Their catchy garage-pop singles have made waves internationally and they’ve played alongside some of the biggest names in indie rock; it’s hard to believe that 18 months ago The Creases didn’t even exist. Today marks the release of their debut EP Gradient, a five track release filled with undeniably shoegaze influenced garage pop gems.

Rather than taking the easy road and trying to replicate the singles which delivered them their early success, the Brissy five piece worked in the studio with Simon “Berkfinger” Berckelman (Philadelphia Grand Jury, Art Vs Science) to produce something new and fresh, but still carrying The Creases familiar sound.

To celebrate the band’s debut EP, founding members Joe Agius and Jarrod Mahon gave us a track by rack run down on the making of Gradient which you can check out below.

Static Lines

Joe (vocals/ guitar): “I wrote this song in the first month we started rehearsing together as a full band last year, we desperately needed more songs to fill our set up with for the upcoming Jungle Giants tour which we had already been confirmed so I spent nearly every day inside my room writing and this was probably the best song that came out of it then.

At the time I was really obsessed with 1950’s prom music and it had a lot of similar vibes in the beginning but as we jammed it out as a band it became more and more washy. I really didn’t like the chorus at the time, I thought it was really lame but it stayed in my head a lot so I thought it was a pretty good indication I shouldn’t change it and I’m definitely glad I didn’t now. As for the meaning of the song I guess it’s about two people being together without really knowing each other properly yet, and as time goes on you both realise even though you are attracted to a lot of things about one another, it’s pretty clear there isn’t much of a future together and it’s probably best to be apart.”

How Long Til I Know

Joe: “Originally this song was for another band we played in but it transitioned really well between both bands and as The Creases got busy we decided to use it. The song began with just the main schreeching guitar lead that is in the intro and choruses which at the time I was playing on a synth a lot. It reminded me heaps of MBV and I wanted to write a really shoegazey song around it but was pretty stuck.

I think I was sitting at a table with Aimon mucking around on instruments and it all fell into place really quickly somehow after we worked out the chords in the lead’s key. It’s one of those songs where I can’t really remember how I even wrote it because it happened so fast (which is pretty frustrating) but it’s probably my favourite track on the EP. The female backup vocals were done by our good friends from fellow Brisbane bands Major Leagues, Babaganouj and Love Signs.”

Fall Guy

Jarrod (vocals/ guitar): “‘Fall Guy’ is a song I wrote about falling in love with somebody too fast and easily and to a point of trying too hard to please them no matter what cost it does to yourself mentally.

There was a point when I just wanted to be with someone, even if I didn’t mean a lot to them at the time. I guess its just about being a rebound lover, knowing it, and being happy with that, as sad as it all sounds. I wrote it when we started rehearsing, I was worried that it would be too slow of a song to use in the sets but as soon as we rehearsed it it came together really easily.”

Do You Know Why

Joe: “This was the 3rd song we ever wrote/had in The Creases, unlike the other EP tracks this one was written at the same time as our first tunes ‘I Won’t Wait’ and ‘Fun To Lose’ which I think is probably pretty obvious after listening to it.

I had written the idea for the song but had no idea how to structure and finish it and when Jarrod and I started jamming he finished it off and like those first two songs we went half half in lead vocal duties. It was originally written jokingly about when I got really messed up Splendour In The Grass one year and threw up in the middle of Tame Impala and some people looked after me until I was ok (haha) but just became a song about partying to hard when Jarrod and I finished and recorded it.”

Gradient

Joe: The last and longest track on the EP. The intro and chorus of this song were written probably a year before The Creases existed but came together around the same time as the rest of the songs once we all started rehearsing together.

It’s about a couple I knew that always self-sabotaged their own relationship every time it was getting good, I think they always needed some kind of drama or complication in their lives to keep it interesting. I found it crazy how two people could stay together for so long like that and was really involved in it at one point so it all just turned into a song one night when I was writing. I think my favourite part of the song is the break and Jarrod’s solo midway through the song, it’s always really fun live.”

Gradient is out now via Mushroom. 

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