Perth outfit Imperials coined the term “Perthchester” to describe their 90’s Manchester influenced sound with an added Australian edge. They have been busy in the studio the last few months but are now ready to roll out their debut EP Get Off On The Ride this Friday, October 7 at Amplifier Bar. We had a chat to guitarist/vocalist Ben Pattison ahead of the auspicious event.
As a band you are relatively new to the live scene, have you guys been playing together as Imperials for a while? How did you get together?
We’ve almost been together for about a year. Mike (Bass) and I always played music together but it took us literally years and years to find a drummer who played the way the songs commanded. Once we found Connor (drums) and it was all systems go then Scott (Guitar) joined and we thought we’d better get gigging. This launch will be our fifth gig!
The first single “Saturday Morning” sounds great. Where did you record the EP and with who? What’s it all about?
Thanks mate, we recorded it at Rada studios with Matt Gio, who’s done loads of great records. His stuff with Stillwater Giants is epic. It was a pleasure to work with him and we got a pretty unique sound on the recording. It was actually pretty much done in one day! It’s a slow-burning track that builds up to the end but its still instant – you don’t have to think about it. What’s it about? Just being grateful for what you have I suppose, and that if you let it, everything will be on the right path.
How did you find writing for the EP? Do you have a strong sense of the song before entering the studio or do you use the studio time to create around production?
Yeah before we go in it’s almost fully realised. The lyrics, the structure, the guitar solos and drum fills – you name it and it’s done in the rehearsal room or in my head so when we go in we can smash it out like lightening. Sound is the main thing we work on in the studio, the sonics. Its not like it’s a closed shop for ideas, far from it, but when we’re in there you’re on the clock, you cant afford to waste time. Plus music’s a lot like football. The first idea is generally the best one 99% of the time.
There seems to be a wave of Britpop bands emerging out of Australia with bands like Sticky Fingers and DMAs doing big things on radio. Do you think Australia is about to see a rising aussie-brit-pop movement?
Its not we intentionally go out to make music that sounds British, although in our case three quarters of the band are indeed poms! I mean you could say we sound just as much like You Am I as we do the Creation or Factory Records bands. Its just we actively don’t relate to much American stuff – the yanks of the last 20 years haven’t got a patch on the crop from the 20 years before that.
Regarding the country though, maybe it’s the fact that during the 1990s there was a bit of snobbishness to the music the poms were sending over. Grunge rained supreme here for years after the rest of the world had gotten over it! Nowadays bands want to get played on the radio and don’t care about all that underground bollocks. All the bands who have that “British sound” tag in many cases actually want to follow in the footsteps of the great Australian bands our parents listened to like Cold Chisel, Hoodu Gurus, Paul Kelly, Crowded House, Choirboys, Midnight Oil. For the moment its just a marketing tag, what will probably happen is this so-called Aussie Britpop thing is gonna lose the Britpop tag and just be synonymous for Australian rock bands.
But for me, the positivity of British music is what always attracted me to it, the big choruses and the melodic guitar lines. All I’ve ever wanted is for people to listen to my songs and feel like whatever they’re up against they can make it. If that sounds British no worries.
You are releasing a physical disc at the launch, how important do you think it is in this age of digital music and streaming platforms that a punter can purchase the album and hold the music in their hands?
Now that the Internet has taken away the mysteriousness of bands, it just gives an extra significance to what you’re doing. Plus when you physically have to put something on you pay more attention to it, it’s instantly more valuable. I wouldn’t have gotten into so many great bands if I hadn’t have liked the front cover and took a chance. Plus if I like something I want to be able to show people it or cherish it – you cant cherish an MP3 or say to a girl “come over and look at my iTunes collection”. All the best things in life you hold in your hands and music’s no different.
Catch the Imperials Get Off On The Ride EP Launch this Friday, October 7 at Amplifier Bar, with by Odlaw, Buzz Aldrin & the Second Best and The Slippery Gypsies. Check out the Facebook event here.
