'Echolalia' is the new album just hitting music stores from the famed Something For Kate outfit. It is in fact a deep, meaningful and soulful journey that we are taken on, having moved on from earlier releases and solo performances that have occupied the band in recent times. We were speaking with relative newcomer Stephanie, now well ensconced in the Something For Kate family having passed her eighteen months of being with the band.
'We were committed to this record six months ago when we made it, we were completely anal about it, we spent so much time on it. It was about pleasing ourseleves, not it is 'Queue sera sera,' (What will be will be), we can't do anything more about it. But we're excited and curious to see what people have to say.'
Described by some press as the 'Thinking Man's Band' Something For Kate has a huge fan base for an outfit that isn't punk, doesn't sing about angst and isn't covered in tattoos and whose songs last more than three minutes.
'I hope that we provoke thought and that it's challenging,' says Steph, 'We certainly aim to. I know that Paul aims to provoke thought and to create a challenge for people. First and foremost though he is getting things off his chest.'
With tracks that are layered, textured and impressionistic, Steph is the first to admit that the music of Something For Kate is not a sound 'get vibe to go out and party band.'
'Echolalia' is one of those albums that really takes a few listens to get enjoyment from, so how does Steph see the music 'from the inside,' so to speak?
'It is not your quick fix, it's not your quick one, two three rhythm, it definitely takes a few listens.'
Paul Dempsey had recently finished a national solo tour. Had this intensely personal series of performances changed the nature of the man and his music?
'A little, I think that doing a solo tour night after night is really putting yourself out there and you have nothing to hide, just you. Every singer in a band sould try it. He puts himself through it all the time. For him it's a confidence issure. It's between the songs that Paul has a problem. He has a problem talking because he is not an extrovert in any way. He has become more confident through doing that and I think that has had an impact in his music.'
Known for their strident production values, Stephanie admits that the band were all 'opinionated on how things should sound and how our instruments should sound.' Clint had very set ideas on what he wanted, Steph had Cd references for the kind of bass sounds she wanted and Paul was particular on what he required. Steph even admits that there were occasions when all the band, plus Trina were happy with the take and she would walk into the room and say 'Nup, let's do it again.' Recording was extremely demanding, a point not lost on Trina Shoemaker in subsequent interviews.
'Then there was the 'fruit, ' explains Steph, 'All the other instruments, the Hammonds, the backing vocals, all the strange noises that you hear. Paul and myself had specific sound aeshetics for those.'
Studio owner Garry Beers had an interesting input into there procuction of 'Echolalia', as he allowed and encouraged the band to rampage through his own personal collection of musical equipment to find new and deffering sounds for the recording. 'He would come across every day with some fantastic keyboard. I used his bass for the whole album and his bass amp and speakers, He was so generious and it made quite a difference to the way the album sounds.'
Would this make performing some of the tracks on tour a little difficult?
'We already have been doing some performances and these in fact have been auditions for some of the session players needed to perform this album on stage,' Steph says. 'We have a keyboard player who has a Hammond, we have modules with different sounds on them, so that he can have Hammond sounds or at the switch of a button he can have piano sounds, whatever he needs for that particular track.'
There are already two extra musicians. 'They are really good fun people, they're "Something For Kate people" in that they understand what we're doing and are sympathetic to our causes.'
Pip Branson, ex guitarist of Sydney band Sindwinder and Simon Bourke a session keyboard player with roots in a bluesy gospel background make up the new additions on tour. 'Paul has this knack for picking people out of thin air, he liked what Sidewinder did and recognised that they were good players and since they had broken up Paul came to us and said "We should try this guy," and Simon came to us through word of mouth.'
Unfortunately Trina Shoemaker will not be coming back to Australia for the launch. She is currently working on the new Sheryl Crow album in L.A. 'We're going over there to New Orleans for a holiday later in the year, so we will have to tell her all about it then.'
After the Australian tour comes a European your, their first, something Steph describes as "interesting... lots of talk at present.'
Have they ever met someone suffering Echolalia? That strange mental illness that forces its suffers to parrot the conversations of others?
'No we chose the name more as a comment on the way we see our popular culture and the way we see that culture as a repetition of different styles.'
For Steph 'You Only Hide' is her favourite track on the new release. 'It's very stripped back, very minimal, those kind of songs can be very good and uncluttered. It broadens peoples ideas about what Something For Kate are like. That we're this type of heavy guitar band. I think songs like that are very important becasuse they show another side to the band. When your strip songs back like that you're hoping that it is a good song. A good solid song doesn't need too much messing about, it just needs to have the very basics. It stands up with the rest of them.'
With sixteen tracks on the new album and none of them short, was recording an exhausting process for the band?
'It took a long time. We were in a room for all of summer, We did not see summer last year. We always seem to record in summer so we never end up seeing summer. We get summer once every two years when we are touring. Recording is always an intense process for us!'
'Say Something,' is a Paul' tack. On occasions the quiet giant will simply turn up to rehearsal with a finished track. 'Sometimes I just don't want to know what they're about, when Paul brings in a song. It's more interesting,' admits Steph, "I like to leave things with a bit of mystique and with Paul it's safe to realise that there is not just one meaning. One of the things that Paul did say is that the song is about to have this incredible need for anyone anywhere to actually say something of importance of say something that completely flaws you and gets you to change your life. It's that kind of need to hear something significant.'
Steph admits that she likes the songs because of the musical side of them, rather that the lyrical side of them. Some in 'Twently Years,' a song that Steph likes because it is a country tinged.
Clint is a big fan of 'Feeding The Birds' and 'Hoping for Something in Return' The last song is really good for a drummer, it really goes through different moods and is a really hard song for him to play. That's his favourite, but then he changes his favourite every day.'
Now the album 'Echolalia' is out. Sony does its thing. The interviews are lined up and Something For Kate are in the hustings, with press, press and more press, TV, RRR, MMM, lots of instores. 'We co-operate with Sony and do what needs to be done for them to get that record out. We're co-operative to a point.'
We just could not imagine anyone asking Paul Dempsey to do something that was not in character for the band.
'Try fashion shoots.'