Freq Show

Sunshine Coast's Band Of Frequencies might best be described as a “surf roots” band, and in most cases they are. Sure enough, there's enough Jack Johnson to Shannon Sol Carrol's voice, and there's some gentle acoustic strumming here and there. But there's a lot more to Band Of Frequencies' sound. There's a range of influences, from old-school rock to prog, and that's earned them so many fans internationally. With their last full-length, Rise Like The Sun, coming out in 2012, those fans are duly waiting for new material. Thankfully, there's no stopping for the Freqs.

“We're really in the middle of getting ready for touring again at the moment, but at the same time we're furiously writing down all these ideas we're getting too,” Carroll explains over the phone. “It really is our favourite phase of the whole process, getting new ideas down and putting together all these little bits and pieces from different people's influences, and I guess from different moments in our lives. It's a good phase,” he laughs.

Rise Like The Sun was a natural result of those eclectic influences, from the reggae of Golden to the grunge of the title track. “It's pretty much the whole spectrum, actually; there really is no rules to how we make music. I might start with a lyrical concept and then little acoustic bits and pieces that I might come up with. And then there's that other side, where the band literally has sound-tech jams which turn into pieces, and then we try and find more pieces that fit the groove. And so it all comes from all these different directions, really. There's no set method. It's just pretty much putting our antennas up and seeing what we can catch,” he laughs. “Influences come from all kinds of different angles, so it's really just about being able to catch them when they come.

“We all came from different environments, and kind of arrived at the idea of being in a band at different points. I think what's most important for us is that we all met through a love for the experimental, instrumental side of music, you know, where the idea is that you just start playing music and see what happens. I guess that's a real jazz influence, which I haven't really thought about,” Carroll chuckles, “but that's just how it works for us.”

When it comes to the aforementioned shows, the band come into their own. “We'll be bringing over some new material with us this time around, which is really exciting. We're still working out how we're going to play them live. Since we come from the jamming background, and then kind of learnt how to write songs from there, it's the reverse live. We have all these short, concise versions, but then we have the 13-minute, extended fuck-around versions,” he laughs. “They're the ones we're excited about playing.”