Euro Butter

It has been a few years since Amy Franz and Hayley McKee burst onto the scene as Super Wild Horses, and their debut record Fifteen in 2010 burst forth in a flurry of shambolic discordant pop that was equal parts punk slur and ecstatic abandon. The girls incessantly played in that time, but apart from a few jaunts have remained quiet for 2012. Franz explains that it was their decision to slow down, but 2012 is about to heat right up.

“We recorded the new record in this little regional town in Victoria to this ex-butter factory with Jack Sully (Twerps) a couple months ago, then tried to smash through the mixing with Mike Young (Eddy Current Suppression Ring, UV Race) before he went away,” she clarifies. “So a lot of the downtime's been about getting in touch with ourselves, taking holidays and Hayley has been really busy, but we're now ready to get back into it with hopefully the new record ready for next year.”

The immediacy of Fifteen is something that Franz says is inherent to the way in which Super Wild Horses have always created music, but there are songs coming forth that they're only now comfortable enough to put their name to.

“We felt freer to develop some of our ideas a little more, where there are some slower, not laments, but heartfelt songs that we wouldn't have put on the first record,” she asserts. “We only wanted to put out songs that we knew people wanted to dance to, but we also feel that we want to record songs that don't fit that formula or even that we may never play live. That was something that we needed to come to terms with in our own heads, that what people hear when they see a band can be different to what they hear on their stereo.

“Some of these songs have been kicking around for a while, put under the rug because we didn't know what to do with them. As a two-piece we've always found it hard to play those slower songs because you feel exposed; where you can flesh things out with added instrumentation, we just have drums and a guitar. But it was really fun to play with those things in a recorded setting.”

Such discoveries hint at a sense of growth for the band, although Franz is loathe to suggest that things have changed all that much.

“We don't feel the need to be garage-y either, which I think will show on this record. It's been two years since we recorded Fifteen, and that isn't a very long time but music and sound does develop quickly, within a band but also within a person. We still write songs that we like and enjoy playing live, because we do it for kicks. I don't think we'll shock anyone, it sounds like a natural progression, but there are some thoughtfulness, some steps taken forward.”

The recording process coincided with a global institution that Franz hopes might rub off on their next run of dates.

“We were recording when the Eurovision was on, so we would smash something out then sit down and take notes on how to write a Eurovision hit,” Franz laughs. “We haven't found the secret yet, it's rather elusive. There must be something in the air over there. I don't think we have the dance moves to pull it off either, that seems to be an important part. I don't think it's in us. Yet we're looking forward to BIGSOUND. We love Brisbane, it's always so much fun, because everyone likes to have fun and aren't afraid to dance. Maybe we need to combine the two.”