GIG: The Owls spent a lot of time and money recording their last EP in a traditional studio environment but in the end they scrapped the cuts, built a studio in a tin shed in an industrial estate and set about capturing the sound they wanted.
Singer and guitarist Josh Bailey explains the overly-produced sound that came out of the studio sessions, recorded with a “big name” producer, was just not conducive to the band’s tendency for dirty, blues-infused alternative rock.
“It was just too polished – it is hard to single out one aspect but you know when you hear some overly manufactured piece of crap on the radio, we felt it was a bit too close to something like that,” Bailey said.
For their newest EP Own the Streets they decided to head back into the studio but maintain their commitment to keeping the sound raw by writing the record in the same tin shed and employing acclaimed producer Lachlan Mitchell.
“We’d go out to the shed and just nut it out,” Bailey said of the writing process for the new EP.
“We didn’t have a clear vision for what we were doing; we’d get an idea and we just work from there. It was a slow process.”
The band, which hits the Prince of Wales this Saturday, approaches their live show with a similarly improvisational attitude.
“We gauge the night and we gauge the way the crowd is responding,” Bailey said.
“If it is a quiet night we will play a more acoustically-driven set and then if its the end of the night and people are getting a bit rowdy, we’ll get right into it to match that mood.”
Bailey said West Australians have a seemingly unquenchable thirst for the kind of no-nonsense rock and roll the band produce and are excited to finally bring their show to Bunbury.
“We have been wanting to get to Bunbury for a long time because we have heard about what a great venue the Prince is,” Bailey said.
- By Ross Verne.
