David Beadle - The Naked and Famous (09/01/2013)
Cramming interviews with world class musicians in to naughtily long coffee breaks at your day job can be an affair both thrilling and treacherous in equal measure. Regardless, it is a task this music journalist is all sure all music journalists out there excitedly welcome, especially when the interviewee is as exceptionally friendly and relaxed as The Naked And Famous bassist David Beadle.
“I was just playing Gameboy, actually. I’ve been playing Mario Kart, but I’m headed out tonight to get the new Batman game that’s just come out.”
A doubtlessly hard working and busy band, it’s a surprise Dave finds much down time for Gameboy between the release of TNAF’s sophomore album In Rolling Waves, and the relentless global tour schedule that has subsequently accompanied it. Although New Zealand born, the band have – tours aside - primarily resided in LA since the release of their mega successful independently released first album Passive Me, Aggressive You back in 2010.
“(I’m in) Los Angeles, Hollywood. The place I’m staying at now is a good friend of mine’s, and it’s actually pretty close to the studio we recorded In Rolling Waves at, at Sunset Sound. It’s just down the road, right in the heart of Hollywood.”
Written and recorded in Hollywood while the band shared a house together, Dave elaborates on the particulars of how completing In Rolling Waves became a globe trotting affair, and the collected acclamation of those who helped the record become a finished product.
“Well, the process of actually writing and recording wasn’t really a hugely conscious one. We finished touring Passive Me, Aggressive You, and we were looking for a place to stay which was a lot more central than New Zealand, y’know? New Zealand is obviously very far away from anything; You have to take a thirty-something hour flight to get to London, and a twelve or so hour flight to Los Angeles, etcetera, etcetera… So we finished in America, and Los Angeles was a place we’d spent a lot of time in. So we decided to settle down here, and that’s where we started the writing process. We were looking for studios, and Sunset Sound came up. It’s the place where Billy Bush who mixed the first record had recommended, and he actually ended up engineering with us in Sunset Sound. There’s a lot of great producers out here, I mean we worked with Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Beck, Nine Inch Nails, Paramore, Gnarles Barkly, et al) on a couple of tracks, and so that was great.”
“The process of mixing, we’d always wanted to work with Alan Moulder, because he did a lot of records with our favourite groups like Nine Inch Nails and Smashing Pumpkins, which was why we headed over to London for that process. Working with someone who’s worked with and on records which we grew up with and that inspired us was just absolutely incredible.”
“It’s funny that we were on the road together for two years and the second we got off the road we all couldn’t wait to live together again! We were all living together, writing together, working together, heading out to the same rehearsal space, going straight from there in to the studio for a month, then off to London to mix for a month, now back on the road together for the last couple of months, and it’s all been going really, really well.”
Think you’ve never heard a song by TNAF before? You are quite probably wrong. Passive Me, Aggressive You quickly became a pop culture darling; rapidly pervading all walks of commercials, television shows, and even video games in less than a year. When queried, Dave is quick to express that it was no way intentional, and that the places in which their music can be heard are carefully considered.
“You’ve got your entire life to write your first record, and so we’d been working together performing gigs and stuff. We’d released two EPs before Passive Me…, and decided it was a bout time we came together and wrote a record. So no, we didn’t expect any of that (popularity). Our ideas of grandeur were to be able to get at least some New Zealand music out of the country, and to be able to work in Australia, or something like that. Maybe to blogs and YoutTube, things like that, but then it really took off in a way we never really imagined. So were really lucky and very thankful.”
“We’re really quite diligent with what we do and don’t confirm, so it’s always really exciting. I’m never really embarrassed about it if a song comes on the radio, or how I’ve very quickly become a fan of Gossip Girl from being synced to it (laughs). It’s only ever really exciting, because it’s something we’ve always found very important; to have creative control over what we create.”
Although In Rolling Waves was a larger undertaking to produce, the band have contrasted the larger production by eliminating backing tracks from live their more recent live shows.
“Passive Me was a much bigger sounding record because of all the layering, but something that was one of the main considerations for In Rolling Waves was that everything is performed live”, the bassist elaborates.
