INTERVIEW: Ivey Chats 2022, ‘Bright Famous Dead’ And Everything In Between!
Our favourite indie pop darlings, Ivey, have had a huge year to say the least. After returning early June with their dreamy bubblegum-pop track ‘Pretty Boys’ the 5-piece from Yugambeh/Gold Coast have done it all - slews of east coast touring, festival appearances and some banging single releases.
Now they’ve topped off the year that was with a gorgeous EP titled ‘Bright Famous Dead’. We had a chat with the band all about their year, the new record and everything in between,
Check it out!
Hello Ivey, it hasn’t been long between drinks, but it’s a pleasure to be chatting with you guys again. You’ve been busy playing shows and touring up and down the East Coast how are you all holding up?
We’re doing pleasantly thank you! Hope you’ve been well too, sending loads of love and hugs! Since we saw you last, yeah we played a bunch of shows up and down the east coast, a couple of festivals and have been deep in writing and recording mode (again) since then! And obviously gearing up for this release.
Now, you guys have got your sophmore EP ‘Bright, Dead, Famous’ coming out next month. Congrats, how does it feel to have your first full body of work out for the world to hear!?
Well we’re just extremely stoked to be releasing music again, it was 18 months since our last release, and that’s a long time for an artist! We’re actually so proud of this EP, we listen to these songs again and we feel a great sense of achievement, which is really special.
‘Bright, Dead, Famous’ is a powerful title, did it take a long time to settle on that or did it always feel right for the EP?
The EP actually had another title for a very long time. However as time progressed, we realised this title was basically the same as a few others so had to begrudgingly scrap it. Over the course of around 3 months we kept toying with different names until one day....
The song ‘Back Home’ is about how Millie moved back home after a massive break up, and she moved out of the place she was living in with her ex, and that house was located in the suburb of Robina on the Gold Coast. So I decided to look into the name meaning behind Robina. Turns out it’s of Germanic origin, and roughly (and I assume roughly) translates to “Bright or Famous”
So the whole concept of the title revolves around this song, this change, leaving old lives behind and starting new ones.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYH953rlJ3o?wmode=opaque]
For those of your fans who’ve been with you for a long time now, what is one aspect of the new EP that will surprise them? And what iconic elements of IVEY are still present?
I think the biggest surprise will come with the song ’Drop’. It’s definitely a territory we haven’t covered before, not at least in the public eye, it has a lot of rnb elements, a lot of trap type hats and speaks pretty plainly about addiction, something we haven’t covered in our music much. Iconic Ivey elements that are still present are them clean guitar tones and class pop melodies we luv xoxoxoxoxo
What does this EP mean to you guys? What story does it tell?
This EP is another chapter of us not only as a band but as friends, family. This EP revolves around change - from heartbreak and ending relationships, to starting new ones and falling in love, from recognising addiction to seeking therapy. It all starts and ends with making changes.
What emotions did you feel when you wrapped up the recording of ‘Bright, Dead, Famous’ ? What emotions do you hope fans will feel after their first listen to the EP?
Going to be honest we finished recording this EP at the beginning of 2021 and mixing was completed at the end of 2021. So it’s been done for a long time now!
We hate to be repetitive but a huge sense of pride, accomplishment and satisfaction came with this record. This is the first time we’ve self produced a body of work, trusted in our own guidance, and trusted each other from the very beginning to the very end of the process.
It’s a very lovely feeling, to create something and be proud of it.
Your tracks always have an uplifting effect and a strong vibe of positivity even when they are about emotional topics. Is that intentional? What’s the importance of music in your lives when it comes to coping with and understanding the world?
It’s funny you say this because we get this comment a lot, but no it’s not intentional. When we make music, we’re making music that we like, usually when we’re bopping our heads and feeling something at the same time is when it’s working. The emotional topics is just because we try to be generally honest when we’re writing, sometimes songs may be more direct, some songs may be more vague, but if you’re writing is honest you’ll find it usually becomes emotional too.
The importance of music is paramount when it comes to both coping and understanding the world. Even if the subject matter of the music isn’t directly related to you, music can translate feeling like almost nothing else can. You could be walking down a suburban street by yourself, and if you pop on a Brian Eno tune (e.g. LUX 1 - it’s good listen!!) and suddenly you’re all caught up in this feeling, and everything around you becomes clear and beautiful and important. Or maybe you put on Kings Of Leon and you’re transported to a specific place and the lyrics scream at you and everything around you become emotional, sad but hopeful. Or finally you put on some Doja Cat and you are weightless and floating and bouncing around, everything around you is glowing and you’re looking forward to the night ahead.
That’s the importance of music in our lives, it soundtracks everything, it can help you feel, it can take you somewhere perhaps you really need to be, can make you feel something you truly need to feel.
Can you talk us through your writing and recording process? How do you get from A to B?
Every song is different for us. And even now our writing process differs from when we wrote these songs.
But there is some common threads we follow. It usually starts with Matt or Riley creating some form of an instrumental track, whether this be before we’re all in the room together or during. There’s usually a couple of reference track ideas bouncing around (reference track being, song that we’re liking, or parts of songs we want to emulate etc) and it builds from there. Some days I’ll come in with half a song that I’ve produced (extremely poorly, I don’t have the patience for tedious producing) and the process will begin with Matt, Millie and Riley picking their favourite parts - e.g. melody, lyrics, chords etc and then beginning the songs again from there.
Millie and I then usually take the bones of the song, either the chords or a loop of the beat that the boys have made or the half song I’ve written and go into a different room and flesh out melody and lyrical concepts.
