East Brunswick All Girls Choir (EBAGC) is a band that needs little introduction. Their sound is a raw and gut-wrenchingly effortless blend of late 90s garage and distorted country/blues. Released on April 17th Seven Drummers is the highly anticipated LP – and follow up to their debut EP Dead Air.

Seven Drummers affords us a healthy dose of EBAGC’s trademark, angst-drenched palette. No frills, no fuss, no unwarranted embellishment; it’s a refreshing approach embodied wholeheartedly by the album.

After living in different corners of the globe for most of 2010, Ivy St band members Thomas Hyland (guitar/vox), Chris Campbell (drums) and Patrick Hatch (bass), at the request of Brian Ritchie, reconvened in January 2011 to perform a rooftop-set at the opening of David Walsh’s infamous MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) in Hobart. All three then shifted to Melbourne to start work on what would be their second album Courting.

Lyrically, the record holds a steady narrative. Still preoccupied with place. Still concerned with belief and identity. With the band having spent time in Europe before moving from Hobart to Melbourne, unsurprisingly the album is concerned with the shifting of status quo.

Ivy St and EBAGC have played alongside one another for a number of years, they’ve both recently released follow up albums and have taken their time doing so (over 5 years). EBAGC singer and guitarist Marcus Hobbs sat down with Ivy St front man Thomas Hyland for a bit of a chat about their respective albums, both of which are proving to be two of the strongest local releases we’ve heard this year.

Marcus Hobbs [EBAGC]: Gday dickhead

Thomas Hyland [Ivy St]: ohhh jesus.

Marcus Hobbs: Ready for some fox newsesque queries? I was just comparing your 2009 album Picture Machine to the new thing, whatever it’s called. What’s it called?

Thomas Hyland: The new album? Courting.

Marcus Hobbs: Which singles did you release form Courting?

Thomas Hyland: So far, just ‘Ten Ounces in the Sticks’. We’re gunna release another soon actually, Courting in the Morning. Gotta do it before the album tour in May but just finishing off a new film clip.

Marcus Hobbs:  One stark similarity I heard between your albums is the opening tracks on each use just one chord.

Thomas Hyland: Yeah. Who needs more than 1 chord? I enjoy songwriting with restrictions. The opener off Courting ‘1980’ was originally a lot longer and flows to other places but the more we played it the barer it became. I think I’m more interested in ideas where the guitar barely does anything.

Marcus Hobbs: The first person I noticed shredding that trick was Sarah from Batrider.

Thomas Hyland: Totally, one hell of a band too! Not that they’re mutually exclusive but I think I prefer writing/writing over playing guitar. For Ivy St, I want the guitar to be used as shading rather than the outline of songs.

Marcus Hobbs: Ok so I am going to think of all the similarities between our two bands that I can see.
1 – Both grew up in relatively small communities, close music scene.
2 – Both moved to Melbourne around the same time (although your band was created in Hobart I do suppose)
3 – Both took five years to release follow ups to first major releases
4 – Both new records recorded in the same place (Headgap)
5 – Both been accosted by Andrew Harper on many occasions
6 – Both to be released independently
So maybe two points I want to touch on there mostly

Thomas Hyland: Go on…

Marcus Hobbs: I find I write a lot about Bendigo (home town), I can’t help it. It’s an untapped resource and I find it a much more interesting place, character wise, than I do Melbourne. In terms of individual characters.  I have to imagine that you’re similar in a lot of the songs you write, Hobart based musings.

Thomas Hyland: Yeah, yeah for sure. I can’t help it either. It’s never a decision. Tasmania is a strong part of my identity and I’m constantly fascinated by it or how I relate to it.

With the first album, a lot of songs were written around ideas/stories relating to either Devonport (where I grew up) and Hobart (where I moved to at 18). Then with Courting I lived in Melbourne… so obviously I’ve got some weird guilt complex relating to not being in Hobart anymore.

Congrats on Seven Drummers by the way. It’s fucking brilliant. Hey I’ve got a question, but I want to lead you to it.

Marcus Hobbs: Leadbelly me, baby.

Thomas Hyland: Soo… I found the 5 years between albums to be incredibly frustrating. Mostly because I wanted to move on to new idea but in order to do that I needed to feel like I had finished these ideas.

How did you feel having written and recorded album in between Dead Air and Seven Drummers that has never seen the light of day?

Marcus Hobbs: I’m an incredible procrastinator. So I rushed a lot of those songs on the “lost” album in-between. A few made it through to Seven Drummers but really, the songs were pretty shit and we performed them really poorly as well. I’m glad we got rid of it.

Thomas Hyland:  I remember you played the lost album to me in when we were in Berlin but we had bunch of cheap cocktails and I honestly can’t remember a thing.

Marcus Hobbs:  I slipped you a mickey. But, because I was away and I just wanted to not write that much or play shows I didn’t care. That year was good for me. So planning to record was a good thing to look forward to. Rather than going back and releasing something we’d recorded a year earlier that we were kind of sick of.

Didn’t cut the mustard mate.
No bloody mustard.

Thomas Hyland: So, what would be your measure of success for the album? Is releasing it all you need?

Marcus Hobbs: Releasing it would be a good start. Obviously it would be nice if some people liked it. I don’t write with an audience in mind though so I guess it’s like flicking a coin over your head into a pond. Who knows…

Ivy St ‘Courting’ Album Tour

SAT APRIL 26 – The Metro, Adelaide.
w/ Summer Flake & Alpha Beta Fox

FRI MAY 2 – The Curtin, Melbourne.
w/ Witch Hats & Tim Richmond

THUR MAY 15 – Croatian Club, Newcastle.
w/ Rat King & Polyfox

FRI MAY 16 – The Square, Sydney.
w/ Mere Women & Yes I’m Leaving

SAT MAY 17 – Trainspotters, Brisbane.
w/ Thigh Master, Scrabble & High Beams

SAT JUNE 14 – Frankies Empire, Hobart.
w/ Native Cats.

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