Long Time Coming

This time last year, Perth rockers Sugar Army had a finished album in their hands and were ready to show the world. Now, over 12 months later, the album has only just been released and the band are ready to get back up onstage. Lead singer Pat McLaughlin admits taking a year to release their second album, Summertime Heavy, definitely wasn't a part of the band's grand plan. “It's been a bit of a trial sitting on a record. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.”

While record company schedules played a part in pushing back the release schedule, the band have also used the time to better present all the visual aspects of the album, making videos and preparing artwork.

“It's hard because you want to move on. I guess every creative person would want to move onto the next thing. It's what drives you really. And having that there and still finishing off aspects of it means you're still in that zone. We've started writing and we've talked a lot about a new record, but it's been really hard because it's taken so long to develop [Summertime Heavy's] themes and concepts. To start something new you really have to wipe the slate clean. So that's been a lot longer than it ever has before, but saying that, it has helped us explore a lot more. With the last record we didn't spend as long on the visual stuff. It's been really enjoyable doing that. It's still been a creative outlet for us, just a different one.”

When McLaughlin first started playing in bands, he thought his job was to plug an instrument into an amp and play, or step up to the microphone.

“It helps you get an idea of what you're doing musically when you've got to express it visually and uncompromised. It's certainly very satisfying when you get it right. It means you have to think differently and you really have to think about what it is you want, and I think that's important.”

The band's brooding, hypnotic rock lends itself to a dramatic visual image, and now with the addition of two extra members replacing Ian Berney – who filled the hole in Birds Of Tokyo in a game of Perth musical chairs – the band has filled their live sound out even more. The additional members, Chris Simmons (bass) and Benjamin Pooley (keys/guitar) round out a line-up already consisting of long-time friends McLaughlin (vocals), Todd Honey (guitar) and Jamie Sher (drums).Though the three original bandmates recorded the new album before adding Simmons and Pooley to the line-up, McLaughlin says the five-piece Sugar Army has definitely settled in.

“They're starting to get what we're on about. I think when they came in it was like Todd, Jamie and I talk a certain language, and for them it was a bit like, 'Okay, what's going on here?' But they've slowly picked it up. It means that when we're learning older songs it comes a lot quicker now and they know exactly what angle to take. It's more they know what feel we're going for, what overall vibe. They've learnt that very quickly, which is good. You can rehearse as much as you like, but it's not the same as playing at a venue in front of people. But we do rehearse a lot and talk a lot about things, where we want to push things and how we want it to be expressed. I think that helps a lot too, so they can get into the headspace.”

When the band toured Sydney in June on the back of Summertime Heavy's first single, the infectious Hooks For Hands, the songs off first album The Parallels Amongst Ourselves had taken on a whole new edge, and McLaughlin thinks part of that is a result of the band's fresh, new line-up. “It's a different band to what it was before. Those guys are adding their own flavour to things, I guess is the best word. When we start learning a new song, we try and learn the fundamentals of it but then we generally will see what we else can do with it, what we can add or take out. So the songs do take on a new life. They do feel fresh when we learn the older songs.

“There's a couple of songs we didn't play much in the old line-up, really, that we're trying to play live now,” McLaughlin continues, “and it's a totally different beast: having the extra members really helps. Sometimes they weren't working as a four. They didn't feel full enough. As a five it's another dimension, really. There's a lot of different layers and sounds that we just couldn't do live. Whereas, having Pooley there, he's a bit of a whiz on the keys. He's a total nerd, which is great. We're trying to do something and if we don't even remember how it's done, we just give it to him and he comes back with it and it's usually pretty close.”

While discovering new musical relationships is surely a lot of fun, there are legitimate logistical considerations for the singer of a band when they go from being a four to a five-piece. Has McLaughlin copped a bass to the head yet, not used to the dynamic of having another person onstage? “I did in the last line-up, but not in the current format,” he says with a chuckle. “Maybe we haven't played enough yet. I've still copped the odd drumstick to the back. Jamie breaks them or something. He doesn't really listen to me, we've discovered. He'll only know when I'm coming in or not singing. He uses me as, 'Aah, this is when this part starts.' He uses me… but he doesn't know what I'm saying or doing, no idea at all.”

And so now album number two is out, it's inevitable that the band are eager to start work on album number three. “We're going to approach recording very differently this time,” McLauglin says. “We're going to write in batches and record as we go. It means when the idea is first conceived you can bring it to fruition a lot quicker where you're still excited about the idea. Whatever inspires that idea will be fresh, instead of sitting on it and chipping away.”

Sugar Army will be playing the following shows:

Thursday 18 October - GoodGod Small Club, Sydney NSW
Friday 19 October - Alhambra Lounge, Brisbane QLD
Saturday 20 October - Toff In Town, Melborune VIC