Keith Murray - We Are Scientists (27/04/2014)
We Are Scientists are currently in the thick of touring following the recent release of their album, TV en Français, only a month ago. We at The 59th Sound were fortunate to catch some time with front man, Keith Murray, while the band were in Austria for one night only. After Keith asked for any news from the future, with it being Thursday morning in Melbourne while Austria were still stuck seeing out Wednesday, we got to talking about the process for the new album.
“It was not a terribly honed process. The original idea was that we wanted to make a 90s college rock album, and we wrote a bunch of songs for that kind of album and then realised we’re not a 90s college rock band. So we kind of started all over again without any specific aesthetic in mind, and it sort of tumbled out fairly quickly. Once we started to write whatever came out of us it came pretty easily.”
There was, however, some carryover from the band’s 90s college rock exploration, Keith revealed, with the song ‘Sprinkles’ for example.
“I think it was because that was the one that fit least in that group of songs. We talked about recording those songs as an EP, just really quickly after this album, but I think that we worked them for so long and it’s really been around two to two and a half years since we wrote those songs. So we decided just scrap them and write new songs, even though we liked them. It just seems so long ago that there’s no point lingering over them.”
As for the listeners’ response to TV en Français, an album which stretches a little more stylistically compared to older material, Keith seemed pretty happy and showed a sense of loyalty in the band’s central fan base.
“It’s been really good. I guess we’ve got a fairly non-objective pool that we’re dealing with since it’s the people who come to our shows who are more likely to enjoy it. It seems like it’s going down well with people who are predisposed to like We Are Scientists. In the past we’ve tended to respond to our prior album, in terms of the style of music. I write some pretty short, up tempo, danceable songs, so I think this time we were more interested in stretching our legs a little bit and exploring styles. Also, I think deciding not to follow this very specific stylistic idea we had at the outset has allowed us to do whatever we want.”
Since the release of the new album, Australian fans have been talking about how the riff that introduces ‘Dumb Luck’ sounds a lot like that in the Wolfmother song ‘Joker and the Thief’. Not at all familiar with the song though, Keith put it down to being either a coincidental or subconscious thing.
“It’s pretty funny. I’ve actually only heard it from our Australian press rep. Pretty much the only Wolfmother song I’ve ever heard was the one that was like (mimics the opening riff to ‘Woman’). I listened to the song that people said it sounds like and it does sound an awful lot like it.”
Naturally, we moved on to more mindful influences, but more so any unexpected forces which may be present behind his music-making.
“I feel like this album is the hardest for me to specifically attribute inspiration toward. For our older albums I could definitely tell you where stuff came from. I do know the song, ‘Return the Favor’ started out as like an anti-Radiohead song (laughs). I am the only person who really does not enjoy what Radiohead is doing these days and I think I started that by just messing around with some effects such us fingerpicking in a Thom Yorkey way, but because I dislike that stuff. It still inspired me though, so I guess I owe them. There’s also ‘Take an Arrow’, which is the last song on the record. That was one of the last songs we wrote for this record, and it is the most 90s college rock-sounding. I guess it’s because I sort of missed trying to write like old The Lemonheads or like Dinosaur Jr. I think that kind of trickled onto the album in that way, even though none of the songs I wrote when I was trying to make that album actually made it onto the album. ‘Take an Arrow’ is like the last vestige of that inspiration.”
The last time We Are Scientists made it down to Australia was in 2010 for Splendour in the Grass. We discussed what Keith took from that visit as well as what the plans are for their return in May this year.
“We did Splendour in the Grass, and then played two shows in Melbourne and in Sydney with Ash. We knew Ash a little bit at that point but on that two date tour we became really friendly with them, and Tim, the lead singer of Ash, lives in New York. After that tour we became really close friends, so we have Australia to thank for one of my closest friends. Every time I come out to Australia the jetlag really destroys me. I’m trying to plan to come out a little early this time to hang out. Then by the time the shows come I’m on a normal schedule. We’re going to Perth for the first time ever on this tour, so that’s really exciting. We’ve only ever done Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. Actually, we did a Newcastle show once. It was good. Melbourne is like the densest city in Australia, and it feels most like the United States to me. I never really know where to go in Melbourne though. I need someone to show me where to go. If anybody in Melbourne wants to show us around they should get in contact somehow. We need guidance down there!”
We got to talking about how much significance science has to members of the band, given their name. Then, upon revealing Australia’s decision to no longer have a Science Minister, Keith had an, at the very least, amusing reaction.
“I guess we’re interested in science, although none of us really have any aptitude for science, so it doesn’t really reflect any qualifications. What does a Science Minister even do? Why did they get rid of them? Were they using science for their own personal gain?”
Finally, he let slip what might be next for We Are Scientists, despite the band still coming off pretty early from their latest album.
“We sort of have our heads down and are just ploughing through touring at the moment. We’ve been talking about trying to do some recording by the end of Summer. We’ve got European Summer festivals going throughout it but we’re hopefully going to try to have some material ready to record by the end of Summer, and turn some music around really quickly. It only seems like a fool’s errand but, to make that declaration when the songs aren’t ready yet.”
