The Temper Trap: Interview
Words by Jonathan Fernando
Disappear Here: So is this your first time playing in the UK?
Toby Dundas: No actually, our first trip was back in October of last year. That was a three day stay and we managed to play a couple of shows in between, then we came back in February of this year and did the same thing again.
DH: So we hear that you guys have decided to move over to the UK permanently and make this little island your home for now?
TD: Yeah! We’ve actually just moved into a place down in Hackney, literally a week or so ago, and it’s going pretty cool. We quite like the area actually, despite all the bad press that it sometimes gets. Although someone did set a car on fire right outside of our house a while back, which was interesting!
DH: So for those who are unaware of The Temper Trap could you give us a breakdown of how you guys got together?
TD: Well we’ve been together for about three and a half years now and it all came about as Dougie (vocals) and I worked together at a shopping complex in Melbourne and he mentioned that he was looking to start a band, so we went and had a jam and it sounded god, but was a little rough around the edges. So Dougie got Johnny to play bass, who he knew already, and I got Lorenzo (guitar) to join after his band split up and we’ve been going strong ever since really.
DH: Who would you say are your musical influences as a group?
TD: As a group the ones that seem to pop up most often would be Radiohead, Bowie and Prince. They’re all just phenomenal artists, so I’d say they were the three that have influenced us the most – well, us and the rest of the world!
DH: And in terms of bands that are playing now? Who are you guys listening to?
TD: We all love Arcade Fire and I’d probably say that their music seeps into some of our songs – unintentionally of course. We’ve been playing TV on the Radio quite a lot recently and we listen to their stuff while we’re on the road, they’re another awesome group.
DH: Now, you guys made it onto the BBC’s ‘Sound Poll 2009’ – a list of breakthrough artists to watch out for – so congrats on that! Does that put a bit of pressure on you guys to live up to the hype?
TD: Ah, we were just so thrilled to be on the list, you know. I mean we checked other artists who had been on the list before and they are all massive, worldwide stars now, which is a good sign. We were pretty shocked to make it on there actually, seeing as we’d only played two shows here in 2008, so it’s a massive compliment and hopefully, like you said, we can live up to the hype.
DH: When most bands start out they play a lot of the underground circuits and shows. Was that the same for you guys back home?
TD: Absolutely. We are still quite small in Australia and, in fact, just before we moved over here we played our first sold out show in a huge venue, which was an awesome experience. We did the usual club gigs and festivals around Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide – definitely on the small scale of things. But that’s one of the reasons we decided to move to the UK, because we’d almost exhausted our options at home and it was the right time to move forward as a band in order to play all the major festivals over here and make a name for ourselves in Europe.
DH: Cool. And it seems that you guys jumped right into the deep end as you recently played at SXSW, right?
TD: Yeah! That was such an amazing experience, I mean there were like 2000 artists in Austin, Texas over the space of the week and everyone is trying to get signed and get deals and stuff so it was pretty intense, but great fun all the same. That’s actually why we played SXSW because we aren’t signed to an American label as yet, but we got some brilliant feedback and met loads of record label players so that was cool. We actually heard a lot of horror stories about turning up to play at a venue and it ends up being someone’s back yard or something! (laughs) But we got pretty lucky and played some really good shows.
DH: So now you’ve been bitten by the bug, are you playing any of the big UK festivals this summer?
TD: We are! (grins) I’m so looking forward to it. We’ve got Glastonbury lined up, which is going to be amazing and T in the Park, Reading, Leeds and Great Escape, so quite a few actually! We’ve heard that the best place to play festivals is in the UK so we’re looking forward to a few days of music and madness basically.
DH: So what’s your song writing process? Does Dougie write the majority of lyrics or do you all have input?
TD: Yeh Dougie does the majority, being the vocalist, but Johnny’s written a few also. Musically speaking we all have input and ideas, sometimes we jam and something formulates and other times someone might come in with fully formed songs. The great thing about the album is that it’s an awesome mix of sounds and is a bit different, so that’s basically an end product of each of us bringing our own style to the table.
DH: That brings me neatly to my next question of your forthcoming album. There seems to be a lot of anticipation surrounding the release of ‘Conditions’, so what can we expect to hear?
TD: Just a real mix of everything really, there’s a few slower tracks and ballad-types like “Sweet Disposition” and obviously the edgier stuff like “Science of Fear”, so it’s a real spectrum of our sound and we’re just hoping that everyone will really take to it. I think we’re releasing it in Australia first, so we should be looking at an early July release over here if everything goes to plan.
DH: Where do you see The Temper Trap being in the next few years? Is there anything that you’d really like to achieve?
TD: Just to be still playing in like 10 years time is the aim! (laughs) We could become absolutely sick of each other after spending every day working and living together, but I doubt, and hope, that that won’t be the case. Just writing great music and then playing it to people who really want to hear it is such a buzz and for that to come to an end would be awful, but who knows what the future holds for the band…
Posted Tue, June 16, 2009