If you like fun, you’re probably already a First Beige fan. If not, you’ve joined the party just in time for their debut record.
First Beige are easily one of the most vibrant outfits to come out of Meanjin/Brisbane in recent times, sharing their thirst for eclectic dance boogies with every corner of the globe.
The six-piece have just dropped their first record Doplar, an eight-track exhibition of everything that’s good about sonic dance.
We caught up with Julie from the band to chat about the new album, winging it, and which movie she would rewrite the soundtrack to if she had the chance.
HAPPY: I first fell in love with First Beige when I heard Rumours, it’s so jazzy and fun. Do many of you have a background in classical or jazz?
JULIA: Some of us have backgrounds in classical or jazz but most of the time we just wing it hahahah.
HAPPY: Do you have a favourite funny or wholesome memory from a gig so far?
JULIA: One that comes to mind is a live session we did for Baked Goods at BigSound 2019, we were recording a live vid for Oscars Car but playing a gig 300 meters down the road straight after the session. After the final take of the video, we had about 7 minutes to pack up and sprint down the road with all our gear to make the show. So stressful but so much fun!!
HAPPY: Congrats on the new album! Where did the name Doplar come from?
JULIA: We had a lot of ideas for the album name, I think we liked the idea of it being sound related we originally had ‘Doppler’ based on the sound phenomenon ‘The Doppler Effect’ but we wanted to personalise it so we landed on Doplar.
HAPPY: What sort of music were you listening to while writing the album?
JULIA: A whole range of stuff! Lots of dance bangers, lots of soul and funk and lots of singer songwriter type stuff. In terms of sonics a lot of the production was really inspired by dub, we wanted it to feel spacious and have lots organic delays and reverbs.
HAPPY: The Through Time video was a really cool concept, where did that idea come from?
JULIA: The concept kind of revealed itself to us after I think… we knew we were going to do some 3D stuff and some loose time concepts but, on the day, we just rocked up and filmed and recorded the songs through the arvo into night. It wasn’t until a bit later when the director Tom decided to scan in the building and build the 3D world around the time concept.
HAPPY: I read that Different to You was written with a sunset in mind. Are visuals like that often part of your songwriting and recording process?
JULIA: We like to have a strong concept for each song for sure, there’s definitely ideas like that in mind in the writing process. Like if we want to write something clubby to play in the late night sets, we’ll write a track for that or if we want a track for the slower moments in the set we’ll lean more that way. It just comes down to what we’re feeling at the time.
HAPPY: I don’t know why but I get movie soundtrack vibes from a lot of your music. If you could rewrite the soundtrack to any film, what would it be?
JULIA: Hmmmm, that’s a hard one, weirdly first thing that comes to mind is No Country for Old Men. I feel like there’s a lot of space to work with in that film and you could be super minimal and atmospheric with your writing.
Doplar, the debut album by First Beige is available on all major streaming platforms. Get a taste for the album below.
Interview by Lochie Schuster.
