Enerate

Sydney’s eclectic, acoustic pop group Enerate have just created their first clip to accompany single Unstoppable, and it’s a gorgeous little tale of a video. After rocking out on the beach with a bonfire, a flare and a few mates, the band take a running triple jump into the ocean and end up on an odyssey which involves some vexed sea creatures. It’s kind of amazing, and to celebrate the four piece have decided to go on tour.

The ebb and flow of unhurried beats, synths and straight-up cool bass lines folded into sweetly acoustic guitar and some bossa nova hip hop make Enerate an interesting (but not crowded) listen, without the usually frenetic pop pace, and with a categorical ability to bring a surprised smile to your kisser (just like their clip). Lead singer and primary songwriter Josh Graham talks stuff in the lead up to Enerate’s two dates in Melbourne.

“[Beck’s] Odelay is pretty, pret-ty big,” Graham says when influences come up, as they’re bound to do when you have such varied sounds gently and successfully overlapping at one another. “I think of myself as a producer as well as a songwriter and I really like to build songs. And I think that’s where Gorillaz are an influence; the production behind that is just top-notch, I reckon.” Graham also considers himself more of a guitarist than a drummer, although he plays both instruments, and furthermore prefers acoustic guitar when playing with the group. “I think it’s a nice little take on things,” he explains. “There’s a big sort of scene at the moment with very clean Telecasters and you know, synth on top of that. I guess like The Foals, which is amazing, I think it sounds great. But... there’s less going on with acoustics and synths.” Gorillaz self-titled 2001 debut brilliantly knotted acoustics with artificial elements and Graham’s admiration for the man behind that project is explicit. “My love for Gorillaz goes back a bit further to my love for Blur. Just anything Damon Albarn does I’m pretty much in love with. Something about his songwriting and his ability to create these amazing, catchy hooks. But I guess that’s what we’re trying to do in our own way. You know, it’s all about trying to create that perfect thing that’s not too mainstream, but you’ve still got that really catchy hook that you can’t get away from.”

Catchy hooks abound in the material Enerate have proffered on their site, and Unstoppable is actually just a mere taste of what these guys are capable of. British Embassy has definite Beck styles about its twangy guitar, Photograph features spoken verses which have very Kanye cadences (“I gotta say, everyone in the band’s into big American rap” Graham says), and Fever For You showcases the suave basslines of Matt Niciak, who is a dead ringer for Sid from Skins. “You wouldn’t be the first person to say that actually,” chuckles Graham.

The other two band members are Therese Watson on keys and Ben Fitzpatrick on drums, and all four bring their personal dominions to the table when playing. “Ben’s from a jazz background, Matt’s from a funk background, Therese is from a classical opera background, and I guess I’m from more of a folk place,” says Graham, conjuring an image in my head of what a ‘folk place’ might look like (I’m thinking lots of batik, weeping willows and circular dancing). “It puts a nice little taint on the way we play pop.” The live line-up in terms of electronics is about quality over quantity. “We have a Korg synth, then we’re got an MPC sampler. And we love using the MPC, it just gives it that sort of old school touch I think. We were using a laptop for a while but everything about it just seems so, I don’t know... I think I just see too many laptops on stage, DJs you know, hiding behind screens. It looks like they’re surfing the web or something.”

Working with producer Wes Chew from Sonar Music in Sydney, the band’s record Good Times Airlines is going to be finished off in September. Graham is stoked with the way things have evolved. “I love doing the band thing,” he says warmly. “Just the grooves you get on stage... it’s so much more fun to play, I think. The band’s just gone from strength to strength, as soon as it became a band instead of a solo project.” Enerate are sure to keep ascending, and will undoubtedly collect some solid fans during their short – but sweet – tour this week.

BY ZOË RADAS

Enerate play The Espy (front room) on Wednesday August 22, and The Gasometer Hotel in Collingwood on Thursday August 23. Their debut record Good Times Airlines is set to drop at the end of the year. - Beat Magazine

Like Neil Young with a Roland TR-808

You’ve probably heard them without knowing it, as their recent single, “Unstoppable”, has just been picked up for a Tourism NSW ad campaign.

Enerate’s summery acoustic electronic blend is best described in front man Josh Graham’s own words as “Like Neil Young with an 808”. As well as pumping out a brilliant clip for “Unstoppable” (youtube it!), the band just finished up a self-funded tour of Sydney and Melbourne. The line-up consists of Josh Graham on vocals and guitar, Therese Watson on synths and vocals, Matt Niciak on bass and Ben Fitzpatrick on drums. Josh, Therese and Matt were kind enough to take some time out from busy schedules of email checking, blogging and working on debut LP, Good Times Airlines, to sink some beers with the SSH.

SSH: Talk us through the process of getting the tour off the ground.

T: Well, we got an email from a venue in Melbourne and that kind of started
it. They were like, well we like your stuff and if you guys want to come play, come play, and we thought, yeah, let’s go to Melbourne, let’s go on tour.

J: Yeah, we were just going to go down for a weekend or something but then we thought, let’s book a couple more shows and make it a tour. Originally we were going to do a few more shows in Canberra but it turned out to be a real hassle to promote so we just did Sydney and Melbourne because we really needed a bit more exposure down there.

T: And it wasn’t too long after that that we decided we should probably get
a video clip too because NSW Tourism just picked up “Unstoppable” so we
thought it would be really cool to have a video clip as well.

