Happy gets to know the Northern Beaches rockers, Edgecliff, as they chat about their new music and upcoming gigs.
The infectiously energetic group that is Edgecliff dive deep into the years spent honing their tone, which taps into a rich vein of retro-hard rock and psychedelia.
Coming from the release of their stellar debut single Waitless and a breakout gig at Old Manly Boatshed, Edgecliff chat about the ambitions they have for their sound, ahead of the upcoming show opening at Underproof.
HAPPY: Hey boys! Where do you find yourselves today?
EDGECLIFF: Hey! We actually all just knocked off work and are kicking back in our jam room.
HAPPY: You guys have been a band for over 4 years now. How did the group start out?
EDGECLIFF: Well the group originally started as three-piece consisting of Will, Kai and Jacob. We were only jamming on old grunge covers after school just for fun. It wasn’t until Jesse and Nick joined the band that we started to take this seriously. We’ve always been best mates all through high school and really bonded over our love for music. These days it feels like we’ve been a band for as long as we can remember and have been through a lot together which reflects through our music.
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HAPPY: Congratulations on the release of your single Waitless. How would you describe the style of the track?
EDGECLIFF: Thanks heaps! We are stoked. We would describe the style of the track as hard edge, ’70s psyche rock/post-grunge. Something along the lines of that. It’s sort of hard to pin down to one genre due to our long list of influences. We want this song to be a party track that allows everyone to get involved.
HAPPY: Is Waitless a look into the direction you’re hoping to take the band in?
EDGECLIFF: We would consider this song an introduction to our sound. It was the first ‘benchmark’ track we wrote, which is why we are stoked to have it as our debut single. The general direction of the band is to keep rock n’ roll prominent and alive and revive the live rock scene. We are having heaps of fun and want to bring the fun to everyone else as well as continuing to record and release music, playing live shows for as long as we can.
HAPPY: Your gig at the Old Manly Boatshed was a cracker! We got to hear you play a few unreleased songs. Tell us about those.
EDGECLIFF: Yeah it was great fun and thanks for coming down. Yes, there were a number of unreleased originals that we played on the night, some of those will be recorded mid-year to make up our first ever EP. We’ve already recorded our second single and it will be released very soon. Stay tuned on our socials for more information.
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HAPPY: How does your creative process work for making new music, considering that all five of you are vocalists?
EDGECLIFF: Our music is generated naturally, usually stemming from a riff or bass line or even just an idea. Some songs have taken one jam and others have taken a few years to get where they are now and it is still a fair collaboration between all of us. In terms of vocals, Will is our lead singer, however, we work closely alongside him to provide supportive group vocals and harmonies at every chance. Through years of listening to bands such as The Beatles and The Eagles, we strive to be as vocally equipped as our heroes and have learned not to underestimate experimenting vocally.
HAPPY: What has been the highlight of working together so far?
EDGECLIFF: Far out that is a hard question, too many to choose from. However, if we had to pin some down, last year we went on two trips as a band. Our experiences up at The Grove Studios was unbelievable. We are incredibly lucky to have recorded for the first time in such a great space, as well as to work with our producer Callum Howell, who is an incredibly talented bloke.
We also went up to Will’s family farm in Yarramalong late last year with our director Tom Skelly and had a blast, capturing some great footage as well as sinking a few tins. The general environment we’ve created around afternoon jams is continuously enjoyable. We have a lot of laughs and try not to take ourselves too seriously while we’re doing what we love, this helps the creative process extensively.
HAPPY: Who would be your dream artist or band to work with?
EDGECLIFF: This is too hard to narrow down so we’ll just give you all five of our answers:
Will – Tame Impala.
Jacob/Kai – Violent Soho.
Nick – Pink Floyd.
Jesse – Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers.
HAPPY: It’s been announced that you will be opening for The Chats at Underproof. How do you guys feel?
EDGECLIFF: We are incredibly stoked to be a part of the Underproof production, as well as working alongside you wonderful folks at Happy Mag. As for opening for The Chats we couldn’t be keener to support a band with such a great following. It’s going to be a great show with a great atmosphere, everyone should definitely get their tickets.
