Over the last decade British India have become leaders in the indie music scene, something that’s reflected in the success of their four previous studio albums and fiercely loyal fan base. Their fifth studio album, Nothing Touches Me, sees the four passionate Melbournians back where they belong – riding the airwaves and out on the road. I caught up with their affable front man Declan Melia during some well-earned downtime in Sydney this week. “I’m enjoying the beautiful weather while we have a few days off,” Melia smiles. He has a soft-spoken charm that puts you at ease and makes you believe he’d be just as comfortable discussing the works of Jean-Paul Sartre as he is in front of thousands of screaming fans.
“We’re all feeling really good. When we toured for Nothing Touches Me earlier this year the album was so new it almost didn’t feel real – whereas this time around we’re more used to the set-list,” he explains. “The material has already been tested and we know what works and what doesn’t. So we’re a lot less tense and able to enjoy ourselves more.”
People may be surprised to hear Melia express doubts about their music, but it’s their drive to produce albums that they can be proud of and what sets them apart from others in the pop/rock world today.
“I look at successful music, and sometimes the lyrics feel like they’re an afterthought,” Melia says. “You can get tricked into this mentality where you think that stupidity sells or that the lowest common denominator stuff is what it takes to get yourself heard on the radio or to get 80 million downloads.
“Our credo from the beginning is to always try to be the antithesis of that,” he continues. “Especially in this country, pop music should be intelligent and clever – we should aim a little higher. I hope we never fall into that trap – songs don’t need to be stupid to be accessible.”
Clearly Melia knows a thing or two about song writing as all five of their studio albums have debuted in the ARIA Charts Top Ten. However, life hasn’t always been so rosy for British India. Despite the success of their fourth album, Controller, in a 2013 interview with Forte Magazine, Melia revealed the band had almost reached breaking point.
“After the release of our third album Avalanche we all decided to take a holiday, but it was the worst thing we could have done. Shock [their former label] went broke and our studio got flooded. It felt like the perfect storm, and for the first time we had shocking writers’ block which has never happened before and it coincided with us moving into a new studio. So it was really hard not to get into a superstitious head-space about how the change in vibe had affected our ability to write and we got really fearful we wouldn’t get it back,” Melia says.
Not only did they get “it” back, they came back with a vengeance. Controller went Gold and they sold over 35,000 copies of the hit single ‘I Can Make You Love Me’, with that track earning them a place in triple j’s Hottest 100 for the fifth time. “The moment Controller came out it reaffirmed everything for us. It really did feel like the beginning of British India part two.”
With a new-found passion and dedication to the band, Melia says the weeks spent in their new studio working on their latest album were an incredible time. “The writing of Nothing Touches Me was just a dream. Everyone was in a really good headspace, the ideas were coming from all four members of the band. It was a real pleasure to write and it comes through on songs like ‘Suddenly’ and ‘Angela’. They’re more joyous than anything we’d done in the past, and I think it was just reflecting the feeling of the band.”
While Melia seems happy and contented to soak up the sun, sand and sounds in Sydney during our chat, he admits his hearts lies closer to home in, Forte’s stomping ground, the Surf Coast of Victoria. They’ve planned to wrap up their year of touring with shows in Lorne, Barwon Heads and Mornington. “It’s a good way to cap the tour off. We just look at it as a holiday at the end of the year. Lots of people are around the area for Christmas and we love the pubs there so we might as well get up and play a few songs!
“We don’t think of tours as big business ventures like planning some military coup to conquer target markets or anything, we just love to play and it’s been pretty well documented that we will play anywhere that will have us!” he laughs. “We just like to play as much as possible.”
The bands laidback attitude is one of the reasons they’ve amassed such a large and devoted following. They’re able to connect with a small audience at an intimate gig or blow the speakers out at a sold out headline show. “It’s really important for us to retain the ability to do both. I don’t think anyone wants this band to become a stadium act that can only play with a big backdrop and the most deluxe amps, “ Melia says, “because our best shows these days hark back to when we were playing at tiny pubs and clubs when we were first starting out. We’re pretty comfortable going from playing the Forum in Melbourne to a small pub on the Surf Coast.”
Written by Natalie Rogers
When & Where: Theatre Royal, Castlemaine – December 18, Lorne Hotel, Lorne – December 26 & Barwon Heads Hotel, Barwon Heads – December 29