Is Releasing An EP In Your Late 30's and 40's Such A Radical Thing To Do?; Born In October

Let me clarify, whilst Matt and I have exceptional taste in fashion, you will never catch either of us in double denim, nor pants that are just a little bit short, or a cap from the 80s. We both love to op-shop and bagged a few excellent numbers (clothing) from the markets at Nimbin over the weekend, however if we were standing at the gates of the Too Cool for School School in Newtown we would probably fail to qualify due to our very non hipster uniform.

By the way, we managed to take home the award for Best EP in the Australian Roots Music Awards on Sunday night in Nimbin. The other award winners we all born well before the double 00s which leaves me wondering, is releasing an EP in your glamourous late 30s and 40s such a radical thing to do? One of the greatest singer-songwriters of all time Leonard Cohen released his first album at 33 and didn’t really hit the big time until he was 50. And Pharell Williams gathered 4 decades of happiness before he had enough in the bank to put out his mega hit.

I could go on, but frankly I simply don’t have the time. I have a baby asleep and I’m on hold with Optus trying to sort out my 19 year old son’s lack of phone payment due to his poverty university financial situation. My bandmate Matt is no doubt madly working away on the launch of a website for a big important company or some such technologically advanced and important thing. When you hit your 30s and 40s this glorious mind awareness kicks in called “G’day world, this is me. Take it or leave it.” So here we are, an Engineer and an Environmental Scientist merged through a series of serendipitous situations and tragic life-transforming experiences to make and release our Debut EP.

We could write songs about data analysis and biodiversity, but what brings in the coin and what creates the colour in collectively visual minds are two separate things. Music and art have been a part of both of our lives since youth. After learning his first three or four chords from his Dad (that's about all his Dad knew) Matt amped up his teenage guitar skills by practicing to a battered copy of the "Scripture in Song" music book. Whilst I (Rachel) was also well-versed in many of these songs, my road to redemption and glory began behind a lawnmower. Whilst Sundays were for church, I spent Saturdays singing at full volume and practicing my interviews for when I was to become world famous for my role as middle Von Trapp child Brigetta in the Sound of Music.

Whilst possibly destined for careers in Hillsong, we fortunately diverted into the much more socially accepted Indie Folk/Roots/Country Folk genre. You won’t hear the F word being bandied about during rehearsal, but we make up for it by speaking with affection about many of our influences whose name starts with an F: Fleetfoxes, Firekites, First Aid Kit, Feist, For Emma Forever Ago (Bon Iver), or maybe CONTAINS an F, Simon and GarFunkel or doesn’t contain an F at all, Iron and Wine, Jose Gonzalez and Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard.

Speaking of favourite bands, we were lucky enough to record with Producer Mark Myers formerly of the band The Middle East. He also produced their internationally acclaimed masterpiece ‘I Want that You are Always Happy’. Recording in the tropical heat of Cairns was a welcome break from the cold air in (my) Rachel’s homebase in the mountain village of Nundle and the blustering winds off Botany Bay where Matt lives.

Our recently released video for our single “Free of Heart” was filmed around where I (Rachel) live and features us singing in the alpine forest and frolicking in golden fields. This clip captures the dreamy mind-state and sounds of our band. We are at the essence, a couple of hippy kids, born a decade late for the flower power era, but we like to think our music transcends ‘space and time’. So let the wind whip your hair free from under your hipster, or any kind hat, as we take you for a carpet ride over mountain streams as you listen to our debut EP Running in Bare Feet.