Closing Time

Germany's loose visa restrictions are set to claim yet another Aussie band, with Brissie quartet Blonde On Blonde making the move to Berlin, a city of cheap living and plentiful opportunities for creative types. It seems like the right time to switch scenery for the group, who have found themselves on plenty of solid bills since taking their first steps onto the stage in 2010, but have yet to craft a debut album, a fact that Jack Bratt is hoping to change soon.

“I've been trying to pump out an album of stuff for years, but I just can't get a collection of songs together that I believe in enough in the time space,” he admits. “You write songs and then six months later you haven't had time to write any more, or you're just so preoccupied with life, and then you don't feel those songs are where [you're] at, you've just gone somewhere else. So getting over there and doing it every day, we'll have more of an idea about what kinda band we are, which is really exciting.”

The seeds of relocation were sown last year when Zara (guitar) and Jonny (drums) went to Europe for a holiday, with one trip enough to convince them that Berlin was the place to progress. And with Bratt stressing that splitting was never an option, he and bassist Duckboi got behind the idea.

“We just thought why not, we really don't have anything to lose. We've been here for four years and we've lapped the country so many times, and we just [don't] know what else we can do at our level – we need a bit of a shake up.”

And although Bratt admits the band don't know how life works in the German capital – “There's a lot of obstacles to overcome,” he laughs – he's well aware that being uncomfortable can be positive, on both a personal and creative level.

“It's true what they say – creativity just explodes once you start moving. Every time I travel new music comes out of it, because just the experiences and being away from your everyday existence, it's inspiring.”

During their time together, the self-proclaimed “psychedelic slut rockers” have been a staple around the haunts of Fortitude Valley, their thick, swaggering licks soundtracking plenty of beers-too-many for Brisbane rock fans. Because of this, Bratt admits that he couldn't think of a better room to cap off the first part of Blonde On Blonde's journey than The Zoo.

“I find it a really special place – when I first moved here it was where I went and saw all my favourite bands, and we've never headlined it before so it will be a really [suitable] send off for us,” he smiles. “[But everything] won't actually hit me I think until the night before we leave or when I'm going to the airport; I'm just so preoccupied with getting everything finished. But then there'll be a panic attack for sure.”