Snowman launch their self-titled debut album this Saturday, October 21, at Gilkison’s Dance Studio with guests Scvendes, Streetlight and DJ Steph. BOB GORDON speaks with songwriter/guitarist Joe McKee.
They were the kids who stayed up all
night and went scurrying around the
neighbourhood. And they still are. Snowman,
Perth’s enfant terribles have for the last
several years married noise, mood and song
and have finally now done so on a debut
self-titled album.
“It’s nice to have a record out
there that we’re satisfied with,”
says guitarist Joe McKee. “It’s not
like we listen to it or anything,
but it’s great to have it in shops
so people can hear and give us some
feedback. It’s a goal that we’ve
been working towards ever since we
were wee tackers. It’s very nice.
And that someone’s putting it out
for us is even nicer.”
The album’s been released on the
tasty Melbourne label, Dot Dash,
itself distributed by the highly
regarded Inertia Recordings. The
album’s been out for a month now, to
desirable acclaim. McKee – who is
not one to overly rave on issues
such as popularity - says the fact
that people have been receptive to
the album “is another positive.” The
thing is Snowman are used to getting
a reaction, but more so from the
provocative nature of their live
performances. Putting out an album
for folks to take home works on a
more cerebral level.
“It is,” he
agrees, “people come to the gigs
because they like you or heard good
things. It’s a different medium,
playing gigs is an entirely
different artform to making a
record. It’s a different thing
entirely. A lot of different levels
of creativity go into making a
record, whereas playing a gig is
much more primal, I suppose. It’s
more instant and instinctive; you’re
feeding off the audience. Whereas a
record is more voyeuristic in a
sense that it’s more about the mind
than the body.”
According to McKee the members of
Snowman are not wont to sit around
and conceive a group statement of
where they’re at or what they want
to convey. Even so, it appears to
have happened naturally.
“The songs span a three-year period of writing, which is probably why it’s so diverse and all over the place,” he says. “And why it covers a lot of themes.
“We’re not the sort of band that got together and thought ‘well these are the records we like, I want to sound like this. Let’s get everything packaged and marketed into the niche we fit into’. It’s just not the way we’ve ever looked at it. We’re still kids in the sense that we make music because we enjoy the sounds that come out of our amps.
“It’s just a fuckin’ mish-mash is
what the record is, that’s what we
are. I guess that’s a statement,
right? (laughs).”
One would think so…
“Well it covers all the topics
and things we’ve been through in
that period of our lives, that three
years. It’s also a bit of a ‘fuck
you!’ to people who don’t think you
can do it. And you do get a lot of
that backlash and shit, being a band
in Australia or Perth and being a
band that sticks your neck. You’re
gonna get slapped in the face a few
times, that happens and this is a
bit of a `fuck you!’ because we know
it’s a good album. I expect other
people will realise that too.”
There’s several yin and yang
elements in Snowman’s make-up. They
seem to care yet are comfortable
being careless. Some things are done
by design and others seem
designed-by-chaos. This is a band
confident enough to leave things a
bit loose.
“Of course,” McKee responds. “It’s a completely human element about the record, it is fucking loose. We’re not technical players, we just make sounds that we like. We’re not interested in being in being an ultra-tight, polished, shiny fucking band, that’s just not real to us.
“We will get better, you can’t
write if you’re shit at your
instruments. But then again being
shit at your instrument really does
lend something to the song (laughs),
not that we’re shit, but we’re
untrained. Having limits is
something which really does lend
something to it. And it sounds
human, the record… if not alien,
maybe (laughs).”
Limits are one thing, but there are
typically limitless aspects to
Snowman as well. They’re not tied
down by genre or a need to follow
the cause of melody at every turn.
Vocalist Andy Citawarman can sing
across God knows how many octaves
and does so with a range of sounds.
“The first time I met Andy we
were 14 or 15 and he was drinking in
maths class (laughs). He would sing,
in the middle of fucking class,
which wasn’t really allowed at a
private school. But he’s always been
comfortable with his voice, which is
very rare for a 14 year-old kid to
have… to be singing in front of a
classroom and teachers. And the
teachers wouldn’t stop because they
gave up trying… to… educate Andy
(laughs).
“But that’s just Andy, there’s no
inhibitions or anything like that
because he wasn’t brought up in our
culture. He understands it and stuff
but there are certain things about
him which are very different and I
think his singing is a reflection of
where he comes from.”
It’s captured ably on the album’s
lead track Smoke & Mirrors, which
has had a dominating presence on
Triple J and locally on RTRFM in
recent months. It’s haunting
presence brings to mind when Arcade
Fire’s Neighbourhood menaced the
airwaves in its inimitable catchy
yet subversive manner.
“That’s flattering to hear,”
McKee says. “It’s funny, I’m working
on songs for the next record and
I’ve thought about that song and
there’s something about it which I
can’t quite put my finger on. Maybe
that’s it. It’s still a pop song
somehow, but there is something
else. It’s one of the later-written
songs on the album and how we’re
writing at the moment. So it’s a
good sign how it’s been well
received.”
Snowman set off on a national tour
following this weekend’s Perth
launch and will do what it takes as
long as it takes to support the
debut album. They’ve come a long way
since a younger Joseph Denis McKee
wrote a letter to X-Press Magazine
from his hotmail address extolling
the virtues about a new band called
Snowman after their first gig in
July, 2001.
“That’s hilarious!” he laughs. “That’s definitely something I would have done. And still do today. I have a certain element of pride about the work I do and would like to see it go very far.”