Adam Weston - Birds Of Tokyo (01/03/2013)
It’s Friday morning when Birds of Tokyo’s drummer Adam Weston, calls me from Sydney.
On March 1st, exactly one week’s time from the day our interview, the band’s fourth studio album, March Fires will officially be released in Australia.
Teasing their fans with release of the This Fire EP in late 2012, as well as their recent hit Lanterns, the anticipation for March Fires is at an all time high for fans of the Australian band.
However, Adam says that it’s even higher for the band themselves. “I think we’re getting a bit stir-crazy! As unbelievably fucking busy as we are, March 1st couldn’t come soon enough, we want this record out there,” he says, laughing. “We’ve spent more time on this record than we have with anything else, it’s been an intensive but rewarding process for us”.
March Fires marks a positive turning point in Birds of Tokyo’s sound and style. The immense success the band found with their ARIA award winning self titled album saw them skyrocket to the top of the charts. Adored around Australia, it was a dream come true for the group who humbly began their journey in Perth.
When it came to their follow up album, rather than repeat the past, the band decided to step back and reassess their entire process. They gave themselves the time to reflect on what they each wanted to achieve not only as individuals, but as a band.
As Adam explains to me with such enthusiasm, “With this record, from the get go we decided to stop touring and take about twelve months away from the stage. We turned down all kinds of show offers purely so we could spend more time hanging out as a band. We got out of the country a handful of times to avoid any distractions and we created a dialogue to ask each other, “What do we want to do? Why are we doing this? And what do we want to create?”
The importance of this reflection caused the five members of Birds of Tokyo to find a common sort of sentiment; “That we wanted start over with this, we wanted to burn it down in order to build it back up again,” Adam tells me. “The last thing we wanted to do was just pump out another record like the last one, which would have been bloody easy and probably would have kept a few more people happier. But it also would have been the death of the band,” he says. “It was really important for us to influence each other and make each other work harder than we’ve ever worked before”.
In doing so, Birds of Tokyo have created a scope and sound that steps far away from anything they’ve created in the past. Unlike their earlier material, the process behind March Fires’ conception to the master tape was radically different.
“Albums like Day One and Universes were written in the rehearsal room in a couple of months and then recorded in a couple of weeks, where as something like March Fires is made up of songs that have been stewed over, and a lot more attention paid to detail”, Adam explains, giving an insight into the bands process.
It's abundantly clear that Birds of Tokyo have for lack of a better word, spread their wings and soared. “It’s a learning and growing pace for us, but this record actually feels like one of the first where we’re developing a sound that creates a bit of an identity. We’ve worked hard to shed some of the aggressive tones, and in your face attitude some of the older material like Universes had”, he says. “Things are wiser and hazier for us. They are much more distorted, generally droney and actually in a sense, fucked up. But these are venues that we want to explore”.
Even though there has been a shift in Birds of Tokyo’s musical style, the overall dynamic behind the band remains comparable to that of a family, complete with laughter, and of course, disagreements. “We encouraged each other to push ourselves into uncomfortable spots, and by doing that there was a lot of creative tension and arguments and you know, some studio meltdowns,” Adam tells me, opening up about the serious side of recording the album. “There are moments when we think, “Fuck, are we doing the right thing? Are we going down the right path? Do I want to be doing this?” And then a few days later when you get some really productive results back and everyone’s just over the moon with what they’ve created together”.
It’s those moments Adam speaks of, that he describes the most rewarding aspects of being a part of Birds of Tokyo. “Everytime you get the master audio back of a new recording, it’s a massive weight off your shoulders,” he describes earnestly. “We’ve got so much respect for each other as members and writers and friends. But even though we’re a band, we’re family in every sense of the word. There’s no one single highlight, it’s always when we can accomplish things together. It’s such a process and we’re dealing with all the blood sweat and tears that have been poured into it. We’re super proud of what we’ve been able to achieve”.
