Slum Sociable are one of the best electronic acts to have come out of this fine country in recent years. Known for their luscious production, heartfelt lyrics and superb live presence, this duo from Melbourne’s sea-swept Mordialloc are about to set off on a huge national tour in support of their freshly released EP ‘L.I.F.’ We got chatting with lead vocalist Miller Upchurch about their newest project and how they’re gearing up for hitting the road again.
Best Before: As a big fan of all things ’90s, I was a big fan of your debut album’s very Britpop, 90s sound. What sort of sound can listeners expect from ‘L.I.F.’?
Miller: We’ve tried to create a new sonic template for ourselves. Every artist tries to differentiate themselves sonically from their past works to keep things fresh, but unless you’re trying to reinvent your own wheel, you want things to all tie in together. We’re still living in a relatively similar world but we always like to try out new sounds, play around with new effects, try and get new sounds out of instruments. We try and be as explorative as possible — that’s what’s the most fun.
For sure. I really like the heavier guitar sound you guys have used, particularly on the single ‘Afterthought’ – I love that aggression.
There’s definitely a more rocky, disco-ey sound on that one. It’s a style we’ve been really playing around with – we’ve got heaps of demos and shit lying around. It’s all about experimentation and that’s just a really fun pocket to sit into.
“We’re always cooking.”
“Life Is Free” got a nod from Billie Eilish when she curated the super-popular Australian Spotify playlist Front Left. She’s one of the biggest names in pop right now. How did it feel getting a bit of a co-sign from her?
God, an actual co-sign from her would be absolutely unreal! Billie is absolutely killing it right now — she’s changing the game. Just being added to that playlist is an honour in and of itself. Wish we could open up a dialogue with her!
Absolutely! It probably would have exposed you to a lot of new fans overseas as well. I know you guys get pretty good streaming numbers in Europe, like in Germany…
We haven’t even made it over to Germany yet. If we’ve got listeners over there, we’re gonna have to go and visit!
Hey, that doesn’t sound like a bad idea! That being said, it’s awesome to see that you’ll be all over Australia in support of the EP. Excited to get back on tour?
Absolutely. It’s been long enough. It’s gonna be the biggest tour with the most dates we’ve ever put on by ourselves, so it’s gonna be a large one. We’ll be playing a few places we’ve either only played once, or haven’t played at all. We’ve done Newcastle and Geelong once before, but that’s only once before. We need to go back to these places! The first time you play somewhere you never know what to expect. We can’t wait.
What’s the best part of touring?
A lot of touring is just taken up by preparation and travel, so once you get that adrenalin going, warmed up on stage, all that hard work culminates in an hour or 45 minutes. That release, and having people there to experience it, is unreal. Nothing else compares. It’s a special night and a special place, every time. It’s always very unique.
What else have you boys been cooking up other than the EP?
We wrote a lot of songs for this EP and a lot have been culled or set aside. We’re always writing. We’ve written so much since the last album. Some songs only fit in a certain time or place, so once you move on or you’ve made something more fresh, then that’s just the new best song you’ve ever written. You need to wait some time and then revisit some things. I guess my answer is that we’re always cooking.
What’s the creative process with Ed (Edward Quinn: production, guitars, keys) like? What’s the dynamic like between you two when you’re working on new music?
It’s always kinda changing. Ed is definitely more of the producer. He’s such a talented musician. I’m more of the lyricist. Ed usually has some music or has some ideas, I add my ideas to it and then it all quite naturally comes together. Or I come in and tell him I hate the whole thing and then we reinvent everything! That doesn’t happen too often though.
After watching him do stuff for so long I’ve recently tried my hand at a little bit of songwriting, too. But usually it’s that little maestro, Edward Quinn, coming up with some juice and then passing it on to me.
Mmm, the juice. I like that. So he’s the juicer and you’re the nice tall glass?
Yeah, ha! I hold it together.
I really like the fact you guys have done a five-track EP. I think that at the moment the EP format is coming back in a big way, which is so good to see in a landscape dominated by streaming services where it’s so easy to put out endless singles. ‘TQ’ was Slum Sociable’s first release and that was an EP too – is there something about the EP format that you’re particularly drawn to?
Quite possibly! There is a preconception of how albums are supposed to operate, you know? Be put together, be created and be released. And it’s a joy to be a part of that. It does feel very monumental and there’s a huge emphasis on that being a big part of a musician’s career — it felt like that for our first album. But you get more total freedom when it comes to EP tracks. With our first EP, ‘TQ’, we put on a couple of instrumentals and gave them really long titles, and that was just funny for us. I don’t wanna say that albums don’t give you freedom.
There’s maybe just less pressure with an EP, particularly when it comes to the whole release cycle. You can be a bit more cheeky with things and they usually come together way quicker than albums. Maybe it’s because, like you said, in this landscape where singles just come out constantly, EPs feel more natural. They’re easy for people to digest, too.
Would there be an album on the horizon?
We have always wanted to release a few albums while we’re still doing this ol’ thang called music, so it’s not off the cards yet. Probably can’t say too much but it’s definitely something we’re looking forward to doing again.
Slum Sociable | Tour Dates
Sat 31 Aug – The Barwon Club Hotel – Geelong, VIC
Thu 5 Sep – The Cambridge Hotel – Newcastle, NSW
Fri 6 Sep – The Lansdowne – Sydney, NSW
Sat 7 Sep – UC Hub – Canberra, ACT
Sun 8 Sep – North Woollongong Hotel – Woollongong, NSW
Fri 13 Sep – Wooly Mammoth – Brisbane, QLD
Sat 14 Sep – Republic Bar – Hobart, TAS
Thu 19 Sep – Freo Social– Perth, WA
Fri 20 Sep – Fat Controller – Adelaide, SA
Sat 21 Sep – The Espy – Melbourne, VIC
In the meantime, listen to ‘L.I.F.’ here:
Header image by Lisa Businovski.