Australia keeps exporting great new music, evidenced yet again by what I’m hearing from the band Strange Talk. The group combines musical talents from different backgrounds; the ‘vocalist/producer Stephen Docker immersed in the classical world, playing violin for the Australian Youth Orchestra and bassist/producer Gerard Sidhu, crafting house and electro as a regular fixture on the Melbourne DJ circuit’. After months of songwriting together the result is a self-titled EP through Neon Gold Records and Fine Time Records, which features singles Climbing Walls and Eskimo Boy.
Their most famous track is arguably ‘Climbing Walls’, which has been picked up everywhere from surf clips to Aussie TV dramas, and even by boutique French label Kitsune for their popular ‘Maison Kitsune’ compilation series. “It was definitely good for us, the whole Kitsune thing. I guess it’s sort of a stepping-stone for an up-and-coming band, a tick in the box, so to speak. It let us know that we must be doing the right thing, and it’s a plus that their clothes are so cool.” The indie synth-pop band draws inspiration from, “our record collections, and all of the incredible local and international music getting created and toured around Australia.”
“I guess it’s a good mould, as a lot of our stuff has a heavier band influence,” tells Strange Talk’s frontman Stephen Docker. “A lot of our music is structured not so much in the loop based clubby fashion but more in a basic song structure, with more of a classical element shining through. It means we have strong ideas about vocals and melody lines, which is a bit different to some other electronic bands.”
By: Elizabeth Stene | Beat-Play Ambassador South Africa | @LizMWL | Music Without Labels & Beat-Play, LLC
