Custard made a name for themselves in the 1990s with their quirky, unique and up-beat take on pop music. They followed similarities in sound that famed bands such as Pavement, Pixies and Violent Femmes carved out around a similar time.
Despite 30 years of churning out catchy, driving tunes, the group, comprising of David McCormack, Glenn Thompson, Paul Medew and Matthew Strong, are set to release another Double LP entitled Suburban Curtains today, 11 October.
They are also set to embark upon an Australian wide tour throughout November and December that will see them play at the iconic Theatre Royal in Castlemaine on Sunday 24 November.
Keep up with the latest music news, festivals, interviews and reviews here.
The recording of Suburban Curtains proved to allow for Custard’s spontaneous and time-efficient process of writing, recording and mixing, a process that Glenn Thompson and his bandmates stand by.
“We work quickly, because we like spontaneity,” says Thompson. “In the past, as was the case with this album, we wrote all the songs separately and then we came together at my house, jamming on the acoustics and teaching each other the songs. We recorded that session and put the songs on hold for a little while.
“We went our separate ways and learnt each other’s tunes, which meant that when we hit the recording studio, it only took two days to record. I don’t think any of the songs required more than three takes to finalise in the studio.”
However, the recording sessions themselves were quite unique for the band this time around. Custard had heard of the old Abbey Road hardware at MONA’s Frying Pan studios and made sure they booked in to utilise the historical and quite specific gear.
View this post on Instagram
“Out of all the band members I am the most interested in audio engineering,” he says. “So when I learned of the existence of the studio I jumped at the opportunity to record there. I just thought “we’ve gotta go there, it’s fantastic” but it was also great to be remote so that we could solely concentrate on the album.”
Using the Frying Pan space also allowed for a simplification of the final sound output, all the while generating a richer sound that the band hoped for.
“The desk at Frying Pan has an 8-channel tape machine,” he says. “So that meant we could just go old school and be restricted to only 8 channels. It gave the recordings a certain vibe and meant we didn’t fiddle around too much.
“The sound is big and fat because it’s going through these old electronics and that adds extra harmonics rounding out the sound. It is a little bit hissy here and there, and you can certainly hear that, and that is because those machines aren’t as clean as modern-day electronics, but I think it’s worth it for the extra kind of fatness that comes with it.”
The whole experience came about so fluidly for Custard, who as Thompson describes it, has developed an adhesive musical chemistry so intuitive that each band member can pre-empt the others next manoeuvre.
“We’ve played together for so many years now that we pretty much know where each other’s going. It’s totally intuitive and actually kind of funny. After a while, you start to think “Oh hang on this is uncanny as to how well we understand how each of us play”.”
“Although we don’t really jam much, to me, jamming is long and groove-based, and we’ve done a bit of that, but normally we just pump out short pop songs.”
Custard have indeed been a prolific pop band, Suburban Curtains will be their ninth studio album, not to mention all the other releases that have threaded together their discography. A way of creating that has required ongoing adjustment.
“We’re basically just music geeks,’ says Thompson. “We enable that however we can these days, because we have much more involved lives. We’re not young people that can just do anything we want, and so blocking out the seven or eight weekends during November and December to go on tour, and playing in Hobart as well as Fremantle is a big deal.”
“It’s the only time we see each other. So to just jump on a plane, say “how you doing?” and go and play live makes me feel really lucky. I feel lucky because we are still able to do that.”
Suburban Curtains will act as an echo of the sound we’ve come to love from Custard, whilst incorporating the nuances that are so apparent with growing older.
Tickets to Custard’s nationwide tour are available now and can be purchased here.