March Fires is out now.
Luke Sutton
Follow me on Twitter - @lukesutton
On March 1st, exactly one week’s time from the day our interview, the band’s fourth studio album, March Fires will officially be released in Australia.
Teasing their fans with release of the This Fire EP in late 2012, as well as their recent hit Lanterns, the anticipation for March Fires is at an all time high for fans of the Australian band.
However, Adam says that it’s even higher for the band themselves. “I think we’re getting a bit stir-crazy! As unbelievably fucking busy as we are, March 1st couldn’t come soon enough, we want this record out there,” he says, laughing. “We’ve spent more time on this record than we have with anything else, it’s been an intensive but rewarding process for us”.
March Fires marks a positive turning point in Birds of Tokyo’s sound and style. The immense success the band found with their ARIA award winning self titled album saw them skyrocket to the top of the charts. Adored around Australia, it was a dream come true for the group who humbly began their journey in Perth.
When it came to their follow up album, rather than repeat the past, the band decided to step back and reassess their entire process. They gave themselves the time to reflect on what they each wanted to achieve not only as individuals, but as a band.
As Adam explains to me with such enthusiasm, “With this record, from the get go we decided to stop touring and take about twelve months away from the stage. We turned down all kinds of show offers purely so we could spend more time hanging out as a band. We got out of the country a handful of times to avoid any distractions and we created a dialogue to ask each other, “What do we want to do? Why are we doing this? And what do we want to create?”
The importance of this reflection caused the five members of Birds of Tokyo to find a common sort of sentiment; “That we wanted start over with this, we wanted to burn it down in order to build it back up again,” Adam tells me. “The last thing we wanted to do was just pump out another record like the last one, which would have been bloody easy and probably would have kept a few more people happier. But it also would have been the death of the band,” he says. “It was really important for us to influence each other and make each other work harder than we’ve ever worked before”.
In doing so, Birds of Tokyo have created a scope and sound that steps far away from anything they’ve created in the past. Unlike their earlier material, the process behind March Fires’ conception to the master tape was radically different.
“Albums like Day One and Universes were written in the rehearsal room in a couple of months and then recorded in a couple of weeks, where as something like March Fires is made up of songs that have been stewed over, and a lot more attention paid to detail”, Adam explains, giving an insight into the bands process.
It's abundantly clear that Birds of Tokyo have for lack of a better word, spread their wings and soared. “It’s a learning and growing pace for us, but this record actually feels like one of the first where we’re developing a sound that creates a bit of an identity. We’ve worked hard to shed some of the aggressive tones, and in your face attitude some of the older material like Universes had”, he says. “Things are wiser and hazier for us. They are much more distorted, generally droney and actually in a sense, fucked up. But these are venues that we want to explore”.
Even though there has been a shift in Birds of Tokyo’s musical style, the overall dynamic behind the band remains comparable to that of a family, complete with laughter, and of course, disagreements. “We encouraged each other to push ourselves into uncomfortable spots, and by doing that there was a lot of creative tension and arguments and you know, some studio meltdowns,” Adam tells me, opening up about the serious side of recording the album. “There are moments when we think, “Fuck, are we doing the right thing? Are we going down the right path? Do I want to be doing this?” And then a few days later when you get some really productive results back and everyone’s just over the moon with what they’ve created together”.
It’s those moments Adam speaks of, that he describes the most rewarding aspects of being a part of Birds of Tokyo. “Everytime you get the master audio back of a new recording, it’s a massive weight off your shoulders,” he describes earnestly. “We’ve got so much respect for each other as members and writers and friends. But even though we’re a band, we’re family in every sense of the word. There’s no one single highlight, it’s always when we can accomplish things together. It’s such a process and we’re dealing with all the blood sweat and tears that have been poured into it. We’re super proud of what we’ve been able to achieve”.
March Fires is out now.
Luke Sutton
Follow me on Twitter - @lukesutton