ROI Describe Five Tracks That Inspired Their Debut Record

Brisbane duo ROI — Matt Schrader and Barnaby Gickel — dropped their debut record August City last month and, with the ethos that collaborative music can be the most fruitful, describe five tracks that inspired the album's culmination.

Unkle — When Things Explode

This album was on repeat when we originally came up with the idea of a collaborative rock project. It gave birth to our thoughts of approaching vocalists with the premise that they steer away from their known genre and create outside their normal boundaries. I was never a huge Cult fan but I'm totally hooked on Ian Astbury's vocals, and I love the way he dramatically transforms the back half of this song by changing the melody over the same chords. "All is forgiven."

Modest Mouse — Ocean Breathes Salty 

As a drummer, this song (and album for that matter) is a huge influence for me both playing and sound wise. The ghost notes on the snare give the groove a truckload of swagger, and I love the cymbal washiness, which I tried to emulate in the outro of Second Skin, riding the crash and playing the open/close hi-hats simultaneously with my left hand. It's really fun to do live and always puts me in that weird relaxed state, even though all of my limbs are furiously moving at the same time. 

Massive Attack — Protection

Another huge influence on our collaborative idea, even though ROI doesn't entertain the trip hop genre (yet?). I have a massive crush on Tracy Thorn's voice, and was interested to read that Tracy wrote this song in about ten minutes after listening to the stems in her car. This gave me the idea (and confidence) to send out demos to singers I really admired, encouraging them to listen to a piece of music and create a melody over it, which essentially is what ROI is all about.

Alan Boyle — Oxygen

The vocalist and lyricist on Second Skin, I first saw Alan play in an underground bar, and I was totally drawn in by his musicality and passion for his craft. His vocal ability is amazing, and at the time I thought, "I have to do something musical with this guy!!" Unkle and Massive Attack gave birth to my ideas of collaborative music, Alan Boyle was the spark I needed to make it happen.

Daniel Lanois — Death Of A Train

The sparseness of Lanois' music is the key for this track, which for us was always going to be a challenge going into this project without a 6 string guitar. Lanois is such an underrated songwriter (more famous for his production) and I get so much depth out of his records. His creativeness seems to have no boundaries, and it inspires me to always think outside the square when coming up with song ideas and parts.