The Sample Life

The stretch of coastline near Austinmer – at the northern end of Wollongong's suburban reach – is absolutely stunning with its beautiful vistas and pristine beaches, and it's this gorgeous aspect of Australia which has recently produced burgeoning indie exponents Shining Bird. More than that, it's informed their unique musical amalgams, as evinced by their debut LP Leisure Coast.

What started as a bedroom offshoot from the solo forays of Russell Webster – abetted by vocalist/guitarist Dane Taylor – soon morphed into a six-headed beast, and it's this elongated incarnation of Shining Bird which is rapidly being introduced to the world.

“It started about four years ago and was pretty much just a bunch of experiments, because I had my solo thing going on which was all sample-based instrumental stuff, and I was mucking around with Dane and found out that he could sing,” Webster explains. “I'd never done anything with vocals before, and it just went from there. It was a big learning curve, coming from writing sample-based stuff which is just a totally different process to traditional songwriting. The identity of the song would be in the sample, and the transition from that to proper songwriting with choruses and hooks and whatever was full-on.”

The Shining Bird crew obviously took this challenge in their collective stride for their music is assured and compelling, incorporating local sounds and samples into an intriguing melange. “There was a conscious decision to explore Australian sounds – not necessarily Australian music but sounds in general like movies, TV and just everything. We just wanted to shove all of that in there. I was just trying to consume as much Australian culture as possible, whether it be just collecting little bits and pieces from op shops or reading Australian poetry by people like Les Murray and Robert Adamson and watching Australian movies. I'm not even quite sure why that happened,” Webster laughs. “I think I was drawn to that because it was triggering certain feelings I wanted to explore.”

There's a beguiling diversity within the scope of the Shining Bird sound and aesthetic, apparently due to the abundant accessibility of new music in today's tech-loving society. “I think it's just being influenced and inspired by a lot of different music, which is the curse of making music in 2013 because there's just so much out there to enjoy,” Webster reflects. “It's hard to stick with one sound. I feel like I want it to be a massive kaleidoscope of different sounds and images and have everything in there, rather than just sticking with one thing which is probably better from a marketing point of view.”