Mosquito Coast & Spacey Jane Interview Each Other Ahead Of At First Sight Fest

WA welcomes new mini-festival At First Sight next month, featuring headliners Ball Park Music alongside the likes of Alice Ivy, Tia Gostelow, Mosquito Coast and Spacey Jane, the latter two we had interview each other ahead of the gig.

Here’s what went down.

SPACEY JANE: Our bassist Meils remembers the day you won Unearthed High! She showed up in the video somewhere. What did your teachers/friends/parents think of all of it!? 

NAOMI (MOSQUITO COAST): I think it was a really positive vibe on the day and teachers were all really supportive. I remember my PE teacher forgetting my name but congratulating me simultaneously. I also think he DJ’d the song at a turbo night club. But it was just nice to feel appreciated for something we’d worked for.  

SPACEY JANE: What's the best show you've been to, ever? 

CONOR (MOSQUITO COAST): For me, Grizzly Bear at Melbourne Zoo last year was the best. The combination of the outdoor venue, balmy night, their light show and such a tight live set made is so memorable. They’ve been idols of mine for so long and they didn’t disappoint.  

SPACEY JANE: What did you get up to on your trip to NYC that didn't involve music?

CONOR (MOSQUITO COAST): We recorded for 12 out of our 14 days in NYC so we didn’t really get much of a chance to explore, but we spent a lot of time at The Lot Radio on our breaks from the studio. It was a really nice vibe just hanging out, having coffee, watching the DJs and meeting other musos. We also went to MoMA and shopped in Times Square. We also snuck in a bit of record shopping each morning before going to the studio. And I saw Daniel Avery DJN for nine hours non-stop at a club, that was fun!

SPACEY JANE: What's your favourite album cover? 

CONOR (MOSQUITO COAST): There's so many, but recently Weyes Blood's new album cover for Titanic Rising is really mesmerising. Her previous album, Front Seat To Earth is also great, we love her vibe. Special mention to Beach House's ruby red velvet cover for Depression Cherry, too. Oh, Inhuman Spectacle by Methyl Ethel and The Weather by Pond are both beaut local covers. 

SPACEY JANE: Now that you’ve made the move to Melbourne, how do you go about writing songs together?

CONOR (MOSQUITO COAST): There is a lot of sending voice memos and shoddily recorded videos back and forth, and sometimes they eventuate into an Ableton file. For the past six months, we've been focussing on making the live set bigger, but now that we've gotten it really tight, we are excited to start writing more again. There will definitely be a writing trip happening sometime soon, bunkering down. 

MOSQUITO COAST: What are some albums that have influenced you that people might not have picked you for and why?

KIERAN (SPACEY JANE): Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco. Just one of the best-produced records ever made! Oozing with creativity in its instrumentation, lyricism and engineering. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart is a highlight for sure.

MOSQUITO COAST: You have had some pretty amazing sold out shows in Perth lately, any highlights from them?

KIERAN (SPACEY JANE): A recent highlight would have to be Meils getting her hair chopped off for the World's Greatest Shave live on stage. Soundtracked by Methyl Ethel's Ubu and a full crowd singing every word!

MOSQUITO COAST: Caleb and Amelia have such nice harmonies on some of your tracks, any plans on playing with that dynamic more?

KIERAN (SPACEY JANE): Why thank you! Yes for sure, they've been really getting into singing together lately. I'm not complaining, love some m+f harmonies!

MOSQUITO COAST: What things other than music inspire your writing? E.g. books, movies.

KIERAN (SPACEY JANE): Speaking on Caleb's behalf and reading into his lyrics, I think life experiences tend to be the biggest influence on his writing. Speaking for myself, I can only really cite other music!

MOSQUITO COAST: If Spacey Jane is still making music in five years’ time, what might it sound like?

KIERAN (SPACEY JANE): That's a tough one to answer. Probably still guitar-driven indie rock. Maybe we'll get fancy with some keys at some point. I like the idea of electronic drums too - but a tasteful amount. Think 1979 Smashing Pumpkins intro.

Check out theGuide for all the details on At First Sight.