Easy Browns

In Thornbury in Naarm/Melbourne on Wurundjeri Country.

I was a bassist once upon a time, helping my friends’ music come to fruition. Eventually my friends’ projects had petered out into nonexistence, and with the live performance bug already well festering beneath my epidermis I had to come up with my own schtick.

The name Easy Browns comes from days when my friend James Campbell (who actually engineered the record) and I were playing duo shows out at the Mirboo North Brewery (free meal and unlimited beers, who wouldn’t!) and although incredibly basic, my songs were starting to come to fruition. We were smoking scoobs out the back of James’ mums house after a show and Liam (now our drummer) came up with the atrocity that was our earliest branding ‘Easy Browns Truckstop Chicken Jam Band’. Naturally when you start that low it can only be an upward trajectory from there.

Studying environments and society at RMIT, hauling ass to get this album out there, learning Japanese, running Critter Records and releasing friend’s music, doing live sound for a crust, and enjoying loving conversation with friends and family.

Catchy tunes and twists and turns.

A love for punk and rock and roll, the fire in our bellies, injustice, environmental breakdown.

Engineered out in a barn in Churchill in the Latrobe Valley on a tascam 4-track cassette machine, the rest was recorded at home and beyond.

Mixed with my friend Fabian Hunter, mastered by the master, Joe Carra at Crystal Mastering.

DIFFERENTLY. Last album we mostly did in the dead of winter in a warehouse-y space over two days of tracking. It was a stress nightmare and very challenging. We did this one over 5 days out in the country, it was very laid back, eating blackberries off the bush, playing every day, kicking the footy, you can hear it on the record.

We’ve been through a lot in the last couple of years, it feels like a good time. Although now that things are heating up and we’re copping some love, maybe it seems silly? Cognitive dissonance is present in my noggin. We’ll see how we go in the long run, but we’ll definitely resume operations if we get asked to play Meredith Music Fest HINT HINT.

Just to Beechworth on Yorta Yorta Country, some spots in Lutruwita/Tasmania (our favourite place to visit) and then returning home to Naarm/Melbourne for our last show at Northcote Social Club on Thursday 14th April. Funds and time have been a bit too tight to do the whole shebangabang all over the country.

WELL. Commercial Fluff represents toxic consumption habits that are degrading our ecosystems and producing immense amounts of waste. It also represents the state of commercial radio and the absolute garble they pervade the airwaves with (long live community radio!), the reduction of true art into ‘content’ for consumption and the fact that we’ve made an album full of rock/pop HITS haha.

Unbelievable Dust follows Commercial Fluff, Humans compromising the environments that life needs to survive, and degrading lands with pollution, overharvesting, abuse. Climate change is going to accentuate extreme weather patterns, increase soil erosion and proliferate desertification, which leads us unbelievable dust.

Pretty dark themes for such an upbeat album, but like many young people we’re terrified of what the future may hold, we’ve all gotta start talking about this! We can’t just sweep it under the rug, especially not Australia who definitely has so much potential for improvement.

Tight quarters, silly dancing, having yarns with friends and fans.

Lucas: Modest Automobile, because it’s got lots of quirky elements and cheeky witty lyrics. Also has a nice mid tempo drum and bass groove that keeps driving the song under the guitar changes to keep it bopping. Or golden Pegasus because it’s just catchy and really happy summer day vibe. Plus the “ah ah ah ah” part with the quacky double stop wah guitar just hits the spot.

Heaps of Stereolab, Yasmasuki Singers, Maximum RocknRoll radio station, and heaps of underground gems.

I’m learning Japanese atm, Shelby and I are going to go to Japan and visit Shelby’s brother who teaches over there and do some teaching ourselves (possibly). It’s been a while since we’ve been outside of the country, it would be nice to envelop ourselves in another culture and learn and share.