How is progress on the new Killing Heidi album going?
I'm really powering through the songs. I thought it'd take ages. I sang for seven days in a row last week for the first time in a long while.
You were the weakest link in Killing Heidi for a while, weren't you, because you couldn't sing after your throat operation and the album just needed vocals.
Totally! The vocals are all that is left to do, but it's going well. Really well for us is a song a day and we've only been at it a week. In a couple of weeks we'll be done.
Any favourites?
Amyl. The more it gets produced, the catchier it sounds. It's going off.
Is the album still called Damage Control?
Nah, not sure. We shouldn't have opened our big mouths. I don't think we want to call it that any more.
And there are no more throat issues?
No, it's really good. It's so much better than it was.
You recently played shows in Timor. How was that?
It was an amazing, full-on experience. For the first few days I wasn't sure what we were doing there, but by the end we didn't want to leave. I always knew there were a lot of other things going on in the world, but it does put into perspective how tiny our problems are and how huge some other countries are. There's so much to be done there. It was a real eye-opener.
You're also playing the Rockalonga festival in Yarrawonga next week. Is that close to Violet Town?
It's not far, maybe an hour away. So not really, but anywhere in the country feels like home because we're country kids. We played it the year before last, it was great.
Are regional crowds different?
I think so. They're happy to see bands because the cities get a lot more traffic coming through musically. I think they appreciate it a bit more.
Your 19th birthday is looming. What are you doing to celebrate?
I don't want the teens to end. I don't ever want to be 20! I think it'll be quiet this year, maybe at my mum's house with some girlfriends having a tea party in the garden. Or I really want to have a fairy party, like little girls do, where everyone has to wear dresses and carry wands. That'd be cool.
Are you keeping an eye on the chart progress of Heavensent?
Not at all, (but) I know it's not rocketing up the charts.
Does that bother you?
No. I'm so absorbed with the album as a whole. I think people like it. I don't think people aren't responding to the song, it's just not being reflected in the charts. I think it might take a while . . . Weir took a while to go nuts . . . or it might not be a chart song.
Is it a good reality check not automatically being in the Top 10?
Definitely, but I was always aware that it wasn't a reality for most people. I was constantly reminded that's not normal.
Are you worried about a backlash or being seen as a novelty?
I think if people felt like that it wouldn't be on the radio so much. I think people are realising there's more to us.
Is there anything on the new album that will shock fans?
Maybe not shock, maybe challenge or educate. That's the phrasing I'd use. I hope people like it. It's not a whole world away from Reflector, but it is definitely more evolved, more mature, a little harder-edged.
And there's a 2002 reworking of your first big song, Kettle . . .
It's completely different. It's still Kettle, but it's gone from this little acoustic ditty to a big rock song with a grand finale.
What was the last album you bought?
I bought Jamiroquai (A Funk Odyssey) for a friend. The last I received was The Strokes album (Is This It). I love it, it hasn't really left my CD player, it's driving my friends crazy. It's so raw.
What song do you wish you'd written?
Every Bob Dylan song, especially Ballad in Plain D. It's amazing, but I couldn't really have written it because it's from a guy's perspective.
Is there a song of yours you're least proud of now?
I think they're all a means to an end. A lot of the songs on Reflector sound really distant to me now. I can't relate to some of the angry love songs (about) people from Year 9. I can't even remember their names now, but I've written a song about them. The first song I wrote makes me cringe. I wrote it when I was 11, it was about war and went, 'War is bad, love is good, la-la-la'.
What was the last thing you wrote a song about?
Sweet is about Aboriginal issues and getting them back into public awareness because they keep slipping off the agenda. It's disgusting. We have to get back to recognising this country is inhabited by Koori people.
* Heavensent (Wah Wah/Sony) out now. Killing Heidi, Rockalonga, Yarrawonga Showgrounds, Jan 26, $60.05, Ticketmaster7.
