Pisco Sour have masterfully teased listeners of late, drip-feeding the stellar single Sleep in the lead up to their debut EP How Much Is Too Much?.
Heavenly and nostalgic, the lead single was a showcase of the Melbourne band’s potential, and they made good on that promise with the release of its remaining tracklist earlier this month.
Spanning the revelrous indie rock of Crystal Ball to the fuzzy surf grooves of Brain of Yours, the five-track EP arrives fully polished, and kickstarts what’s sure to be a breakout year for the five-piece.
Ahead of their ascent, we caught up with Pisco Sour to chat all things How Much Is Too Much?, creative freedom, and their hopes to appear on a festival bill someday soon.
Catch our full interview with Pisco Sour below, and scroll down to listen to their debut EP How Much Is Too Much?
HAPPY: Tell us about where you are from? What’s the scene like in your neck of the woods?
PISCO: Most of the band have grown up together in the eastern suburbs throughout school, and we formed Pisco Sour after school as an after-hours hobby because of our shared love of all things music.
HAPPY: Can you share the inspiration behind the title “How Much Is Too Much?” and how it reflects the themes of the EP?
PISCO: How Much Is Too Much came about on a band retreat after we’d finished recording the EP.
We didn’t have a name in mind while recording the EP, and the name just came to us all while brainstorming while taking a break as a band down the beach. How Much Is Too Much was our philosophy while recording.
Being a new process for us, we loved having the creative freedom to do with the songs what we wanted, not knowing what was or wasn’t ‘too much’. I think we’ll definitely take that motto into the recording process for future tracks.
HAPPY: What influenced the band during the creation of this debut EP?
PISCO: I think in general, about our music style and specifically for the EP, we really are just experimenting to see what works for us and what we find ourselves gravitating towards playing when it comes to our own sound.
The EP is essentially an exploration of the relatively diverse (perhaps just different) music tastes each of us have and it experiments with the variations between us.
It’s not so much about slotting into a specific category or genre as much as it is identifying that a song idea sounds good and running with it.
HAPPY: Could you delve into the creative process behind one of the standout tracks, like “Brain of Yours” or “Crystal Ball”?
PISCO: Crystal Ball started with a chord progression that stayed a chord progression for a very long time.
Jules and Nich workshopped some lyrics and brought it to the rest of the band – and then slowly it started to come together. We feel like Crystal Ball is the track that rolls along the same line as our earlier releases, with that chorusy guitar feel.
HAPPY: Were there specific moments during the recording or production that stand out as particularly memorable for each of you?
PISCO: During the recording of the vocals for Crystal Ball, Nich was locked in the producing room with our studio eng and a hand-held mic.
He got super into it so we feel like it really brought out the best of his vocals, and we’re very happy with the finished vocal product.
HAPPY: How has the band’s sound evolved since the release of the lead single “Sleep”?
PISCO: Sleep was actually quite a difficult song to record. We went into the recording process very naive and it took us all a long while to understand how the recording process works and how different it is to playing a song live.
We were able to formulate and prepare the rest of the parts to the remaining songs on the ep.
HAPPY: The lyrics in “Miss Medusa” are described as clever and tongue-in-cheek. Can you elaborate on the storytelling aspect of your songwriting and how it complements the music?
PISCO: Miss Medusa follows a young lady that is quite the mystery to her parents but a fierce figure to the eyes of her peers.
The buildup in the song represents her double life almost coming to an end as her parents find out the rebel she really is. Mysterious to those that supposedly know her most, but a godly vicious creature to those around her.
HAPPY: Are there particular artists or genres that have had a significant influence on the band’s overall style?
PISCO: A big influence for all of the boys are bands like Jet, The Murlocs, Spacey Jane. We all have our own influences that we bring to our own parts of the band but they are the big ones that crossover for all of us.
HAPPY: What can fans expect in terms of future releases or projects from Pisco Sour?
PISCO: Future releases and projects: We value the songwriting process and know that it can’t be forced. As ideas are shared between us, there’s a lot of workshopping that goes into making music that we want to play.
In saying that, we are currently working on new songs without forcing things, and waiting for ideas to culminate naturally due to some time to think and without the pressure of booked studio time.
Our most immediate goal is to play on a festival bill given that it’s a natural progression from the Melbourne scene, but also for the experience of being able to do it altogether.
What lies beneath that goal is a Victorian (or further) tour, for some extra exposure amongst new audiences but again for the experience of doing it together.
HAPPY: Can you talk about the collaboration within the band and how each member contributes to the overall sound and creativity?
PISCO: Nich our singer and Jules and Tommy our guitarists lead the charge musically and lyrically as far as our song writing goes.
They have a really strong sense of the sounds they like and the sort of music they like to write which really helps the direction when we go to write and record new music.
Alex and I then go away with what the boys have done and create our respective parts to complement the music with what fits best.
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HAPPY: Lastly, what makes you happy?
PISCO: We love playing gigs and playing music in front of a crowd. It’s the best feeling being able to interact with people and dancing around altogether.
