The elusive Eddy Current Suppression Ring

Mikey Young, aka the great "Eddy Current" himself, talks about the band's upcoming release, playing festivals and not being as rock 'n' roll as people think.

yourGigs (yG): The story of how Eddy Current formed has become a local legend - the four of you just started jamming together at a work Christmas party. Has this loose dynamic remained the way that the band write a record?

Mikey Young (MY): Definitely! Yeah, because we didn't form with any intentions or ideals or anything like that we've always maintained that we do it when it's fun, we play a show when it's fun and don't stress or think too much about gigs or recordings or anything, and hopefully that comes through.

It's really hard to get that perfect dynamic of four people where you are all on similar wavelengths. And you know, we were all a bit drunk and after we did it [the first time] we were like, "Yeah that was rad!" and you don't know how much of that radness is gonna come across when you're not drunk. But we went home and listened to the tape a bit soberer and were like, "Actually this is pretty good!"

yG: Now that you have two full-length releases under your belt, will you approach the writing and recording process any differently?

MY: Nah, we've just recorded a new album and we've gone backwards - recorded it even cheaper and quicker than the last one! Obviously when you're booking gigs and stuff you have to think a bit bigger, and I know when we put another record out there will be more attention towards this release than the last two. But I think we've done a good job of distancing ourselves from the music biz and not really letting things affect us.

When we're recording we don't even think about it, we're just like "We like the songs, let's record 'em." And we're not the type of band that has to book a studio for a week, we just take our gear into our practice room and record it ourselves, it's pretty much just a rehearsal with a tape player running in the background. It's sort of more around release time you think, "I wonder if people will like it?" But even then I feel like we're comfortable enough with ourselves to just know that we like the record.

yG: When do you think the album will be released?

MY: Mid-February! I'd like to sneak it out before Christmas but that's just not going to happen.

yG: You guys took out the 2008 Australian Music Prize (AMP) that had an award of $30,000. What have you done with the money?

MY: We really didn't do much, we were really boring! Just gave ourselves a bit of money each because we didn't need it to record the album. We just made a film clip actually which was probably the first time we dipped into the money. We're gonna go overseas again next year after the album comes out so we'll probably just hold onto it until then. We had thoughts of doing ridiculous stuff but we're not as rock 'n' roll as we think we are.

yG: You also founded Aarght! Records, right?

MY: Yeah Aarght's like the four members of the Ooga Boogas, my other band. It basically just started when I was working at the pressing plant. I worked at a plant, there were bands I loved and I thought, if there's any way I can do this on some small level to help out a band who can't afford to get a record pressed...

yG: I looked Aarght!'s catalogue and it seems as if you just release a whole lot of stuff you think is awesome.

MY: That's basically it! There's no money in it! It's just like, hopefully we will make enough money from this to put out the record of another band we think it's awesome. Not trying to develop it any further than that.

yG: Are there any local bands you particularly like?

MY: Oh there's a bunch! Melbourne has a bunch of local bands I really love. The UV Race, Super Wild Horses, The Twerps ... there's a real good smaller band scene in Melbourne. We're lucky to live in a town where there's always a large range of venues and bands. There are bands [in Sydney] that I love too, like Royal Headache [and] Dead Farmers.

yG: Although Eddy Current has become quite successful, your tendency to play very small shows means you are still somewhat of a mystery.

MY: Yeah, probably more so in Sydney, we've been pretty rude to you guys! I think for a while we sold ourselves short and then just didn't get around to booking any larger shows. But I think we're playing the Annandale in December, so that's more of a show that more people can come along to ... I look forward to that.

yG: Your audiences are a pretty diverse bunch, there are the kinda trendy music blog kids and the blokey pub type of guys - but then once the music starts it's like everyone becomes best friends.

MY: Well yeah, as long as it falls on that right side of insanity it's all right! As long as it remains on that nice side and no one gets hurt. Especially when you see, you know, girls out there [in the audience] and there's these beefy blokes bouncing around.

yG: So what's coming up for Eddy Current?

MY: We've got a mini-tour with this band from San Francisco called the Thee Oh Sees, so that's the Annandale show ... Then we've got Homebake, Meredith, Laneway, another festival down here on the coast called the Solar Festival. Yeah, so it's a pretty busy summer for us, still pretty tolerable but you know, for a band that's as slack as us that's a pretty busy couple of months! Then [the album] comes out in Feb so we'll probably tour that in the second half of March.

yG: This interview was kinda different to others I've done so far in that usually I get a big shiny press release saying, "The band are doing this!" or "We are releasing something amazing!" but we didn't get that from you!

MY: Oh it's horrible, I always get asked for press packs and bios and we don't even have one! I just say you're better off looking at our Wikipedia, someone updates that and it's not me! It's got more information than I could ever give someone! I think if you don't shove yourself in people's faces they'll end up liking you more in the long run.

Eddy Current Suppression Ring are playing with Thee Oh Sees, Straight Arrows and Royal Headache this Thursday at the Annandale Hotel, Sydney.

Bella Crea
1 Dec 2009

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