For over 40 years Pseudo Echo have been at the forefront of the Australian Music scene, and Brian Canham, the man behind the songwriting, is someone perennially involved in music in one way or another.
Just this year Canham released the ‘Machine remix’ of Pseudo Echo’s famous single ‘Listening’, the first release of what will be an album of classic Pseudo Echo songs subject to alteration.
Alongside this the band are in the throes of a nationwide tour. Currently in a state of lull, the band will take to the stage of the Theatre Royal in Castlemaine on Saturday 12 October.
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As the walls of the famed regional Victorian venue are set to rattle along with the sounds of Psuedo Echo we’ve come to love, the tour will act as a celebration of the yet to be released album despite many of their famous tracks still being performed in recognisable ways.
“On this tour,” says Canham, “despite being able to hear that the recent remix release is a lot heavier and a bit more aggressive, we will still be playing our setlist with most of the songs in their original format. Although, we will generally be presenting the songs in a more energised manner.”
The band has changed dramatically since they came to be all those decades ago, and this newfound energy can be attributed to the acquisition of new younger band members.
“The girls are probably the biggest inclusion,” says Canham. “The girls have an incredible energy. Abby the drummer is only 20 years old. She was 19 when she joined the band, but she is a star, She’s also the most beautiful little nymph. She’s really energetic, smiles from start to finish and has such a positive energy.
“Our backing vocalist Valentina is the same. She’s an absolute pro, with a huge set of lungs on her. She is also a pro dancer too, which adds a lot of visual excitement to the band.”
Although the injection of youth into the band has played a vital role in adding layers to Pseudo Echo’s live performance, Canham’s devotion to the exploration of music can’t be overlooked as a major contributing factor to the band’s evolution.
“I immersed myself in understanding music because I could see that there was so much influence from the genres that were emerging in the ‘80s. I found it really interesting how I could hear lots of elements from the ‘80s in a lot of new music and I loved how our sound and these new waves of musical genres were starting to melt together.
“So I started playing around with adding a heavier and more aggressive guitar sound into something or a soft sweeping synth sound, always trying to push a new direction a bit. Who knows what lies ahead with how bands and artists are making music in this genre but it’s exciting to play a role in it.”
It was in this vein that the Machine LP was birthed, an album with a hybrid sound that Canham describes as “definitely electronic, it’s got a lot of distorted sounds from guitar and things like that. It’s a new kind of hybrid of electro and metal.”
The creation of the album remains on hold though, as Canham and the band stay committed to performing their live show, a series of gigs that keep having dates added to it.
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“It’s taking me forever to finish the Machine album. It was scheduled to be released in the middle of this tour, but it’s very slow going. I do the remixes as a one-man-show so finding the down time to get into that frame of mind can be a hard thing.”
Juggling the life of a musician can be hard at the best of times, but Brian Canham has achieved a sound sense of balance over the past 40 years of his musical career. This impending album release is an extension of his prowess, and the Australian tour could perhaps be the most vivacious Pseudo Echo tour to date.
This tour will be a must witness for music lovers of all backgrounds.
Pseudo Echo are currently on an Australian wide tour. Tickets can be purchased here.
