Surfcoast grunge group The Underhanded are about to release their debut EP, Superpsycho. The EP was recorded at Melbourne’s Birdland studios with producer Rob Long and is due for release later this year.
The Underhanded features Patrick Doolan on vocals, Ian Hawkins on bass, Jarrah Taylor on drums and guitarist Cory Balloch, who says they all really enjoyed recording the EP.
“The recording process was really good. We kind of got it off our backs because we’ve been working to an EP for so long – we’ve tried two times in the past to do it but things have always fallen through. Birdland was really good. We learnt a lot and made the most of it and I think we got the best of what we could in our time there.”
Superpsycho is a kind of tribute to all the songs The Underhanded have written and performed since they formed in 2008, with a good mix of older and more recent material.
“It’s kind of all the best songs from our years of being in the band together,” Cory says. “Two of the songs on there we wrote when we were about 15, and the latest song on there, we were probably about 18 when we wrote it. So it’s kind of like getting all the good songs that we’ve written over the years off our backs so we can move on. It’ll definitely be nostalgic. A lot of people who’ve known about us for a while might be able to pick up the EP and think, ‘I remember them being 16 and playing that song’.”
Cory, Ian and Jarrah are all Anglesea boys originally, while singer Patrick hails from Torquay. Cory describes their musical style as “a mix of grunge, shoegaze and stoner rock”. All four guys attended Oberon High School and all began learning their instruments at about the same time, so forming a band together seemed a natural step. Cory says that learning together was a really helpful experience.
“It was really good actually, because now we just gel really well and understand each other. Sometimes it’s just crazy. We pretty much just picked up our instruments and started a band. It was pretty fun learning because we have really similar influences and similar music tastes, so everything just crosses over and we work really well as a musical group because of that.”
Now that they’ve got a taste for recording, apparently there are plans for a lot more releases. “We’ve got heaps of new stuff,” Cory says. “The EP’s just really old songs, and we’ve been writing heaps since then. So pretty much as soon as we can we’re going to go do another EP.”
The Underhanded are now based in Melbourne and have a Cherry Bar residency coming up on Tuesdays in July and are also booked to play at Brutality Fest in Melbourne on August 2. According to Cory, The Underhanded are having a great time as a group and are as curious as anyone to see how far they can take it.
“We haven’t really set out to be a super, massive famous band. We always thought we could do something with it. We’ve been happy with what we’ve done so far, so I guess it’s all just about taking it as far as we can. We’re in it for the ride.”
Where&When: Cherry Bar, Tuesdays in July
Written by Daniel Waight
