The who, the what, the when, and the where.
Brisbane instrumental rock maestros, Balloons Kill Babies, have revealed the details for their new EP, 'Prodromal'. The five-track EP will arrive on September 22nd and features the trio's two latest singles; the groovy, blood pumping riffage of 'HFTk' as well as the emotionally touching, layered post-rock piece that is 'Illuzia'.
Having been kindly sent the EP early, I must say that I am very, very keen on it. I mean, unless Majora knocks it out of the park with their upcoming 'Aphotic' EP or if Collapse Under The Empire steal my heart away with 'The Fallen Ones' like they did in 2011, this new release from Balloons Kill Babies' could very well become my favorite instrumental release of 2017!
'Prodromal' is a dynamic, satisfying, well-thought and superbly crafted EP; one that not only flows well between each track but also feels both natural in its sonics (dat bass tone, though) and is genuinely authentic in its emotional intent too. The tight drumming of Scott Davey sounds realistic yet also impactful and meaty, as does the aforementioned crisp and punchy tone of bassist Karl O'Shea. And that's not even counting the slick riffs, creepy atmospheric licks or the suitable deep layers that guitarist Christian "Twiggy" Carter places upon these five compositions; like the uplifting melodic heights that 'Feb 25' so wonderfully reaches or the brooding, rhythmic depths that the title track so confidently skirts into at times.
Simply and casually put, this new EP is fucking sick; an easy 80/100 on the KYS review scale for me.
To coincide with this new info drop from the Brissy dudes, we had a little chat with Carter about this new EP, it's five songs, the meanings and intent behind them, creating their music, dishing out the occasional vocal parts for their predominantly instrumental sound, and so on. Have a read below!
First off, what is the significance of the date February 25th to you and the band, and why was the date used as the second song’s title?
Don't miss a beat with our FREE daily newsletter
"Feb 25th is a pretty significant and dark day in my life from 6 years ago when I had a very serious breakdown. It sounds sad but that was the catalyst to a bunch of positive changes in my life. If that hadn’t happened the band wouldn’t exist. As we were writing the song I immediately felt like I was able to exorcise some of those darker demons and see things in perspective. Catharsis is a big part of the writing process for us and what makes a BKB song a BKB song."
Likewise, the EP’s name, ‘Prodromal’, means “relating to or denoting the period between the appearance of initial symptoms and the full development of a rash or fever.” Is that the intended meaning for this EP – a period of time before which you or another member experienced certain hardship or loss in your own lives or in that of a friend or family member?
"That’s definitely one way to look at it, the term “prodromal” can be used to describe a lot of different things, from the onset of Schizophrenia to pregnancy. A “prodrome” is really only something that can be diagnosed in hindsight, like most things in life you have to go down the rabbit hole first before you’re able to really understand what that experience was. We thought it was a fitting name for the EP as we’ve chosen the order of the songs very carefully. To me it explains one of the many strange journeys I went through in my life. To you it could mean something completely different, the point is trying to evoke the response in the first place."
In an interview with Silver Tiger Media this year, in response to a question about ‘Illuzia’ being Hungarian for ‘illusion’, you said: “It means something different to everyone in the band. It’s important to us for the music to be the focal point.” (As well as being about our philosophical viewing of our world). Do those different meanings and interpretations from each of you in the band apply to these remaining four songs?
"To a certain degree it’s word association, we write the music and it makes us feel a certain way, it brings up images in our mind’s eye and we try and look for a word or term that best encapsulates that but obviously the exact emotion and imagery is different for each member of the band, just like the listener. Personally, each song title represents a different chapter of my life"
From that, however, how important is to you that people go beyond your music in terms of its sonics? As in your own words, the music is the focal point.
"The music is and will always be the most important part. Let the listener take it all in and have their own different images and emotions brought to the surface. Sure as a band we’re all trying to express a certain ineffable feeling but it’s so much more exciting having someone listen to your music and tell you what they think it’s about because no matter what they’re right, that’s the beauty of instrumental music. Something we all agree on is that there are too many bands trying to preach a message, be it spiritual, political, sexual or even just “how good is partying?”. We don’t want to be preachy, we don’t want to have a message we just want to express. It’s certainly not something everyone will click with and that’s absolutely fine."
When creating an instrumental release, do you think that having only three band members allows to accentuate each instrument and element of your sound? Did you ever feel, when writing this new EP, that certain parts would be tricky to pull off live short of using an added backing track?
"There are definitely a few parts on the EP that will be a bit tricky to pull off live, but live music and recorded music are two very different domains. Obviously, the goal is to bring the full vibe of a show to the listener but since we have the luxury of overdubbing etc in the studio, why not dive into it a little more? At the end of the day, though all the songs are really just the three of us feeding off each other, it’s a constant push and pull between all the members so I don’t think it would matter if there was 3 members or 6, the chemistry is the important part."
When it comes to the music that you play, do you listen to a lot of instrumental acts these days? Or does that not grab you due to it being similar to the music you perform?
"When it comes down to it, good music is good music regardless of genre or whether or not there are vocals. I’ve always been interested in instrumental music because it could be whatever I wanted it to be and sometimes it literally can’t be described with words. I always gravitate to Nine Inch Nails’ instrumental tracks and the band God Is An Astronaut was the first band that really made me realize you could make a full record without lyrics but it really doesn’t matter to me. We all listen to a pretty diverse range of music, I’ll go from a band like God Is An Astronaut to rapper Aesop Rock, the complete opposite. Sometimes the storytelling is what you want but when it comes down to creating, this is just what we do."
Of course, technically speaking, BKB isn't solely an instrumental band on this EP. The title track and ‘Feb 25’ both feature female at times, and the full version of ‘Illuzia’ uses spoken word parts as well during the first third. As for the latter, are those merely vocal samples? Also, where the former two vocal parts created via a VST like one of iZotope’s plugin or Output’s Exhale, or where the vocals actually recorded for the songs? If so, who is the singer(s)?
"It’s true, in fact on every recorded release we’ve done there has always been a voice somewhere, even if it’s slightly hidden. Megan Vessi (from local band Interalia) provided the vocals on the two tracks you mentioned, we don’t want lyrics but sometimes you just can’t get away from that primal connection to a human voice. We basically threw her in a recording booth without having heard the songs at all and just told her to let it all out. It took a few runs before she was really able to really let go, I was on the other side of the glass door to the soundproof booth jumping around and yelling at her. As soon as she got to that uninhibited state it was pure gold, one perfect take was all it took and we were done. As for the extended version of Illuzia… well in every journey you’ll encounter some strange characters…. maybe it’s best left at that."
Finally, without having lyrics and in solely using shifting dynamics, song timbres, melodies and certain instrumentation to create a particular sound and headspace, what is it that you hope the listeners will take away from ‘Prodromal’ if anything at all? (Other than loving the bitchin’ music, of course).
"We would hope that they’re able to experience the same sort of catharsis we do when we play the music. I know I may sound repetitive but that’s the keyword to all our music, “experience”. If it makes you happy, sad if you just flat out hate it, take a moment out of your day to see what sort of feelings something as simple as sound can stir in you."
You can (and should) pre-order the 'Prodromal' EP on iTunes or Bandcamp.
