INTERVIEW: Great Gable talk about fulfilled dreams, innovation, and positivity in the wake of ‘On The Wall In The Morning Light’.
Interview by Evelyn Bond
Great Gable cover new ground and set a strong basis for their future tours with their new release On the Wall In the Morning Light.
Great Gable have been major players in the indie rock scene in Australia, quickly rising above the fold as indie titans regardless of their youth, due to their unique style and electric live act. Since the release of their debut EP, GG, Great Gable have continually wowed their audiences with their eclectic mix of indie rock, pop, reggae, and blues, which has shifted majorly between their three EPs and two studio albums. After the release of the band’s most popular single, ‘Drift’, from their initial EP, the band has carried a breakneck momentum and shows no signs of giving up.
While they took a much needed break after the release of OTWITML, we interviewed the members of Great Gable about their overwhelming success, their creative process, and the positive outlook that motivates their songwriting.
This is your second album with the legendary Matt Corby and Alex Hendriksson of Rainbow Valley, following your debut. What’s it like to work with one of your biggest influences?
ALEX: It’s been a dream getting to know Corby on a personal level. Alex and Matt have both been through a lot within the music industry and it’s been a blessing to be able to ask them for advice. 18 year old me would be kicking himself if he knew He was writing albums with Matt Corby!
Did working with Rainbow Valley greatly influence your creative process? Do you find that it’s changed much since Gg or your National Campus Band Comp days?
MATT: Hugely! That place is so serene! It allows you to be focused on the music while being able to escape without having too many distractions. Have always loved creating in peaceful places. Compare that to bustling through the city to the industrial areas to try and record GG, I still wouldn’t change a thing! Perspective is everything.
Even from the first seconds in Dancing Shoes, the opener to the new album, you can tell that the new album is far more danceable, and somewhat less swayable, than your previous releases. I saw your live act in 2020 and the crowd was yours—what is this new style going to do for your live act?
CALLUM: Yeah the new style has so far been translating really well. It’s great to see people dancing to the more upbeat stuff, and it makes performing them heaps of fun live. When we added Dancing Shoes to the set prior to it being released, people were up and dancing without even knowing the tune! Was so sick to see, and I reckon it definitely encouraged us to write more lively songs. It seems like a win win for everyone!
This new style is a huge departure from your earlier releases, especially Gg, and changing up your style could have presented a clear risk, considering long-standing hits like Drift. But within a week of the album’s release Hazy already has over a million plays on Spotify. How do you feel about reinventing your sound as a band this successfully? Did you think that it would be a huge risk to, for instance, add a four-on-the floor beat and fuzz guitars to your previously clean reggae-blues sound?
CHRIS: Fuzzy guitars and a four-on-the-floor drum beat wouldn’t be to far from a song that didn’t make this album… We try to be a band that doesn’t consciously write material to fit a particular genre or sound. Avoiding being pigeon held to our previous works is actually a big driving force for us when we get together to work on new material.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsCNtVqLoKs?wmode=opaque]
On the Wall In The Morning Light is having a very solid release so far, and is sure to get rave reviews and Triple J airtime. What’s it like to be a well-known staple of the Australian Indie Rock scene? With the success of OTWITML, what are the next steps for Great Gable?
MATT: I’m not sure if we are that well known but we do really appreciate that we have our own very beautiful and dedicated fan base! Triple J are opening us up to a whole new audience as well which is great!
We are going to tour the album to bits first, while doing some writing and other things in between. Super keen to have a whole new set of songs to be honest.
‘If You and I and Dancing Shoes’ are probably the happiest songs on the new record, and probably are some of the happiest songs you’ve recorded—is this going t no o mark an era of happier lyricism for Great Gable?
CALLUM: Yeah I hope so! I always hope that our music can make a positive impact in the world, and with a quick google search I found an article that claimed positive lyricism can make us nicer haha. Either way, I’m sure in the future we will write all kinds of tunes.
It’s hard to imagine your songwriting process, considering the upbeat, indie anthems of your published work and the serious tone of your lyrics. As a band, how do you come up with ideas? How do you mend the lyrics and the music?
CHRIS: For our most recent album, we couldn’t get together and write as a four piece because of covid lock downs. Instead each of us wrote by ourselves or in twos, before sending the rough demo via dropbox. Then everyone could come up with their own parts/ideas. In regards to lyrics, Al usually has a melody or collection of lyrics that he expands on. There doesn’t always have to be a deep, over arching theme… some of our songs are just there to be taken on face value!
What was the first gig you ever played as Great Gable like? And I mean your first gig. I’m talking about your WAAPA days.
ALEX: Well Great Gable’s first gig was before I even went to WAAPA.. If my memory serves me correctly we played at the railway hotel in north Freo to about 8 people wearing hi Viz and my Mum of course.
Was your live act always so electric? What are the moments that have defined the absolute, unwavering ability you have to make any crowd go absolutely wild?
MATT: We’ve always strived to have a fun and tight sounding live show. No backing tracks or any of that stuff, just raw live music. It’s always been us 4 just jamming together so it’s good to know that relays live as well. A big moment for me was probably the first time we sold out our local venue The Rosemount in Perth. I’d always been there to watch other bands and wanted to play there so when we sold it out the first time I got goosebumps.
You’ve been asked this before, but why did you pick Fireflies for your Triple J Like A cover?
We wanted to re-invent a fairly well known song but one that the original is completely different to our sound, try make it our own ya know. We also wanted to surprise people with our choice! Down to its bare bones, the song is actually a very well constructed pop song, so it was a challenge to us to make it unique.
GREAT GABLE - NATIONAL ALBUM TOURTickets on sale: Monday 27 June @ 10:00am AEST
Presented by Select Music and Across The Road Musicw/ special guests Dice + Velvet BloomFriday 7 October – Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide SASaturday 8 October – Altar, Hobart TAS *Thursday 13 October – 170 Russell, Melbourne VICFriday 14 October – Volta, Ballarat VIC ^Saturday 15 October – Barwon Club, Geelong VICWednesday 26 October - Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour NSWThursday 27 October – The Factory, Sydney NSWFriday 28 October – Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle NSWSaturday 29 October – Uni Bar, Wollongong NSWFriday 4 November – The Brightside Carpark, Brisbane QLDSaturday 5 November – The Northern, Byron Bay NSWSunday 6 November – Solbar, Maroochydore QLDFriday 11 November – Astor Theatre, Perth WA