Interviews, gig fottage and more...
GIRLATONES
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Photo: Izzie Austin
ABOUT THE BAND
2/11/2020
Girlatones is an independent garage band from Melbourne. The four of them got together in 2016 and have been playing their wonky pop-rock around Australia ever since.
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This is a band who knows how to radiate great chilled out vibes to their listeners by playing humoristic and upbeat songs, which goes hand in hand with their pure and easygoing attitude.
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It doesn't seem like Girlatones thrive to be flawless - on the contrary they seem to embrace the real and unpolished sides to life and music - such a very charming aspect to have and something most of us can relate to.
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Jesse Williams
(Guitar, piano, vocals)
Fabian Hunter
(Drums, vocals)
Leah Senior
(Guitar, vocals)
Tam Matlakowski
(Bass, vocals)
Photo: Jamie Wdziekonski
Photo: Jamie Wdziekonski
Photo: Jamie Wdziekonski
MUSIC
Girlatones instrumentation is raw, catchy and and pretty simple which fits in well in their wacky pop style and leaves more room for their listeners to focus on their joyful and honest lyrics.
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In 2017 they released their debut album Fitting In Well where some songs were recorded inside bungalows in the suburbs of Melbourne, and since then the band has released two singles one of which is called Pop Stars.
This song playfully portrays the very real struggles you face as a hard working band who refuse to give up on their dreams of making it in this tough music industry we have.
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In March the band released their second LP Horn If You're Honky. Listen to it here !
Girlatones song 'Pop stars' is just one of their
songs where the self-irony strikes through
ALBUMS OUT
Fitting In Well (2017)
Everybody's Making Pop Music
(2016) - EP
We'd get photographed with cigarettes
Even though we hate the taste of them
Because we're gonna go far
We're going to be pop stars
We've never been good with the alphabet
We could do without most of it
But we can play guitars
And we're going to be pop stars
It can be hard to take
When people don't like your music
And your dreams don't come true
It can be hard to take
When people don't like your music
But there's nothing else that you can do
And you've really got to see it through
We won't get there out of sheer luck
We're sick of all the bands who don't give a fuck
We're really working hard
To make it as pop stars
We just want to play guitars
Someday we'll all be pop stars
But we haven't gotten far
Girlatones - Pop Stars
GIVE THEM A LISTEN!
INTERVIEW WITH JESSE WILLIAMS
How did you first get together as a band?
I started writing songs for Girlatones after Leah gave me some singing lessons. We were looking for a bass player so we asked our friend Tam if he might know of any. He put his hand up for the job which was awesome as he’s an amazing bass player amongst other things.
Our friend Fabian recorded and played on our first EP and was the perfect choice for a drummer when we needed a new one a couple of years ago.
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Where was the first gig you did and how did it go?
The first gig we played was at the Post Office Hotel in Coburg, September 2016. We played without a bass player which felt really weird. We were really nervous. I think we only played for 20 minutes.
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Which venues in Melbourne are your favorites to play in?
We generally like to play in smaller venues. The Merri Creek Tavern, The Retreat front bar & The Tote front bar are some of our favourite places to play. We like the intimacy of being close to the listener. Those spaces are more relaxed and comfortable for us. We would like to try and do our own bigger venue show soon though!
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Did you have high hopes going into this industry or are you mostly doing it for fun?
I mostly just get a kick out of playing my own songs to people after having played as an instrumentalist for other bands for a long time. Playing shows in Girlatones has been an amazing social experience. I’ve gotten to know so many great people through the music community. It’s great to hang out as a band as well regardless of if we’re playing music or not.
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Music is clearly a passion of yours. Has it always been like that?
I started learning piano when I was 6 and I’ve been obsessed with music ever since. Leah, Tam & Fabian are all similar and have learnt and played music from a young age.
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Do you feel like the bands you listened to growing up have inspired your sound today?
I would think so. My parents brought me up on The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Patti Smith, Lou Reed, Neil Young & the Morning Of The Earth soundtrack. When I was a teenager I liked 60’s soul/r&b stuff and Bossa Nova. Later I got into indie pop like the Elephant 6 Collective bands & Belle & Sebastian. I think it all comes out in different ways.
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If you could choose any band or artist in the world to go on tour with, who would you choose and why?
Michael Hurley. We really like his music and from what we’ve heard he seems to get himself into funny situations.
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Are you working on any new material at the moment or do you focus more on doing gigs?
We’re about to release a new LP titled ‘Horn If You’re Honky’ on March 20th (via Lost & Lonesome - AUS / Meritorio EU/World). We will do some shows to celebrate that. We’ve also recorded some new songs recently which we will put towards our next release. It’s fun to balance gigs with recording, we like to do both.
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Cheers!