Nathan Fioritti
WE ARE SCIENTISTS
Wednesday, 28 May - The Corner, Melbourne
Thursday, 29 May - The Zoo, Brisbane
Friday, 30 May - The Factory, Sydney
Saturday, 31 May - Amplifier, Perth
“It was not a terribly honed process. The original idea was that we wanted to make a 90s college rock album, and we wrote a bunch of songs for that kind of album and then realised we’re not a 90s college rock band. So we kind of started all over again without any specific aesthetic in mind, and it sort of tumbled out fairly quickly. Once we started to write whatever came out of us it came pretty easily.”
There was, however, some carryover from the band’s 90s college rock exploration, Keith revealed, with the song ‘Sprinkles’ for example.
“I think it was because that was the one that fit least in that group of songs. We talked about recording those songs as an EP, just really quickly after this album, but I think that we worked them for so long and it’s really been around two to two and a half years since we wrote those songs. So we decided just scrap them and write new songs, even though we liked them. It just seems so long ago that there’s no point lingering over them.”
As for the listeners’ response to TV en Français, an album which stretches a little more stylistically compared to older material, Keith seemed pretty happy and showed a sense of loyalty in the band’s central fan base.
“It’s been really good. I guess we’ve got a fairly non-objective pool that we’re dealing with since it’s the people who come to our shows who are more likely to enjoy it. It seems like it’s going down well with people who are predisposed to like We Are Scientists. In the past we’ve tended to respond to our prior album, in terms of the style of music. I write some pretty short, up tempo, danceable songs, so I think this time we were more interested in stretching our legs a little bit and exploring styles. Also, I think deciding not to follow this very specific stylistic idea we had at the outset has allowed us to do whatever we want.”
Since the release of the new album, Australian fans have been talking about how the riff that introduces ‘Dumb Luck’ sounds a lot like that in the Wolfmother song ‘Joker and the Thief’. Not at all familiar with the song though, Keith put it down to being either a coincidental or subconscious thing.
“It’s pretty funny. I’ve actually only heard it from our Australian press rep. Pretty much the only Wolfmother song I’ve ever heard was the one that was like (mimics the opening riff to ‘Woman’). I listened to the song that people said it sounds like and it does sound an awful lot like it.”
Naturally, we moved on to more mindful influences, but more so any unexpected forces which may be present behind his music-making.
“I feel like this album is the hardest for me to specifically attribute inspiration toward. For our older albums I could definitely tell you where stuff came from. I do know the song, ‘Return the Favor’ started out as like an anti-Radiohead song (laughs). I am the only person who really does not enjoy what Radiohead is doing these days and I think I started that by just messing around with some effects such us fingerpicking in a Thom Yorkey way, but because I dislike that stuff. It still inspired me though, so I guess I owe them. There’s also ‘Take an Arrow’, which is the last song on the record. That was one of the last songs we wrote for this record, and it is the most 90s college rock-sounding. I guess it’s because I sort of missed trying to write like old The Lemonheads or like Dinosaur Jr. I think that kind of trickled onto the album in that way, even though none of the songs I wrote when I was trying to make that album actually made it onto the album. ‘Take an Arrow’ is like the last vestige of that inspiration.”
The last time We Are Scientists made it down to Australia was in 2010 for Splendour in the Grass. We discussed what Keith took from that visit as well as what the plans are for their return in May this year.
“We did Splendour in the Grass, and then played two shows in Melbourne and in Sydney with Ash. We knew Ash a little bit at that point but on that two date tour we became really friendly with them, and Tim, the lead singer of Ash, lives in New York. After that tour we became really close friends, so we have Australia to thank for one of my closest friends. Every time I come out to Australia the jetlag really destroys me. I’m trying to plan to come out a little early this time to hang out. Then by the time the shows come I’m on a normal schedule. We’re going to Perth for the first time ever on this tour, so that’s really exciting. We’ve only ever done Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. Actually, we did a Newcastle show once. It was good. Melbourne is like the densest city in Australia, and it feels most like the United States to me. I never really know where to go in Melbourne though. I need someone to show me where to go. If anybody in Melbourne wants to show us around they should get in contact somehow. We need guidance down there!”
We got to talking about how much significance science has to members of the band, given their name. Then, upon revealing Australia’s decision to no longer have a Science Minister, Keith had an, at the very least, amusing reaction.
“I guess we’re interested in science, although none of us really have any aptitude for science, so it doesn’t really reflect any qualifications. What does a Science Minister even do? Why did they get rid of them? Were they using science for their own personal gain?”
Finally, he let slip what might be next for We Are Scientists, despite the band still coming off pretty early from their latest album.
“We sort of have our heads down and are just ploughing through touring at the moment. We’ve been talking about trying to do some recording by the end of Summer. We’ve got European Summer festivals going throughout it but we’re hopefully going to try to have some material ready to record by the end of Summer, and turn some music around really quickly. It only seems like a fool’s errand but, to make that declaration when the songs aren’t ready yet.”
Nathan Fioritti
WE ARE SCIENTISTS
Wednesday, 28 May - The Corner, Melbourne
Thursday, 29 May - The Zoo, Brisbane
Friday, 30 May - The Factory, Sydney
Saturday, 31 May - Amplifier, Perth