"By God," he said. "There's gold in this shit!"
They say nature abhors a vacuum. I think that is probably true, because over the past couple of years, a trickle into the nothingness seems to have reached critical mass. In Perth, a wealth of excellent music has begun to flourish which might once only have been dreamt of. Not only that, but the city has been blessed with performances from some of the best artists in the world. These striding efforts are largely due to the actions of some very nice independent artists, promoters and record labels. Let me tell you about the gold!
I often think back fondly to the night of December 16, 2006, when I saw what might have been the debut performances of Astral Travel and Mental Powers (two four-piece bands with equally mind blowing capacities) at the Sex Panther house in Perth. In reality, it was the second show for both - they had played a house party the month before, which I had missed. A recording of one of the songs from Astral Travel's performance that night, taped on Thomas Jeppe's dictaphone, found it's way on to the b-side of their debut 7" this year. Similarly, Mental Powers too ended up on their own 7" in the form of a split with Free Choice (aka Jarrod Zlatic of Fabulous Diamonds) - also their debut release. Both were released on a humble little label named Fifth Column.
I asked Amber, the vocalist of Astral Travel, what she thought of that fateful night.
"It was fun and it was the first time we'd had lots of people listen to us. It was so half-baked and spontaneous and ruinous in numerous ways. That was excellent."
Yes, there was magic hovering. Something was waiting in the wings. Perhaps it was the four litres of red wine I'd consumed, or the dense humidity, but I had a feeling there was something special about these kids. Where had they come from? Something exciting was being unleashed.
Amber Gempton, Tim Loughman, Ruby Jeppe, Amy Loughman and sometimes fifth member Ferron Dearnley (who was reportedly the original vocalist) have had entwined destinies since birth. In Cat's Cradle, Vonnegut talks about a karass, which is basically a group of people who, often unknowingly, work together to achieve a greater goal. I think Astral Travel is a karass. Drifting together through a persistent association throughout their childhood and teenage years, they eventually formed the band under mysterious circumstances.
"We all know each other very well which can be quite helpful and problematic at times. Tim and Amy are brother and sister, Tim's my partner, Ferron is Tim's housemate, Ferron and Ruby are best friends and Ferron and I are best friends. So many different capacities. They're almost like my family now I think. That's how I would describe them. Sort of like a family relationship" says Amber.
Astral Travel plays a brand of music that is somewhat dualistic. On one hand is a contagious, melodic brand of old fashioned pop, weighted, conversely, by an undercurrent of dark, eerie and foreboding tones.
"Yeah it's very typical and structured and all that kind of thing. And it's very rock based. We don't really diverge from bass, guitar and drums and there's only so much you can really do with that. But we do listen to a lot of weird music and I can't help but think that some of it may have come through and maybe would more if we played different instruments."
Amber's haunting vocals overlay interlacing guitar arrangements and stripped back rhythms resulting in an enchanting, mysterious and captivating sound, which is melodic, syncopated and smooth. Tangled with bizarre narratives, a cocktail of something vast and unearthly is formed. Astral Travel has almost (aside from their recent WAMI nomination) managed to avoid the limelight at every turn, despite their amazing songwriting, spellbinding performances and the avid adoration that exists amongst their peers. If not for their debut 45, perhaps everyone would have eventually forgotten that they existed at all, and that would be a tremendous shame.
If Astral Travel were from outer space, I suppose Mental Powers would be from the deep volcanic core. They have a sound that is something like chanting monks or babbling hobos over gypsy guitar with Moondog on percussion. The quartet has changed immensely over the past three years following a minor lineup change and subsequent shift in nature. Over the past 12 months or so, a complete acceleration in the intensity of their sound and tempering of their performance and musical abilities has occurred. Experiencing Mental Powers live has made for some of the most humbling and reflective moments of my life.
Over a cup of tea, I asked Mental Powers' Deni to share some of his feelings, thoughts and memories.
"What I remember from that [Sex Panther] show? It being really fucking hot. Like really hot. Everybody was kind of feeling the pinch of the heat.” Yes, it certainly was hot, but despite that, was there something else in the air? The one thing that definitely seemed to come out of this particular chapter in time was that all of a sudden, lots of people I knew, as well as many new faces, started playing music and throwing house (and other) parties. "That was a good thing,” Deni says. “It was just kind of like [offering] an alternative to the Perth pub culture.” Fortunately, this is a trend that continues today and one that Mental Powers seems particularly enthusiastic about. Most recently, I saw them (as well as an incarnation of Carbuncle) perform at filmmaker Ben Stewart's party – a perfect example of the kind of environment in which this particular energy flourishes. The wholesome legerdemain of a house party is certainly quite unique and very important in a small musical community such as the one bands like Mental Powers and Astral Travel are involved in.
