Attention Streak

Dancing is the new moshing for Udays Tiger fans. Well, actually, dancing is the new staring. Because prior to the duo's second release, that was the standard setting for punters at their shows, trying to fathom what was happening before them. But for the first time, at the band's recent EP launch show, there was more groovin' than confusion.

Call it Dead Attention – Udays Tiger have. Their seven-track record is an invigorating listen, dangerous in parts, with plenty of beauty thrown in between. It's rock'n'roll that's instantly gratifying, but leaves you with so much more to discover, and for the two-piece, made up of guitarist Devin de Araujo and drummer Nathan Morris, it's all been generated through stability from confidence.

“[Balance is] always something that we think about,” explains de Araujo, “and on this record as opposed to the last [one], we've managed to get more poppy songs in there, like Summertime Hit and Swathe, whereas the last record was pretty much pedal to the floor. This one we've been able to take the time and shape the songs more, and think more about dynamics.

“I guess we've just grown and these songs demonstrate that,” he reasons in continuation. “And in terms of balance, that's always something that we consciously think about, and even in terms of track listing and the general feel of each song. And just from playing more shows. I think you really start to want to become more confident and then with that you can take more risks.”

Although they're now commonly considered a Melbourne band, the guys are actually a product of the Sunshine State, heading south of the border a few years ago to chase a scene more conducive to their challenging sounds. But to spin an old adage, Udays Tiger may have left Queensland, but the state is still a part of Udays Tiger. They ventured north again to record Dead Attention – as they did their first EP, Sinners; bunkering down in the lush confines of The White Room studio in Mount Nebo with producer Neil Coombe once more, to make the most of his never-say-too-hard attitude.

“We just worked really well with Neil on the first EP so it just felt really good to go back there for the second one,” says de Araujo. “And he's a really creative person and he's very inspiring to work with, and he also has so much experience so it's easy to work with him in that regard. If there was something that wasn't working in the recording process, between the three of us we would either work on it and fix it or we would just can a particular part.

“Neil's really great – instead of telling you that won't work, he'll find ways to make it work, or will work on a solution to a particular problem, whether that's trying to mike something right or trying to get the loop working right, whether we play that live or play it separate, or try to separate the loop from my pedal chain or something like that. He's just full of ideas.”

And who do we thank for all this? The band's fervent fanbase, as they got behind Udays Tiger crowdfunding campaign, helping the two-piece raise $2000 to turn their ten-minute home studio jams into the lean, explosive body of work that is Dead Attention. “We'll definitely do it again further down the track,” de Araujo says of the summertime Pozible experiment, “because it's just such a great way to build confidence, and just to help fund the record in general, because it's a fairly expensive process.”