It’s pretty common to start off a piece by highlighting all the exciting things happening in a band or act’s life at that point in time; with U-Bahn I wouldn’t even know where to begin.
Having just played both Kennedy’s Creek and Darebin Music Festivals, recently announcing the re-release of their first album to coincide with their signing to the Manchester-based Melodic Records, a slot at this years Meredith Music Festival and their first-ever European tour; there’s a tonne of stuff to talk about.
Oh, I forgot to mention there is a new album in the works as well…
“We have some pretty big plans for the next album, we want to make it sound huge,” teases the group’s vocalist Lachlan Kenny, and after catching a few new songs in their set at Kennedy’s Creek, I tend to agree. The new music is definitely a lot more drawn-out, really allowing the songs to ebb and flow between huge and minute moments. A very welcome change.
“Currently, Zoe and I are recording all the synths just at either of our houses. We were set to go into session last week but it had to be delayed, but we have some sessions with Tim Dunn. He’s from Sydney and has done a lot of work with the Frowning Clouds before, and his studio which is now in Preston is packed out with equipment spanning from the ’40s to the ’80s, so he has an absolutely insane setup. And then we have drums recorded already and we did that at Flightless with Stu Mackenzie.”
Touching on the difference in recording compared to their debut self-titled album, Lachlan expanded, “I think that it’s definitely different from how I’ve personally done stuff in the past because most of the experience is recording stuff from home. Even though our sessions with Tim have been delayed, we are all super, super excited to record stuff with actually legit equipment.”
With the album not being ready for release just yet, there are only a few chances for us Melbourinites to catch U-Bahn before they go and show the Europeans how unique Australian music can be; and one of those chances is at this years Meredith.
“I think it’s always been a dream for most of the band to play Meredith,” he reveals. “I haven’t actually been to it! I know the rest of the band have been to Meredith and absolutely love it, so I’m really keen to suss it out.
“Especially because I’m the younger one in the group, I’ve seen the Meredith lineup every year and have always wanted to suss it out and now I will be playing there, it’s crazy to think about! The fact that it’s only one stage with a 12,000 capacity is just huge. It’ll be so much fun.”
Meredith Music Festival goes down from Friday, 13th December – Sunday, 15th December.
Written by Alex Callan
Photo by WDZIEKONSKI
