Grouplove have such a strong hold on Australian crowds that it’s easy to forget they’re not from our sunny shores. So it comes as a slight surprise when the very strong New York drawl of Christian Zucconi greets me over the phone on a rainy Thursday morning.
He’s calling from Chicago where the band are currently touring their new album Big Mess, the follow up to 2013’s gigantic Spreading Rumours recorded in part with producer , marking the first time they’ve worked with an outside producer.
“I think it was a cool thing that we did, we went outside the box and tried someone new. Phil was someone we all love, the records he’s done sound impeccable. We did a song with him for a soundtrack before we did the album kind to get a feel of him. He was amazing, he’s a smart, funny dude from Seattle and we’re all kind of infatuated with that city so it all made sense to try him out.”
“We went to do the second half with Ryan producing, I think as someone who’s always done our records it was fun for him to gain exposure and knowledge from someone who’s been doing it for so long and I think it bled into each other and they both helped each other else. Ryan whilst we were in Seattle brought things to the table that Phil wasn’t used to, and they meshed well together and it made a cool record.”
Big Mess comes after a chaotic past few years for the band, between wrapping up their last tour and the arrival of a new baby, the record takes its title from all this and presents it in a superb, loud package.
“I guess it came from a lyric from the first song on the album. It just kind of makes perfect sense for the last few years of our lives. Getting off tour, we’ve been so busy on tour and we finish and we’ve lost all our friendships. We don’t see our friends or any of our family because we’re always away. We get home to a house that hasn’t been lived in, Hannah and I were having a baby.”
“Everything just kind of felt completely out of control and I guess in that chaos is where we thrive, where we can write our best songs, so Big Mess is our place to shine. The crazier things get the better the songs get for us. It just kind of bleeds into our subconscious and it comes out in the form of music and it just validates everything in our lives.”
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In the past Grouplove have created wild, colourful music videos and the latest video for the first single ‘Welcome To Your Life’ is no different, only in that the way it was created. Teaming up with Genero – an Australian company connecting the creative community with video content – the band started a project to get film makers to create music videos for the album.
“In the past few years we’ve done our own music videos but there’s been some random artists out there that have put out their own videos that have been really really spectacular. So it’s always nice to think of new ways to engage your fans and do things differently than most bands. Especially us with Hannah being the super artist that she is with writing songs for the bands and also creating all the art.”
“Over the years we’ve met so many people she’s inspired and they just want to make more art and delve into that brain space for themselves and we just thought it was a great idea to continue that and have fans create their own videos if they’re so inclined and we just chose the winner for Welcome To Your Life which was really cool because all these fans are all over the world making these amazing videos. It’s cool that people care to do it and it’s always wonderful to inspire people to make art, that’s why we do it. It’s a cool new thing to try out for sure.”
Following a stellar tradition of producing killer covers, the band are looking to build on their already large repertoire and follow on from their 2015 EP Under The Covers.
“It’s interesting because we’ve done all these covers even since then as well, we just did a Dune Rats song for Like A Version and we’ve become this band that kind of reinterprets songs and we change them up but we just did this Beatles song that’s going to come out soon and the record comes out next week and we’re going to be in New York and we’re going to do these sessions for certain radio stations and Spotify and they’re all asking for covers. So we’re constantly being challenged to come up with covers number one and then hopefully to manipulate them a little bit.”
“So right now we’re thinking of reinterpreting a Rihanna song, which one we’re not sure. That’s the thing with these, when you hear all these fucking awesome songs you’re like yo let’s definitely do that but then the next day you’re like wait which one were we going to do? It’s fun to do, and I’m glad we’re being challenged to keep doing it.
“The next cover on the tour, I’m not sure what we’re going to do because we always do one with every album cycle. Last album cycle we did ‘Drunk In Love’ and fans seemed to appreciate it.”
Grouplove and Australia have a special relationship. Ever since their debut Aussie crowds have embraced them with open arms, and with a new album and a slot on the Falls Festival lineup, it’s sure to make the relationship even stronger.
“We love playing Australia, we were there like two weeks ago and once again they were probably the best shows we’ve ever played. Our favourite show we’ve played to this day as a band is two years ago at Splendour in the Grass. I don’t know what it is, Australia is just so fucking great to us and we’re so thankful for the enthusiasm the crowd gives us.”
“Our last show at the Corner Hotel was personally one of my favourite shows I’ve ever played. It’s just always that way, it’s like this magic subliminal connection so we’re so happy we’re coming back. We always want to be there for you guys and you guys to always be there for us, it’s like a beautiful miracle that it even exists. It’s amazing.”
