Formed in late 2010, Audego is a collaboration between Melbourne duo Paso Bionic and Big Fella. Audego are a unique concoction of skillful sample based production, heart breakingly honeyed vocals, poetic lyricism, snapping beats and crooked synths.

Going back to the start for a second, you’re both heavily involved in your own respective music projects outside of Audego, so how did this collaboration for come about? How did you meet?

Big Fella: We were floating in the same social circle for a while. About 5 years ago I gave Paso a track of mine to remix. In hindsight, the original track was pretty terrible, so it was very nice of him to work on it. He did a really good job on the remix and we became friends after that.  We went on to become serious rock climbing buddies, get married and then formed Audego.

Where do the nicknames Paso Bionic and Big Fella come from?

Big Fella: Paso came up with Big Fella for me one day as a joke, but I liked it. There are a few different reasons why I like it, but the main reason has to do with being a girl in a male dominated industry and I guess the desire to not be seen as a girl, but as a person who likes to make tracks. It’s really annoying being objectified and I think that sort of thing runs rampant in the hip-hop/beats scene.

Paso: ‘Paso’ was my tag (although to confuse things when I do pieces I write it ‘Peso’ because I like the shape of the letter ‘e’). The ‘Bionic’ was added because my band mates in Curse ov Dialect decided at one point that our stage names needed surnames!

Your latest track ‘Sleepy’ has been getting a lot of love both online and on the airwaves. I’ve heard it took the course of a year to put together, which some might consider a long time. What’s your collaborative process like?

Big Fella: Making ‘Sleepy’ wasn’t like a solid slog over a year; it was more like adding bits and pieces slowly while the rest of the album was written. It was the second track written for this album and we knew it was the poppiest thing we would probably make for this release, so we gave it to Paul Rhodes of Negative Films (for the film clip) in it’s early inception, and together we slowly chipped away at it.

It started off as a looped tom roll, and then I overlayed some humming harmony layers to frame the chorus. The lyrics were something I had floating around from a period of sleeplessness. I liked the idea of “midnight’s stampede of elephant thoughts” stomping around in my brain and I felt it went well with the big beat. So I recorded the different vocal parts, then Paso added the synth layers and bass around that and finessed the beat.  We make songs differently every time though.

And what do you make of online hype – is it something you enjoy or try to avoid?

Big Fella: In all honesty, we both find social networking quite sickening, but it’s the nature of the beast if you do music in this age. It’s a lot of smoke and mirrors, but on the other hand it’s really cool that music can be shared so freely with anyone anywhere at any time. It’s obviously a lot cooler to have people come to your shows than to have a million twitter followers and no one coming to your gigs.

The  video for ‘Sleepy’ – which is your first official clip – deserves its own mention. It’s pretty incredible. What was the inspiration behind it? It reminds me a lot of Adventure Time.

That was all Paul Rhodes from Negative Films. We chanced across each other’s work on the interwebs and decided a collaboration was in order. He is obviously a really talented guy, so we didn’t interfere with his process at all. We told him what the song meant to us and he created his own dreamlike visual world to fit the song.

‘Sleepy’ is the first slice from your forthcoming sophomore album, Beneath The Static And The Low, which dropped on September 20. How would you sum up the LP in your own words?

Beneath the static and the low is a sonic progression for us. It’s studded with old-fashioned harmonies and intimate vocals, preserved in the amber murk of retro synths and clattering percussion. It’s filled with woozy drums, sweet production, and phatty bass interlaced with Big Fella’s slippery and delicate vocals.

How does Audego differ from your other projects?

Big Fella: I used to do singer-songwritery stuff with my piano and a band. Song writing was this cathartic expulsion of whatever was on my mind. With Audego I still feel like I’m still completely expressing myself, but it’s more thought-out and crafted because I record as I’m writing, so I can hear straight away if it’s naff or not. It’s all less impulsive I guess, which kind of mirrors how I’ve become in other aspects of my life as well. I used to be a lot more reckless.

Paso Bionic: It’s great to work with a singer instead of rappers for a change! The creative process is very different too, in that the majority of songs start with vocals, which I then build the beat around. Sonically Audego allows me to explore darker moods and slower tempos than my work with Tzu and Curse ov Dialect. I usually work exclusively with samples but I’ve ended up relying more on synths as it’s often hard to find samples that have the right vibe and are always in key!

You’ve been playing a few shows around town with your buddies Alta, Leaks and friendships. Are the live shows something you both enjoy?

Big Fella: We’re enjoying them more and more. Our live show is evolving to incorporate more live elements, which keeps it exciting. It’s also a lot of fun discovering these local bands that are awesome and then building relationships with them.

What’s been the most memorable Audego show to date?

Big Fella: Our most memorable show to date was Peats Ridge Festival in 2011. It was our first festival gig as Audego and we were so chuffed about it. Our set was at 11:45pm to bring in the New Year, so we thought this was just grand. It turned out Gotye (bloody Gotye!) was playing at 11:30pm at a neighbouring stage. I remember seeing this mass surge of people flock to his stage, pretty much the entire festival, and we had to play with no audience except this one heavily munted dude interpretative dancing to his own beat. Sietta had played earlier that day and found us performing to an empty room and very sweetly came and danced for us. It meant the world to us for them to do that.

I had to do a count down to bring in the New Year and parade these cards across the stage that had the time on them, even though there was barely anyone watching. The whole thing felt really bazaar. Finally Gotye finished his set and some more people came to see us, but that was one of the most humbling experiences ever.

Putting you on the spot: what was the first gig you ever went to, and the first CD you ever bought?

Big Fella: The first gig I ever went to was a Tina Turner gig in Cairns. I touched her sweaty hand and rubbed the sweat on a piece of paper that I kept in my photo album. I also refused to wash for about a week.

The first album I ever bought was The Bodyguard soundtrack. I still love the shit out of that soundtrack. Whitney was amazing.

Paso: First gig was Beastie Boys and Helmet at Festival Hall. First piece of music I ever bought was RUN DMC ‘It’s Tricky’ 12 inch single from the recently defunct Zorro records in Preston Market. I don’t remember my first CD though, it was all cassettes and records when I was a kid!

Who are some artists or bands you’re really digging at the moment?

Frank Ocean, Jai Paul, Earl Sweatshirt, Sietta, Hailey Cramer, Texture like sun, Telling, Friendships, Hermitude. There’s really so many, this is just a few of them.

Looking into the future, what are your plans for the rest of 2013 and early 2014?

We don’t really plan ahead too much, but we do hope to just keep writing new material that expands creatively from where we were.  We want to grow artistically and have the quality of our music represent that. It would be cool to keep doing shows and keep developing our live act too.

Where we can see you play next, what releases do you have available and where can we get them? 

Our next gig is our album launch show in Melbourne at The Toff in Town on THURSDAY 10th OCTOBER
w/ friendships , Sui Zhen and Leaks, featuring art installations by B0yd0g

We are giving away our new single for free download at Bandcamp and  our debut album Abominable Galaxy and collaborative EP with Friendships’ I know we’ve only been going out for three days but it feels like forever

audego.bandcamp.com

Audego Tour Dates:

Thursday 10 October – The Toff In Town, Melbourne

with Friendships, Sui Zhen and Leaks

Saturday 26 October – Fbi Social, Sydney

with Friendships and Nakagin and East to West DJs – Free Entry

Saturday 9 November – The Hideaway, Brisbane

with Friendships and Tincture – Free Entry

Watch ‘Sleepy’ here

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