Migreation

Melbourne sextet Love Migrate are one of those bands that take a while to bed in. Their sprawling soundscapes bring to mind the likes of Art Of Fighting or even the literate songsmithery of early Augie March. Their debut album Plagued Are All My Thoughts, Like White Ants In The Fence, recorded last summer, is a triumph for the slow burn. Lead singer Eddie Alexander's at times fragile voice provides an intriguing focal point for his band's sparse instrumentation. Not so sparse, though, that it doesn't take six musicians to pull off, and speaking to Alexander we find that they've arrived from all over the East Coast, coming together for a common goal.

“We all met through friends of friends or through playing shows together with other bands – I grew up in Alice Springs with John (drummer) and we met when we were about five years old, so we'd always been close family friends,” Alexander explains. “Then we just met people through uni – through the RMIT music industry course. There were a couple of people from NSW and a couple of people from the Great Ocean Road. We've got a guy from Sleep Brigade playing with us as well.”

Being a musician was always Alexander's goal, but it wasn't until a brief stint at La Trobe University that he finally came to the conclusion that this was the real direction he would follow. “I came down to Melbourne for uni but it didn't really work out. I was at La Trobe for a couple of years on and off, which was the initial plan and reason for coming to Melbourne,” he explains. “I always knew though, that it had a really good music scene which I really wanted to be a part of. I didn't really think of putting a lot of effort into making music until 2007 though. Now it's five years later and I'm still sort of taking time off from uni, following music. I will go back one day though.”

When it came time to record Plagued Are All My Thoughts... Love Migrate did what came naturally and took their time with the process. Working in a Fairfield warehouse with Paul Maybury (of Rocket Science fame), the band visited the studio on and off throughout the summer of 2011, taking advantage of the experience Maybury has gained from a lifetime in the industry. “We initially wanted to go in with Paul and try out a couple of songs and see if we wanted to do a record with him,” Alexander explains. “It all just fell into place really easily though. We tracked all the beds live in the warehouse – which had a really nice wooden floor and really cool open spaces, which gave the room a subtle, spacious sound. We started in October last year just doing the beds and then came in and out after that throughout the summer.”

In the quest to make an emotionally resonant record, instrumentally and lyrically, Alexander and co made the decision to invite some outsiders into the Love Migrate inner sanctum. “We got Liam and Emily from Eagle & The Worm to come in and do some horns. Liam also plays in Saskwatch, so they really added something,” he says, explaining the brass that permeates songs like Papa and the title track – although discretion was advised. “It's nice not having horns on the whole record I think. It's nice just in parts, because it does give it quite a lot of variation. The songwriting and the themes give the record a balance. To be able to have different instrumentation like horns around it, and to not have every song blasting away really adds to the songwriting. No one really wants to listen to a record where each song sounds the same.”

Love Migrate will perform on:

Thursday 30 August - The Toff, Melbourne VIC