FEATURE ARTIST: Set Sail

So a week ago I was just chilling in the Beer Garden at the Roundhouse; it was a pretty lovely night, the outdoor heaters were keeping us warm and the fig tree growing out of the corner of stage was strung up with fairy lights, giving the whole place a beautiful, romantic feel.

We were sipping on cheap beer, laughter carrying through the air on the soft breezes that wafted between the students kicking back after a long day of uni. I noticed a few guys setting up their instruments on the stage but didn't pay much attention because it was a Wednesday night and we were all too involved in talking to each other. Someone mentioned they were SET SAIL, and the name sounded familiar but I'd never listened to them because, quite frankly, I just didn't really like their name.

And then they started to play.

It took us all of two minutes to abandon our bags and drinks and jump up in front of the stage, dancing around like maniacs and knocking things out of the hands of the ring of people standing around watching. These guys had a ukulele and a violin and their music was so upbeat, the drums fast paced and the lyrics  folksy but with all the catchiness of a pop song. They actually did a cover of 'Call Me Maybe' that was absolutely fantastic and mellow and kind of bluesy, if you can imagine that.

I went home and Youtubed them straight up, still in the mood to continue dancing, even if it was just around my kitchen. But I was kind of disappointed; the recorded version of 'Boat Song', my favourite song live, completely lacked the energy and excitement and foot-tapping fervour that  I'd experienced that night. Oh sure, the video was cute, featuring an animated version of the band sailing around and getting up to wacky little adventures. And it's not like the recorded song was bad. It just wasn't amazing. It didn't make me want to dance so badly that I jumped to my feet even though I was wearing really uncomfortable shoes, as I had done at the Roundhouse.

But then I realised that SET SAIL must have some live gigs recorded online. My searching yielded much more than I had bargained for: putting up a status about them on Facebook I found that heaps of my friends had seen them around the place. A circus performer friend of mine in Melbourne had even busked with them. This wasn't just an ordinary band who put out a few songs, do some touring, and then take time off performing to work on writing and composing. SET SAIL instead have played all around the world, but as buskers more than at a paid-entry venue. Their gigs still have really cheap entry even though they have a massive following on Facebook. When their violin got stolen, they managed to purchase a new one sourced entirely from fan donations.

How many bands do you know that actually have international renown and you can still see them for free, playing on the streets? How many bands do you know who are good enough that they can finance going around the world with busking? The band made a webseries about their travels, featuring snippets of their busking as well as people they meet and all the little places they see on their way. I love the Paris episode, and if you really want to know what they're like, I think the beginning of that clip is the best idea that you can get, short of seeing them play live yourself.

In the meantime, they're offering free downloads off their Bandcamp and Triple J Unearthed. Despite what I mentioned about their recordings not being as brilliant as their live gigs, I strongly suggest you take a look, if only because their music is, at the very least, really original and pretty different to most of what you're likely to hear around the place. Also, violins.

Words by Desiree Conceicao.

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