EP Focus: Big Creature

Answered by: Michael Best, singer/songwriter and guitarist

EP Title: Talk

Label: Independent

In ten words or less, describe your sound. Bright, bombastic synth-pop. 

Give us a brief history of the band (or you if a solo artist) to this point. We released our debut EP in 2013. The first single One In Front Of The Other was shortlisted for the Vanda And Young Songwriting Competition. In 2015, the original line-up disbanded and I began working on Talk solo. I've since recruited Dan, Zeke and Lachy.

Where did you record the EP and why? Who did you work with recording it? The vast majority of the EP was recorded in the spare room of my house on the Mornington Peninsula. The only exceptions being some of the live drums and also the beautiful sax solo in Arteries, recorded by Gus Rigby (Big Scary) who was living in Darwin at the time.

Is there an overall theme to the songs on the EP, or did you just use whatever songs you had to make up the tracklisting? The writing and production of the EP coincided with some relationships around me breaking down, including my parents splitting up, so I ended up working through a lot of these issues through these songs. That, mixed with a nostalgic '80s feel to the music, gave the EP a focal point.

Did you manage to roadtest any of the songs live before recording? Did that have an effect on them at all? In what way? I produced it primarily on my own before I'd recruited the new line-up, so our first shows were played after the EP was nearly all done.

Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? In what way? I was listening to a lot of Prince, Peter Gabriel, Tears For Fears, Talking Heads etc and so a lot of those nostalgic sounds made their way into the new songs. 

Do you aim for perfection in the studio, or more feeling or vibe when deciding to use a take? Modern recording technology means that almost anything can be fixed in a performance (timing, pitch etc) but one thing that can't be faked is vibe. If the performance isn't 100% committed, there's no plugin that will save it. Performance is king.

What's your favourite track on the EP and why? I feel most proud of the song Arteries. I spent quite a lot of time on those lyrics trying to get across exactly what I wanted to say and I'm really happy with the result. Also, the sax solo is killer!

When things aren't working what do you do to avoid recording? A procrastination question! This is a big one for me because I tend to struggle finishing things and end up endlessly tweaking until it's way overcooked. Our guitar player Dan has really helped me with this though.

How will you recreate the tracks live? Stay true to them or is there room to mix it up? We try to stay true to the song to start with, but there are a lot of things in the songs that we can't recreate so sometimes the 'approximated' versions of those parts can end up being better than the originals. It's always nice to stretch out the solos, too.

Did you only record recent tracks, or are there some older tracks to have made the cut on the EP? All of the tracks were slowly shaped over about a year and a half with some sections going through half a dozen or more different versions before we settled on the final thing. 

Are you launching it with a gig? If so, what are the details?: 28 Sep, The Gasometer Hotel.

Website link for more info? bigcreature.com.au