Cipher: Take A Look.

Cipher launch Do Not Look Directly Into The Sun at The Healer on Saturday.

Local trio Cipher certainly don’t mess about, making the finals of the 2001 Queensland Rock Awards only a couple of months after their first gig. Now guitarist Jason, bassist Scotty and drummer Dana are set to release their debut disc Do Not Look Directly At The Sun, with a launch gig slated for this weekend.

“We put the EP together about a year ago now and originally we simply planned to use it as part of our promo pack to help us get gigs,” Dana explained. “Even at the time, though, we wanted to do a good job on the production so we hired some decent mics and spent a week recording the 5 tracks then another fortnight mixing and mastering.”

Scotty: “Even though they were recorded a while ago, I think the songs on the EP are still valid. Actually, when we look back at the songs we put on the CD, they were a pretty good choice because there is a good mix of material on there. It sort of represents our diversity. That's something that hasn't changed. I mean, we still play those songs at our gigs so that says something.”

Jason: “I think that our song writing has changed a bit, though. I guess we are more comfortable with each other now and our new songs seem to fall together much easier lately. I think that we focused on shorter arrangements in our earlier songs, too, because that gave them more of an instant appeal. Sort of short and punchy. In our latest songs, we have allowed a bit more room to set up a mood.”

I understand the disc has been available in stores for a while.

Dana: “Well it's only available at Skinny's at the moment so I guess the next step would be to have it distributed on a broader scale. We decided on the official launch so we can close this chapter before moving on to the next. You can't go straight to the end of the book; it defeats the purpose.”

“I feel too that this event will act as a bit of a milestone for the band. We have new material that we are ready to focus on so having an official release should give the EP the attention it deserves before moving onto our next recording.”

What's next for the band? What are the band's goals, dreams and ambitions?

Jason: “As soon as we finish with the launch we'll be turning our attention to our first full-length album that we hope to produce over the next six months.”

Scotty: “The album will be an independent release and that's cool because we'll have full control over the production. No matter what happens from there, we will have established a name for ourselves and our goal is to keep that creative control and freedom.”

Dana: “We would like to reach the point where we are full time musicians. Then we could really do something special.”

Scotty: “Yeah, like sleep in.”