Back In Control

For a few years there it looked like British India were practically unstoppable. There were three albums – 2007's Guillotine, 2008's Thieves and 2010's Avalanche – in very quick succession, the first two, and their 2005 debut EP, Counter Culture, recorded at the Sydney studio of the legendary Harry Vanda, whose enormous industry, recording and songwriting wisdom has left an indelible mark on the band's approach to all things musical. There were the awards nominations as well as winning 2007 Best New Independent Artist at the AIR Awards, the festival appearances, the almost constant touring including a trip to the US, and the number 41 spot on 2012's triple j Hottest 100 with the first single, I Can Make You Love Me, off their latest and fourth album, Controller.

Between the release of Avalanche and Controller, however, a lot seemed to go wrong in the world of British India that prompted the band to take stock of where they were and where they wanted to go next. “After the Avalanche tour,” singer and guitarist Declan Melia begins, “as has been well documented, Shock went under – that was our label – taking with it a princely sum of our money,” he chuckles, “and our rehearsal space got flooded. But the writing was on the wall to leave there anyway, and we've been talking about those two problems at length, but the more I talk about [it] the more I think it was also us, you know? It was kind of like we'd become little monsters after Avalanche and we just didn't want to know. [Drummer] Matt [O'Gorman] was always back and forth between Hong Kong… Music wasn't on the forefront of our minds. Everyone wanted to go on holiday.

“The tours had become a similar thing where it wasn't as crazy as it probably should be. I mean the shows were always great, and the people were always great, and it was our lifeline financially, but it wasn't together… It kind of didn't feel right, maybe.”

As far as lead guitarist Nic Wilson is concerned, things turned around creatively: “When there was a deadline,” he says. “I think that's one of our strengths – when there is, like, a reason to have something done, we can do it. Like the most recent single [Summer Forgive Me] was only written a couple of months ago, and this is after three years of meant to be working on an album, finally you get a deadline and you get a single. So that's pretty much how it worked out.”

As it happens, the band never saw the previous single, I Can Make You Love Me, as single material, so they were quite surprised it did as well as it did, peaking at number five in the ARIA Singles Chart. “When Summer Forgive Me was written,” Melia points out, “I think we knew it was kind of pretty special right at the start, but I Can Make You Love Me, we thought would never in our wildest dreams be a single! It's an irony really, because it was Liberation that told us that it was a great single; whereas for us, always, it was a great song but, I mean, it's quite depressing, long – we didn't think it was immediate enough to be a single. So it's odd that signing to a label helped us [take] risks. It's supposed to be the other way around.”

“Each album was its own specific deal up until that point,” Wilson explains. “We talked to major labels every single album – we were always willing to sign with a major label, but we never felt like they wanted us 100%. But it definitely felt right this time.”

British India will be playing the following dates:

Friday 5 April - Surfers Paradise Beer Garden, Gold Coast QLD
Saturday 6 April - The Hi-Fi, Brisbane QLD
Friday 12 April - The Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle NSW
Saturday 13 April - The Metro, Sydney NSW
Friday 19 April - Corner Hotel, Melbourne VIC
Saturday 20 April - The Big Pineapple Festival, Sunshine Coast QLD
Wednesday 24 April - The Governor Hindmarsh, Adelaide SA
Thursday 25 April - The Prince Of Wales, Bunbury WA
Friday 26 April - Settlers Tavern, Margaret River WA
Saturday 27 April - Capitol, Perth WA
Saturday 4 May - Blood, Sweat & Fears, Darwin NT