While this is happening, either Matt or Riley will start fleshing out the production, the structure and the general vine of the song (usually one of them is leading on a particular day at production, they both end up working on the track but we’re not all in the same room each time, it often can become to much if all of us are trying to input ideas all at once)
After a few hours of back and forth, re-writing lyrics and melody and fine tuning we usually get the bed of a song done. Some songs may be completed that day, others may take months to finish, to fine tune and to get right. Some songs are superb and some songs are total dogs hit ahaha.
Once we pick a song for the recording process (as in we definitely know we want to release it) we’ll usually re-record all the live instruments and create a soundscape for the songs to live in. Sometimes we’ll re-record vocals, but we find often that a lot of the original takes purvey the purest emotions! From here Matt and Riley will take turns adding production flare and usually Riley will do the final vocal production on the tracks.
And that’s about it, then we send it off to mixing.
What’s your ideal environment when you’re getting creative?
There’s many environments to get creative, I don’t think there is an ideal space but more rather an ideal serendipitous time. Sometimes we’ll get into the studio and nothing will work, other times we may be in my room and we’re fully locked in (and vice versa ). We try to spread this message a lot, and a lot of greater people than us have said this, but with creativity it’s often
about showing up more so than anything else, you just have to be there at the right time when that spark of creativity hits and have the tools to capture it.
This EP seems like a statement of intent to the world that IVEY are back stronger than ever and here to stay. For each of you, what are some of the most inspiring comeback stories in history? Which artist’s careers have inspired you?
Lachie: Look, off the top of my head I’m not very sure about comebacks, but I’m pretty stoked for Britney. I think what’s inspiring is when you see artists who has faced adversity within the industry for a long time and never given up. People who made music for ten years before anything blew up for them, acts like Lizzo, Anderson Paak and The 1975 all spring to mind. I think that’s why we do it, because we love it, we know we’re good and we couldn’t think of anything else we’d rather be doing, and if takes a bit of time, well that’s alright with us <3
Millie: So many artists inspire me but recently I watched an interview with Lizzo, she has been in the industry for so long grinding and working her butt off without recognition. I love that she persevered and kept doing with she loves. I struggled with the comeback story I need to learn about some more history!!!!!!
Dante: A band’s career that is inspiring for me is The 1975. Their story is evidence that the cream always rises to the top. My uncle once told me if you are good enough, you’ll make it in whatever profession that be. If you focus on your craft and what you can control, the rest will take care of itself. I think that’s a really powerful mindset as every moment you focus on outcomes, is time lost focusing on what you can control. The 1975 chased label deals until they realised no one wanted them so created their own. I’m sure that shift was liberating and played an important role in the success they’ve had.
Matt: It’s hard to find a good comeback story in the industry - because more often than not - once you fall out of touch with the music world, people tend to forget about you. But Porter Robinson was someone who made me realise that being an artist isn't glamorous. That successful & famous artists have personal battles in their lives that can push them away from music altogether. After 7 years of no music, Porter Robinson released an album which more or less showed me that we as musicians need to look after ourselves - but also showed me that if you love what you do, it won't matter how much time it takes you to do it.
Riley: I really enjoy comeback stories from artists as I feel it is a way to show that your fans will still love you no matter how it takes for new music. Adele for example was very inspiring to me. After a few years of no music, her song Hello - was a smash topping charts and
breaking records worldwide - it was like she never left. I think for someone to pull that off, shows how much people respect her music and her as an individual.
To wrap things up, we’ve got some quick fire Q’s related to ‘Bright, Dead, Famous’ - THE FAME GAME:
If each of you could be famous for something other than music what would that be? Lachie: I love history and writing, so something like writing a fiction history period piece would be dope.
Dante: Famous Vlogger
Millie: Probably a meme but I have always thought my family would be hilarious for a reality tv show
Matt: Podcasting
Riley: Definitely cleaning (I would have my own show)
If you could be one famous person for a day, dead or alive, who would it be?
Lachie: Herodotus
Dante: Diego Maradona
Millie: Any of the Kardashians their life seems crazy and I would love/hate to see what they would have to deal with every day
Matt: George Daniel
Riley: Drake
What parts of international fame would you love and what would you hate?
Lachie: I would love to just be able afford to go places and eat lots of cool things and hang out, I don’t think I would particularly like paparazzi but I do like attention sometimes so who knows.
Dante: Love - freebies, Hate - constant scrutiny
Millie: I would love the recognition of my hard work but I would hate the negative toll it would have on my relationships with friends, partner or family
Matt: I would love to be able to have a driver with my name on an ipad pick me up from whatever airport I land, but - i would hate shaking so many hands & pretending I know what im doing in life
Riley: I would definitely love having a team to help with everyday tasks + the travelling and meeting you new people. One part I would hate would be the anxiety and stress of the lifestyle.
Who do you think is the most UNdeservingly famous person? Lachie: Clive Palmer
Dante: Mark Wahlberg
Millie: Controversial... but the Damelio’s
Matt: Kevin Jonas
Riley: The Kardashians
Who is an UNfamous person that really deserves to be?
Lachie: Ivey duh! I also think Genesis Owusu should be the biggest thing in the world and I also think these Australian artists should be famous: KYE, Royel Otis, Forest Claudette.
And all of my friends should be famous ‘cause they’re really funny.
Millie: Lachie
Dante: My friend Damon
Matt: The person in Steve Jobs team who was the real mastermind behind the iphone
Riley: Ivey ;)
Stream ‘Bright, Famous, Dead’’ now!