interview: collarbones
I had the privilege to speak to Travis Cook, one half of electronica duo Collarbones (along with Marcus Whale), about the recent release of their debut album Iconography (which you can read a review of here) and their upcoming national tour. They’ve been around since 2007, mixing over the internet, and are ready to finally spend more than two days together, and take on the country.
So, after communicating and putting music together over the internet for so long, any nerves about touring?
Well we played our first show together in 2009, and to be honest it was quite boring, they weren’t as exciting and we were surprised the people even showed up. And even more surprised that people liked it. It sort of taught us that there’s a huge capacity to get better and refine how we play live.
Walk me through the timeline, from meeting over the net in 2007, to forming an album.
We released a few tracks on the internet, and through independent radio quite a while ago. Our online EP got a great response, but even after that we weren’t really considering putting a whole album together. Then we applied for the Soundclash grant, and that was sort of motivation to take it seriously and it just took off from there. It took about a month to piece the whole thing together. The government grant was a real push.
How does it work, really? Putting an album together over the internet seems complicated.
To be honest, we both spend far too much time on the internet, and I usually work alone when it comes to music. So it worked out pretty well, even though we’ve only collaborated in person twice.
What’s the story with Justin Bieber?
Well we both find his level of celebrity very interesting, the crowd he appeals to, what he represents. So it was kind of a joke to play around with his songs, but Marcus really enjoys that stuff. To see how his fame could help ours and how he makes the audience feel.
Who would you say are your major influences?
That’s hard to say, really. We try to keep a broad pool of influences, I think it’s more important to absorb music and learn as much as we can from a variety of different artists. Marcus and I listen to a lot of R&B, so every now and then we’ll go to a show and we just absorb it. I try to keep an open mind.
To date, what shows have you played that really stood out for you?
So far we’ve played about 20 shows, and there were 3 in Sydney that had good momentum. It was the first time we had played for 3 days, one after the other and it was a great feeling. We played a warehouse party in Melbourne a while ago, and that was a lot of fun.
Any big overseas dreams?
I was in Canada late last year, I really enjoyed it so that’s definitely on the cards. We know a few guys who’ve gone over to America, so we keep in touch, so we’ll see where that goes. At the moment we’re just hoping to support bigger bands, and see how the tour goes.
Iconography was released on March 18th via Two Bright Lakes/Remote Control, and they are beginning their tour in Newcastle tonight. Click here for more information and dates.