“We’ve even re-worked some of the tracks from Passive Me to suit it. A lot of music now relies very heavily on backing tracks, sometimes you’ll see maybe two people on stage but there’s no bass guitarist and a whole bunch of drums, and you wonder where all the other music is coming from.”
“People go to see live music for a reason, to experience what they’ve been listening to. Part of that experience for us has been writing parts specifically so they could be performed live. So we are very much a live band, though there’s still a lot of electronic elements, they’re all performed live. It’s become quite an intense set up for us now! (laughs).”
Not just aurally stripped back, In Rolling Waves also boasts particularly monochromatic cover art, which contrasts greatly to the blistering cover of TNAF’s prior release.
“It was somewhat intentional. We’re still working with a group Special Problems who did all the artwork and videos for Passive Me, Aggressive You, and for the first two EPs. They stayed for all the artwork and videos for In Rolling Waves, too. The monochromatic theme was intentional, because this record is a lot less eclectic and a lot more black and white, and a lot less metaphorical. It’s a lot more obvious.”
“There’s a different flower for each song, and they represent something for each song, be it musically or lyrically. There is relevance throughout the imagery along with the music too. It was definitely a very holistic approach to everything.”
With a spot high in the ranks of 2014’s Big Day Out tour, it’s no wonder Dave is stoked to be involved in such a hallowed national music event, especially when it comes to who TNAF will share a stage with at the festival.
“We’re so, so excited! In terms of the line up, Grouplove are a band that took off around the same time as us, and they’re from here in LA. We’re good friends with those guys, and they’re of a similar ilk to us, I guess, being on their second record now as well. It’ll be great to see those guys, and to be able to be in Australia and New Zealand with them.”
“The 1975 are blowing up incredibly now, and again to see Deftones back on the line up is fucking awesome! We did Big Day Out in 2011, I think it was, and Deftones were on that bill as well. They were one of the bands I was watching every day, they’re incredible.”
Dave’s glee for seeing mammoth stalwart bands aside, there’s no doubt The Naked And Famous are a band worth taking the time to see at this year’s BDO. With an ever maturing sound and immensely dedicated work ethic, they look deservedly set to grace stages globally for many years to come.
Todd Gingell
“I was just playing Gameboy, actually. I’ve been playing Mario Kart, but I’m headed out tonight to get the new Batman game that’s just come out.”
A doubtlessly hard working and busy band, it’s a surprise Dave finds much down time for Gameboy between the release of TNAF’s sophomore album In Rolling Waves, and the relentless global tour schedule that has subsequently accompanied it. Although New Zealand born, the band have – tours aside - primarily resided in LA since the release of their mega successful independently released first album Passive Me, Aggressive You back in 2010.
“(I’m in) Los Angeles, Hollywood. The place I’m staying at now is a good friend of mine’s, and it’s actually pretty close to the studio we recorded In Rolling Waves at, at Sunset Sound. It’s just down the road, right in the heart of Hollywood.”
Written and recorded in Hollywood while the band shared a house together, Dave elaborates on the particulars of how completing In Rolling Waves became a globe trotting affair, and the collected acclamation of those who helped the record become a finished product.
“Well, the process of actually writing and recording wasn’t really a hugely conscious one. We finished touring Passive Me, Aggressive You, and we were looking for a place to stay which was a lot more central than New Zealand, y’know? New Zealand is obviously very far away from anything; You have to take a thirty-something hour flight to get to London, and a twelve or so hour flight to Los Angeles, etcetera, etcetera… So we finished in America, and Los Angeles was a place we’d spent a lot of time in. So we decided to settle down here, and that’s where we started the writing process. We were looking for studios, and Sunset Sound came up. It’s the place where Billy Bush who mixed the first record had recommended, and he actually ended up engineering with us in Sunset Sound. There’s a lot of great producers out here, I mean we worked with Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Beck, Nine Inch Nails, Paramore, Gnarles Barkly, et al) on a couple of tracks, and so that was great.”
