself between dark enclosed spaces all over the country. Sometimes you can accidentally slide in that direction unless you are a vigilant adventurer. It's not that hard to get up an hour earlier and explore the area. Actually I've never done that in the morning, but we do explore many neighbourhoods hunting for burger joints, and we often take the scenic routes. A memory that still makes us teary is when we bought 16 Cornetto ice-creams with Richard In Your Mind at Cottesloe beach in Perth and we kicked sand at each other in slow motion and laughed a lot. One time our band even went to the Eureka Stockade museum and became learned scholars of Australian history.
What are three bands/songs in your playlist that people should know about
and why?
Stone Roses “Fools’ Gold” - Snappy 90's drum beat with sparse bass, bendy guitar riff and strangely funky stylings... makes me do an embarrassing dance but I love it too much to notice.
Cat Stevens “Tea for Tillerman” - Listen to the whole album. It's a stinking classic and a lesson in keeping song arrangements simple and striking. The lyrics are raw and immediate like hearing a friend vent at the pub. I don't know if he ever did find his Hard Headed Woman but I feel his angst every listen and wish him the best.
Beach House “Lover of mine” - A musical dream sequence.
What has been in your playlist that you’d prefer people NOT know about and
why was it there?
I really don't care, 'bad' choices are as important as your 'good' ones... but okay, music I loved that might be shameful: Justin Timberlake – “Cry Me a River”. The whole back catalogue of The BeeGees. Three Plus – “Sukiyaki” (It's all because of you). Now that I type this out the common ground is clear: guy falsetto!
If your current release was a movie, what would it be?
Straight to DVD! Nah, probably BMX Bikers.
Tell us a secret or something special about your current release that might
have gone un-noticed to casual listeners…
My mum thought up the title "Bliss Release". True fact. We'd been
deliberating for a while over various options and asked Mama Lenffer
to throw some suggestions in the mix. She messaged them through and we
had a winner!
What is something about music or the music industry that you can’t stand right now?
The ubiquitous glockenspiel in indie music. When I tune into FBi and it's tinging away in 5 songs in a row it makes me wonder if one day it may replace the guitar as the mainstay backbone of indie songs. Nothing personal against the instrument- sometimes it's used perfectly (Sufjan Stevens, Tubular bells etc) but it has such a particular timbre that I don't think it should be used as an after-thought.
What’s the best thing you’ve ever seen someone get on a rider?
Vampire Weekend had a full-on lobster goggling at them in their band-room. That was a confronting sea creature to say the least!
What is one thing you haven’t done musically that you will be shooting for
in the future?
We considered getting actors to respond dramatically to our music live for our October tour, but we couldn't pay them anything so they bailed. Instead the artists from Greedy Hen will be doing live visuals, which will be way better anway. I can't wait to tour just to see it all unfold!
Go here for more Q&A action with The Amity Affliction.
Go here for more Q&A action with House vs Hurricane.
Go here for more Q&A action with Parkway Drive.
Go here for more Q&A action with 50 Lions
Go here for more Q&A action with Eddy Current Supression Ring.
Go here for more Q&A action with British India.
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