The Teskey Brothers on their love of analogue recording equipment and their first performance at Queenscliff Music Festival
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The Teskey Brothers on their love of analogue recording equipment and their first performance at Queenscliff Music Festival

It’s quite common to listen to a band and hear the obvious influence of the decades that came before it, but sometimes a very special act comes along that genuinely sound like they are from that era. This is the case for The Teskey Brothers.

While the influence of Otis Redding, Sam Cooke and the ’67 Memphis Blues is very prevalent in their music, if you were to find their debut LP ‘Half Mile Harvest’ in your local record store, you would fairly assume they were an unknown act from the 1960’s. For The Teskey Brothers, elements of this vintage sound came from the analogue recording equipment used, according to the bands suave lead vocalist Josh Teskey.

“We had a great time with recording it. One of the reasons we were so excited to do this record was Sam’s [lead guitarist] love for analogue recording equipment. So he got hold of an old tape machine, like an ultra ’70s reel-to-reel tape set-up and then we recorded it all analogue which was a really cool adventure,” Josh says. “Not only do you get a really cool sound, but you are slightly limited in what you can do. You can’t copy and paste and edit things in, so that keeps it really fresh and real and that was what we really loved about it.

“I’m of the opinion that it’s almost stupid to record blues and soul music digitally. It’s too polished and always sounds a bit too crystal clear. It really does affect the sound; I really loved the sound of my vocals when they were recorded analogue, because for me it sounded like those old Otis Redding records,” he says.

But it’s not just Josh who is loving the finished product, with the albums first single ‘Pain and Misery’ quickly finding its space in Melbourne community radio stations playlists.

“It’s been amazing for us,” Josh says, “We record music that we love and we have always recorded blues and soul music, but more so because that’s what we enjoyed. It’s been a really good response. Especially considering we didn’t do a whole lot to promote it – it seems everyone’s digging the blues and soul music as much as we are!”

Off the back of the release ‘Half Mile Harvest’,The Teskey Brothers are hitting the road for their first ever Australian headline tour, playing 13 dates across the country. The bad news for fans is that every single show is a sell-out, but the good news is that they will be rounding up the tour with a performance at this years beloved Queenscliff Music Festival, and the guys are stoked about it.

“Absolutely cannot wait. It’s a fantastic festival. We have never played Queenscliff as the Teskey Brothers, we played there when we where about 16/17 with the Ella Thompson band,” Josh explains. “We are regulars on the blues train down there, and it’s an incredible line-up, especially 30/70 – I am a big fan of those guys. Hopefully I get to meet some people backstage, I mean, Bernard Fannings playing! It’ll be great!”

When & Where: Echuca Winter Blues Festival 2017, Echuca – July 27 – 20, Queenscliff Music Festival and Queenscliff – November 24 – 26.

Written by Alex Callan