‘I Was Pretty Shit Scared’: Birds Of Tokyo Frontman Talks Writing Band's New Album

A crocheted violin might not be the most rock’n’roll thing could receive in the mail, but for Birds Of Tokyo frontman Ian Kenny, who was delivered such an item prior to picking up the phone, it’s a symbol that encapsulates the past few years, which have been some of the most turbulent of his life.

“We commissioned an artist from Melbourne to make a life-sized [crochet] mobile,” Kenny notes of the Human Design album cover.

“Each of those pieces is a memory and things from the band’s last three years of living through this record. The artist actually had to hang it from his studio’s ceiling, it’s huge and takes up an entire room.”

It’s a strange time to be releasing an album, given the current COVID pandemic.

“It’s just a strange time to be here, I think,” he laughs. “It’s some pretty weird shit that everyone’s going through. We spoke about it a lot and it’s probably the right time to put out new music and give what we can. There are a lot of people just sitting around, just like ourselves, trying to fill their days.”

The band's sixth studio album, Human Design touches on painful moments in Kenny’s life, including his divorce, as noted in the album’s powerful 2019 single Good Lord, but it also provides messages of hope and finishes on a high note, which is exactly what fans need right now.

“I’ve always been very fortunate to have Birds as an outlet for me to speak about anything I’m going through and use that as a way to heal and move forward,” Kenny says.

“I definitely got into a good enough space and a safe enough space within the band to kind of just tell is how it is.”

It’s by far the most intimate he’s been with his songwriting, but it wasn’t easy to let go at first.

“It took a long time to get to that space while writing stuff,” he notes. “Ultimately, that’s where things needed to go to make songs what they had to be; that shit comes out somewhere and for us, it comes out in songs.

“But it took me a long time to get comfortable exposing so much of my personal life. I was very guarded about it as I’m not that type of dude, so I was pretty shit scared to be honest, about how much I should say.

“As we kept writing, I just kept dancing around the lyrics and the band sort of helped me with that. I was just saying what needed to be said, and once I did these songs came together.”

Kenny’s previously noted that putting his thoughts down on paper in recent years has kept him sane.

“Music has always been my type of therapy,” he tells. “I’ve always had to use music as a way to exorcise my demons and just make sense of things. Honestly, just singing about stuff, working it out in your head, on paper, in a song, it actually can help you make sense of things.

“I think for some listeners, if you hear a song and if you relate to it, you don’t feel so alone. That’s what’s wonderful about music; it can really help someone out on the other side.”

It’s clear listening to Human Design that Birds Of Tokyo’s approach to writing and recording has evolved quite a bit since the band’s debut album, One Day, and the same goes for their live show, as evident via the tour in support of the new release (which has been pushed back to 2021 due to the COVID pandemic).

“We had this symphonic tour and were about to push the button on it for May, but of course [COVID-19] came and put a pause on everything. There’s a fair bit of work when you choose to tour with different symphonies around the country – we’re talking 45-50 piece ensembles.

“We’ve already done the work, we’ve already written the charts, we’ve had that long pre-planning with the orchestras, and what we’ve heard so far in its infancy, it’s fucking stunning, so I can’t wait to do it.”

You’ll be able to get a taste of what to expect when Birds Of Tokyo take part in the massive televised Music From The Home Front ANZAC Day concert this Saturday night.

For more details on the band’s 2021 album tour, head to theGuide.