British India on their 'Midnight Homie' Tour
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British India on their 'Midnight Homie' Tour

One of Australia’s most loved indie-rock bands, British India came to the dreaded realisation that in order to stay relevant, no creative barriers could interfere with the flow in their latest record, Forgetting The Future (2017). Rejuvenating their fractured artistic chemistry with production expertise from Oscar Dawson, British India discovered the sound they’d always been looking for in their intrepid sixth studio album.
A gentle mix of high-tempo, bravado hip-hop and indie-rock, the record is electrified through the waves of vulnerability and aggression that quiver over the course of Forgetting The Future. With 16 tour dates scheduled for next month, including performances in Ballarat, Melbourne and Geelong, the band are approaching the tour with a freestyle approach. “We haven’t been doing any band stuff for the longest period of time ever in our career which is kind of a conscious decision. We’ll get together maybe a few days before the tour starts and we’ll kick some songs around and play through them, but it’ll probably be more like playing covers and old songs, our favourite songs, maybe writing new songs. There’s not going to be a point where we look at each and say ‘OK what song are we playing next?’ I think that kind of thing really takes the spontaneity out of the live show, which is a thing that’s probably most important to us,” Declan says.
The album represents the evolution of British India as a band, delving down a pathway of raw emotion in its most honest form. With five other albums to draw comparisons against, Declan believes Forgetting The Future is the strongest record the band has ever made. “It’s the record that I’m proudest of. We’ve always said that the day we put out a record that we think is less good than the one we put out before, we will stop doing it. We knew that in the studio and we knew that we had to do something special because it just gets harder,” he explains. “You establish this relationship with your fans and you don’t want to let them down, you don’t want to rip them off by making something half-assed and you want to do something different – so there’s a lot of pressure factors at play. I think that we found a sound on our record that we’d been looking for, for many years.”
Six months since Forgetting The Future entered the Aussie music radar, Declan and his three band buddies, Nic, Will and Matt, decided that it’d be a waste not to do a larger national tour. Having already completed a lap around the country, the four-piece came to an agreeance that they should give it another crack. “When we were little, we’d see a band like Cut Copy or The Presets and they’d work for three years on making an album and then they’d come out and do Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and then they’d take another year off and it’s like ‘gosh, you worked so hard on that album, don’t you want to play more?’ so for us, playing live is our favourite thing to do so we’re just keen to get out there and play again,” Declan says.
Returning off the back of their 2015 album, Nothing Touches Me, Forgetting The Future is the band’s inaugural record produced with Oscar Dawson. Attempting to rehash their usual approach to music in the studio, Declan and the boys found that their old techniques were growing tired. “As soon as we finished touring Nothing Touches Me, we got back together in this really expensive studio in South Yarra, writing music like we had always done, but it wasn’t working. Our philosophy has always been; don’t make a record if it’s going to be average. We thought at what point are we going to stop sinking money at the studio, wasting time? That’s when Oscar Dawson stepped in and said ‘hang on, there’s something here, just try it like this’ and our whole method of working changed. That was the catalyst,” Declan describes of working with the producer.
‘Midnight Homie,’ the second and most upbeat track on the record, was an opportunity for Declan to explore different concepts in his lyrics. While other songs on the record are “sooky” and “whingy” according to Declan, ‘Midnight Homie’ is drenched in bravado hip-hop, exactly his aim. “The lyrics developed really quickly. There are songs on this album that we really slaved over, and then there are songs that just come out of nowhere. Midnight Homie was a bit more defiant, a bit more chest out. The joke was, we wanted to make this song about another band, but we couldn’t think of a band that we didn’t like… either that or we dislike all other bands equally, so this song is to every other musician just to remind them that we’re still the best,” he laughs.
Eleven years since the release of their debut album, Guillotine, the future is looking pretty bright for British India, especially given their recent signing with New York record label AntiFragile. The band’s creativity has certainly flourished since their hay day of 2007, taking bold moves to represent their identity as a band. The cover art for Forgetting The Future is indicative of the album and Declan’s inspirations in writing lyrics for the record. “It encapsulates the sound of the band. You’ve got this classic image of Mary, the Western idea of beauty and then you’ve got these really destructive elements behind it too, and that’s just the way that we write songs,” he says. “There’s a line that we always use, ‘we’re screaming beautiful songs.’ This vulnerable song, and then you sing the hell out of it.”
With their sights set on playing really good live music for their fans, British India are gearing up to party with a range of different communities, New Castle being an old time and nostalgic favourite. “Just tell your readers to come to the show, it’s gonna be a great party!” he requests.
*Interesting fact: Declan, a man of many talents, is returning to university to complete his Arts degree of Philosophy and History. “I’m not going to become a philosopher or a historian but I just love the process and it’s really a pleasure,” he chuckles.
When & Where: Tap House, Bendigo – May 11, Karova Lounge, Ballarat – June 9 & The Barwon Club, Geelong – June 16.
Written by Hannah Kenny