SOMETHING FOR KATE
by Jayson Argall
"You could say we are the greatest artists in Australian music since Ben Lee" hearalds Paul Dempsey, singer/songwriter for Something For Kate. Tongue in cheek aside, the band seem to be poised for far greater things, and members of their record company obviously concur with this assessment. Clint, Steph and Paul spoke to Beat about their new record, and why a certain band member was joined by the upper echelons of Sony hierarchy for a 2.00am frolic in the Yarra the previous night...
"We were celebrating the chart debut with the album posting in the top 10, so we all went for drinks and things got a little out of hand." begins Steph with a smirk. "Before we knew it, we had the state manager and head of promotions for Sony stripping off and jumping in with Paul for a 2.00am swim. We were actually on our way to the casino, we were that desperate about finding somewhere else to drink."
Contrary to this display of raucous behaviour, their superb new album Beautiful Sharks has presented a more mellow and textured side of Something For Kate, where a different approach to songwriting and production seems to have been embraced. "Definitely" agrees Paul, "that's just the way the band has progressed. We've done the loud rock album and now we're doing something different. We didn't do it on purpose, it's just when we got together to write songs for this album, that's what came out; that's what we were feeling. You can't explain why songs come out the way they do, but this is what Something For Kate is sounding like mid-way through 1999." I asked whether they were concerned about the inevitable knee-jerk reaction that the band has gone soft. "Of course" continues Paul, "well, not worried about it but it's obviously going to happen..." Steph interjects "We did an instore on Saturday at Gaslight, and at the signing afterwards, out of all the people that were there, only 1 guy came up and asked 'You're not just going to do the soft and mellow stuff form now on, are you' I replied 'No, we're doing what we're doing, and you can't really rationalise it or explain it. There will be phases, just like with anything that's go to do with being creative." Paul adds "This band is about a path and a journey, so expect to see some different things. I am sure that we'll sound different again this time next year."
What a difference a millenium makes to a band's songwriting. However, something that hasn't altered from Elsewhere for 8 Minutes to the current album is the production being handled by renowned knob-turner Brian Paulson. I wondered whether things were any different second time around. "We got the 'get to know yous' out of the way last time, so it was like having another buddy in the studio" explains Clint. "He was a lot more open to ideas this time as we were, where on the first record we probably didn't try a lot of new things which we did on this record. He was really into it and heading in the same direction as we were. Things were really comfortable, possibly too comfortable some times." When asked to please explain, Steph remarks "Probably at the ease at which we all got drunk together." I quipped at the possibility of some interesting b-sides, and later found this to be very true, with another 'celebrity' doing a take on a SFK track. "The next single (which as yet has not been decided) will contain a remix by Portishead" exclaims a justifiably proud Steph. "Our publisher played him (Geoff Barrow) a few songs and he jumped at the opportunity. There was actually a few he wanted to do, but at the time we thought we had somebody else doing some, so he picked Easy. It's a really good track to do. It's really drum and bass and he's kept it pretty close to the original. But don't play it on your stereo, because it'll blow your speakers. Use someone elses."
It seems that the band are in pretty high demand of late. During the interview, Paul was called away twice, firstly to provide a comment for Rolling Stone concerning a photo of the guys schmoozing with Sepultura when they programmed Rage after them, and secondly, to see if he could have his photo taken with a certain female artist, possibly in an attempt to lift her 'indie creed'. "They were basically asking me to endorse this artist. Pure product placement, 'maybe you could come down to the studio, and just maybe you could hae your photo taken with her, and just maybe it could end up in random notes. It's just ridiculous."
Such is their bradening appeal, they have even ended up on the Dawson's Creek soundtrack.
Clint is somewhat pragmatic about the honour. "I think it's more for importing reasons. By putting an Australian band on the Australian releases, it prevents people importing from overseas." I wondered whether Big Screen Television, a track from Beautiful Sharks that not so much disparages the medium of T.V per se, but our mind-numbing consuption of it, had been proposed for the soundtrack. Paul replies "The song is obviously about how television can be a negative thing, but as a band it is our policy to not be elitist about where out music is played. If they had asked for the song, I would have said 'Go ahead, play it... you fool.' I would have chuckled to myself. I have no objection to that song being played on television. In fact it would be great, because it might actually get through to a few people." what pursued was an enthralling conversation about al things purtaining to television, where upon it was ascertained that a)Clint is a "religious" watcher of Dawsons Creek, b)Paul simply does not believe that the level of conversation maturity portrayed in the show is realistically befitting of adolescents, c)we all watched Party of Five, and d)the one of two miserly hours a week Paul and Steph spend in front of the box is occupied by Ally McBeal, for which they couldn't prasise highly enough.
Seeing as we were on the American slant, I asked about the possibility of basing themselves there. "Maybe in Canada" Clint ponders, "we're not sure yet. We've still got 6 or 8 months here for the (promotional) life of the record, then we'll see what happens. We don't want to go over there once and never go back again. You need to have a base. If you just go over there and play in front of 2000 people straight away, no-one would really connect or think it was special." Steph continues "Australian bands sometimes make the mistake of going over there, having this one big hit single, and no-body has ever heard of them; they have no sense of history with the country. We would prefer it to be like it was here, slow and graduial. Another problem is ome Australian bands get a big record deal and they bugger off to the states for 6 months and I think to myself how can you and do that when the only reason you're successful is because of you home country. I understand that you have to go overseas and broaden your horizons at some stage, but to bugger off straight away and forget what you've left behind is wrong."
Considering the continuing strength of their live shows, it shouldn't take to long to establish a base over there. There seems to have been a transition made at some point in the last 12 months or so where the shows went from good to great. Yet having granted this, the band is still overwhelmed by sold out gigs and the ever growing numbers of attendances. Paul explains "We never presumed that people should fall down at our feet and love us. The fact that people buy our records and come to our shows blows my fucking head off. Why shouldn't it? It's incredible. When you're in a rock band, no one owes you anything, you don't deserve anything. Some rock bands forget that. We're just three people making music, and the fact that some people have attatched themselves to us is excellent. you can never let that fade into the background, because that's when you become a dickhead. If I walked out on stage to a packed house and I didn't have that reaction, I would be disgusted with myself and quit. People have said that I look unhappy up there. I'm 6 ft 7, and I have dark hair and I'm the one out the front screaming and apparently pulling faces when I sing, so obviously to the public I'm Darth Vader." "He's more chewbacca than Darth Vader" Steph adds. Paul replies "I like to consider myslef more as Yoda," to which Clint remarks "And I saw him last night in boxer shorts throwing himself into the Yarra".
Something For Kate launching their acclaimed album Beautiful Sharks this Friday June 25 at the HiFi, city, special guists are the Dead Salesmen and Little General.
Back to the Interviews / Articles Page
Back to the Main Page