Catching up with Garage Noise
Sydney-Pop Punk/Rock band Garage Noise releases their debut EP titled ‘Innocent Scenes’. The EP follows the release of their debut single 'Edgewood Drive', which saw heads turn at Australian Music Scene, GRRRL, Good Call Live, and The Underground Stage's Artists of the Week playlist.
""Innocent Scenes" marks a significant milestone as our first comprehensive multi-track release, with the promise of many more to come. It serves as a culmination of our musical journey thus far, providing a solid foundation for our creative explorations and songwriting. Our plan is to hit the studio once more after the EP's release and live performances, recording more music and further refining our unique sound. We're excited to delve into longer, album-length compositions and see how far our creativity can take us. The creation and release of this EP have been an enlightening experience, offering us valuable insights into our roles as songwriters and musicians, and we're eager to see what the near future holds for us.
"Innocent Scenes" encapsulates our current musical identity, weaving intimate and personal stories from our lives, both individually and collectively. We can't wait to share this EP with the world.
This EP holds a special place in all our hearts. The songs are deeply personal, each carrying our unique emotional connection. It's a departure from what we initially thought we'd create, and we cherish it for its distinctive authenticity. "Innocent Scenes" represents the full spectrum of our current capabilities, marking our growth as musicians. We hope that every listener can feel the depth of emotion in each track.
We caught up with Garage Noise for a quick chat!
Your debut EP, ‘Innocent Scenes’, is set to release soon. Can you tell us about the inspiration behind the title and what listeners can expect from this record?
Innocent Scenes is an EP that captures our current sound and what we have experienced in growing up both as a band, and as individuals. The title is inspired by one of the lines in the penultimate track ‘Make It All Better’ that goes “a movie so sweet that innocent scene”. We felt like this title just fit the naivety and innocence of each of the songs, and it just felt right to all of us.
‘Edgewood Drive’ received attention from various platforms. How did that experience impact your journey as a band?
It really boosted our confidence in the music that we were creating and we felt really excited that people enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoy playing it. With Edgewood Drive being our debut single we were really grateful to everyone who listened to it and for all the support we had. Its success and attention really inspired us to write some more music again and start planning the next release.
Could you share some insights into the creative process of recording ‘Innocent Scenes’ and what it was like working on your first comprehensive multi-track release?
Bella: It was full on, but if I could go back and do that all over again everyday for the rest of my life, I would. We focussed on something different everyday which was great because they were long days. We were staying onsite, so we would get up and go into the studio by 10:30 each day, and Connor would tell us what he needed us to get done, and we’d just get going.
Sam: We would stay in a recording studio for 4 nights and 5 days just going in and out of the live rooms and spending about 13 hours a day to try and get the best takes we could possibly get.
Zac: We would go back and record and re-record and change so many settings to get a diverse range of sound. It was really fun recording guitars cause we had the combination of two pedal boards and we were calling it tone city.
Flynn: We even added new parts to the tracks and in the end we all actually got a solo on various tracks on the EP. Massey would give us some great suggestions that really just lifted each of the songs.
What are your plans for future studio sessions and music releases after the EP’s launch?
Zac: We’re back in the studio just before christmas to work on our next single and we’re going to focus on writing as much music as possible and really build our original repertoire.
Flynn: We’re planning on putting together another multitrack release and we’d love to work with Massey again of course.
‘Innocent Scenes’ is described as encapsulating your current musical identity. How has your sound evolved since your early days as a band?
We started off playing covers and our sound really was quite immature, with us being quite young and still relatively inexperienced as band members. As we became more comfortable playing with each other the sound became more relaxed and we were able to muck around with our sound a bit more and make the covers that we were playing our own. From there we were able to begin writing originals and then we got really creative and working in the studio with Massey meant we were really able to discover how we could push ourselves even further. Meeting and playing with other bands also really inspired us to try different things and see what other people were doing when in the same situation as us.
Your songs are deeply personal. Could you share a bit about the stories and emotions behind some of the tracks on the EP?
Most of our songs carry the themes of romanticism, reminiscence, and angst. They all represent some aspect of different moments in our lives. Edgewood Drive and Jamie carry a lot of the angst on the EP and represent the emotions after past relationships that have ended quite badly. Make It All Better and Scars are the songs that offer a more positive outlook, with Sam having written Make It All Better about his partner, and Zac having written Scars about seeing two of his friends start a relationship and end up being really good for each other. These Days and Silhouettes are about reminiscing about living in the moment and remembering good times whether it be with friends or with a loved one. The tracks on Innocent Scenes flow so well with each other because they carry similar themes and emotions and we were able to really tell a story with it and give our listeners a window into our lives.
How do each of you contribute to the songwriting and creative process in Garage Noise?
Often Zac will come to us with a song idea whether it’s a riff or lyrics and we will get him to show us at practice and we’ll jam until we get something that sounds really great. Coming up with lyrics is sometimes a huge challenge for us, but when we’re struggling, Sam will come up with a melody and we’ll find words that fit into that. Flynn sometimes just has these lightbulb moments where we go “ah yes!” and it makes the song. There have been some occasions where we’ve had two different options for how to play something, or what lyrics to use and usually Bella goes “play it this way, and then play it the other way” and then works out what sounds better or spits out an idea of how to change something.
What have been some of the most memorable moments or challenges you’ve faced as a band on your musical journey so far?
The most memorable moment was definitely recording at the Grove Studios. We walked in and the first thing we saw was all the records on the walls, and we went “what are we doing here?” but it was the best experience of our lives. We felt like we were immersed in musical history and we were just able to spend time with each other and do what we love without a care in the world. The one of the biggest challenges we’ve had to overcome was booking our first few gigs and getting the ball rolling on playing live. We got turned down a lot to begin with because we had maybe two originals and had just come out of the 2021 lockdown, so we were a bit rusty, but since then we’ve played heaps and gigging has just become a normal part of our lives and helped us grow as a band and individuals so much.
With ‘Innocent Scenes’ marking a significant milestone, what are your aspirations and goals for the future of Garage Noise?
We’re super keen to get back into the studio and record some more tracks. We also really want to get into some festival lineups and start playing some bigger shows and after the EP release we feel like we’re in a really good position to be able to do this. No matter what, we just want to keep playing together and making music.
Make sure to follow Garage Noise on social media for behind-the-scenes content, updates and more!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/garagenoise.band/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/garagenoiseband