A SUNSET TO DREAM OF

Some time back, Triple J began playing a song fairly regularly from a band that not too many people outside their own town had heard of. As is Triple J's reach, the band soon began to get a lot of reaction from that song & the reviews began to flow with praise of both their gigs & the ep from which the song was pulled.

That song was Asleep In Perfection, the ep Waltz & the band? None other than Augie March. The Waltz ep really did it for the band & their reputation has steadily been growing ever since, supported by their most recent single Hole In Your Roof.

I recently caught up with Adam from the band & we talked about the effect their music has on people as well as the then imminent release of their debut album Sunset Studies, which will be out by the time you read this.

The first thing I mentioned was the fact that I hadn't been able to get the lead track of the album Hole In Your Roof out of my head since listening to it the night before & it seemed to have a more hypnotic effect than the single.

"Well that's great! Probably the reason it's so different for people is that it's a lot longer. I think it's nearly twice as long as the single, largely because we had to edit it for radio because some radio stations just wouldn't consider playing anything that's longer than about 3 to 4 minutes."

Always a point I love discussing, I asked about the band's opinion of radio in it's current form.

"Look, honestly, we just don't care about the stations that don't play our music, because they're obviously not interested in the music, they just want to churn out the hits & keep the people listening to the same old thing. I mean John Farnham & Cold Chisel deserve the success they've had, but how are other bands who aren't really well known already supposed to get some recognition if these stations won't play their music."

So where does the band's music get it's airplay.

"I suppose the obvious station is Triple J. It's always remarkable just what they play & they've really helped us on a national level. They're always above the minimum quota for new music & especially Australian music.. Of course community radio is also playing a big part for all Australian bands & in Melbourne, I think 3RRR is probably the biggest help for bands."

We got onto the topic of songs that I was impressed with & in particular, my favourite apart from Hole In Your Roof, for which I couldn't remember the title properly at the time.

"It's actually Heartbeat & Sails & I guess you've got pretty good taste, because it's going to be the next single, so maybe we'll have to talk to you about the next one after

that. I'm so glad you liked the album though, because we've tried really hard."

Lastly, we spoke about something else which was very interesting about the album, the artwork.

"There's a little bit of a funny story about that. I was living with one of the guys from the band & his partner who was pregnant at the time & we lived in an apartment. Across the road, there was an old lady, who died & the family turned up & just put all the stuff into one of those dumper bins out the front, so when they left, we went & looked in the stuff & there she was, pregnant & getting in & out of the dumper & the picture on the front of the album was on a card, which is why it's got the fold in the middle."

Check out the band's debut album Sunset Studies, out now through BMG.