“The process of mixing, we’d always wanted to work with Alan Moulder, because he did a lot of records with our favourite groups like Nine Inch Nails and Smashing Pumpkins, which was why we headed over to London for that process. Working with someone who’s worked with and on records which we grew up with and that inspired us was just absolutely incredible.”
“It’s funny that we were on the road together for two years and the second we got off the road we all couldn’t wait to live together again! We were all living together, writing together, working together, heading out to the same rehearsal space, going straight from there in to the studio for a month, then off to London to mix for a month, now back on the road together for the last couple of months, and it’s all been going really, really well.”
Think you’ve never heard a song by TNAF before? You are quite probably wrong. Passive Me, Aggressive You quickly became a pop culture darling; rapidly pervading all walks of commercials, television shows, and even video games in less than a year. When queried, Dave is quick to express that it was no way intentional, and that the places in which their music can be heard are carefully considered.
“You’ve got your entire life to write your first record, and so we’d been working together performing gigs and stuff. We’d released two EPs before Passive Me…, and decided it was a bout time we came together and wrote a record. So no, we didn’t expect any of that (popularity). Our ideas of grandeur were to be able to get at least some New Zealand music out of the country, and to be able to work in Australia, or something like that. Maybe to blogs and YoutTube, things like that, but then it really took off in a way we never really imagined. So were really lucky and very thankful.”
“We’re really quite diligent with what we do and don’t confirm, so it’s always really exciting. I’m never really embarrassed about it if a song comes on the radio, or how I’ve very quickly become a fan of Gossip Girl from being synced to it (laughs). It’s only ever really exciting, because it’s something we’ve always found very important; to have creative control over what we create.”
Although In Rolling Waves was a larger undertaking to produce, the band have contrasted the larger production by eliminating backing tracks from live their more recent live shows.
“Passive Me was a much bigger sounding record because of all the layering, but something that was one of the main considerations for In Rolling Waves was that everything is performed live”, the bassist elaborates.
“We’ve even re-worked some of the tracks from Passive Me to suit it. A lot of music now relies very heavily on backing tracks, sometimes you’ll see maybe two people on stage but there’s no bass guitarist and a whole bunch of drums, and you wonder where all the other music is coming from.”
“People go to see live music for a reason, to experience what they’ve been listening to. Part of that experience for us has been writing parts specifically so they could be performed live. So we are very much a live band, though there’s still a lot of electronic elements, they’re all performed live. It’s become quite an intense set up for us now! (laughs).”
Not just aurally stripped back, In Rolling Waves also boasts particularly monochromatic cover art, which contrasts greatly to the blistering cover of TNAF’s prior release.
“It was somewhat intentional. We’re still working with a group Special Problems who did all the artwork and videos for Passive Me, Aggressive You, and for the first two EPs. They stayed for all the artwork and videos for In Rolling Waves, too. The monochromatic theme was intentional, because this record is a lot less eclectic and a lot more black and white, and a lot less metaphorical. It’s a lot more obvious.”
“There’s a different flower for each song, and they represent something for each song, be it musically or lyrically. There is relevance throughout the imagery along with the music too. It was definitely a very holistic approach to everything.”
With a spot high in the ranks of 2014’s Big Day Out tour, it’s no wonder Dave is stoked to be involved in such a hallowed national music event, especially when it comes to who TNAF will share a stage with at the festival.
“We’re so, so excited! In terms of the line up, Grouplove are a band that took off around the same time as us, and they’re from here in LA. We’re good friends with those guys, and they’re of a similar ilk to us, I guess, being on their second record now as well. It’ll be great to see those guys, and to be able to be in Australia and New Zealand with them.”
“The 1975 are blowing up incredibly now, and again to see Deftones back on the line up is fucking awesome! We did Big Day Out in 2011, I think it was, and Deftones were on that bill as well. They were one of the bands I was watching every day, they’re incredible.”
Dave’s glee for seeing mammoth stalwart bands aside, there’s no doubt The Naked And Famous are a band worth taking the time to see at this year’s BDO. With an ever maturing sound and immensely dedicated work ethic, they look deservedly set to grace stages globally for many years to come.
Todd Gingell