M: Yeah, it was a really short, steady gradient between, “Hey guys, there’s
this venue that wants us to play in Melbourne and wouldn’t it be funny if we went on a tour and then made a video clip for it?” and then it seemed as if it
was the next week and we’re standing in the freezing water shooting the clip
the day before we get in the car.

SSH: I really love the video. Did you guys have all the computer animations done before you started shooting?

J: Well, we had the concept, we knew it was going to be in there, and then it was just a matter of making it happen, I guess. We were briefing in the animations as we were doing the first shoot and we didn’t really see a first draft until the weekend after the first shoot, but when we saw them we
were like, “My god, this is actually going to work!” He’s an amazingly talented illustrator, Kyle Downes. It was all a massive collaboration, I mean, we paid a couple of people but most of it was out of the kindness of their hearts.

M: It made it all really easy to work with as well. Everyone was there because they wanted to do it. Everyone really banded together.

J: Yeah, the first shoot was something like 10 hours.

M: Well, we were jumping into the ocean at about 12.30[am] with one set of dry clothes, one flare left and the director says, “OK, I don’t want to stress you or anything but we have to do this right, we only have one more shot at this”.

T: I was certain I was going to trip or something.

M: And karma comes back around and says, OK, well this is going to be the
coldest day of the year and I’m looking at the waves and Ben says, “Hhhmmm, I hope you like the taste of your own spinal fluid”.

SSH: So, you guys are starting to see the complications of doing all this yourself. How did that pan out on the tour?

J: Well, it was a bit difficult booking everything because most bands have
booking agents for that kind of thing and we had to print and design all our own merch, but really the more you put out there and the more you give everyone else to see, the more booking agents and managers will hopefully come to you and see that you have your head into gear, and we really wanted to have a physical product to hand out.

SSH: Any advice for other young bands that might have some of these ideas in mind?

J: Make sure your clip has a concept. I think that’s a really big one, make sure it’s got some kind of binding story running through it.

You can check out Enerate on Facebook or you can download some of their songs and check out the new “Unstoppable” clip on their website, www.enerate.com.au, and if all that doesn’t sate your hunger for this shiny new Sydney four-piece, you can come along to Spectrum nightclub in
Sydney on October 20 for their live show.
- South Sydney Herald

Like Neil Young with a Roland TR-808

You’ve probably heard them without knowing it, as their recent single, “Unstoppable”, has just been picked up for a Tourism NSW ad campaign.

Enerate’s summery acoustic electronic blend is best described in front man Josh Graham’s own words as “Like Neil Young with an 808”. As well as pumping out a brilliant clip for “Unstoppable” (youtube it!), the band just finished up a self-funded tour of Sydney and Melbourne. The line-up consists of Josh Graham on vocals and guitar, Therese Watson on synths and vocals, Matt Niciak on bass and Ben Fitzpatrick on drums. Josh, Therese and Matt were kind enough to take some time out from busy schedules of email checking, blogging and working on debut LP, Good Times Airlines, to sink some beers with the SSH.

SSH: Talk us through the process of getting the tour off the ground.

T: Well, we got an email from a venue in Melbourne and that kind of started
it. They were like, well we like your stuff and if you guys want to come play, come play, and we thought, yeah, let’s go to Melbourne, let’s go on tour.

J: Yeah, we were just going to go down for a weekend or something but then we thought, let’s book a couple more shows and make it a tour. Originally we were going to do a few more shows in Canberra but it turned out to be a real hassle to promote so we just did Sydney and Melbourne because we really needed a bit more exposure down there.

T: And it wasn’t too long after that that we decided we should probably get
a video clip too because NSW Tourism just picked up “Unstoppable” so we
thought it would be really cool to have a video clip as well.

M: Yeah, it was a really short, steady gradient between, “Hey guys, there’s
this venue that wants us to play in Melbourne and wouldn’t it be funny if we went on a tour and then made a video clip for it?” and then it seemed as if it
was the next week and we’re standing in the freezing water shooting the clip
the day before we get in the car.

SSH: I really love the video. Did you guys have all the computer animations done before you started shooting?

J: Well, we had the concept, we knew it was going to be in there, and then it was just a matter of making it happen, I guess. We were briefing in the animations as we were doing the first shoot and we didn’t really see a first draft until the weekend after the first shoot, but when we saw them we
were like, “My god, this is actually going to work!” He’s an amazingly talented illustrator, Kyle Downes. It was all a massive collaboration, I mean, we paid a couple of people but most of it was out of the kindness of their hearts.

M: It made it all really easy to work with as well. Everyone was there because they wanted to do it. Everyone really banded together.

J: Yeah, the first shoot was something like 10 hours.

M: Well, we were jumping into the ocean at about 12.30[am] with one set of dry clothes, one flare left and the director says, “OK, I don’t want to stress you or anything but we have to do this right, we only have one more shot at this”.

T: I was certain I was going to trip or something.

M: And karma comes back around and says, OK, well this is going to be the
coldest day of the year and I’m looking at the waves and Ben says, “Hhhmmm, I hope you like the taste of your own spinal fluid”.

SSH: So, you guys are starting to see the complications of doing all this yourself. How did that pan out on the tour?

J: Well, it was a bit difficult booking everything because most bands have
booking agents for that kind of thing and we had to print and design all our own merch, but really the more you put out there and the more you give everyone else to see, the more booking agents and managers will hopefully come to you and see that you have your head into gear, and we really wanted to have a physical product to hand out.

SSH: Any advice for other young bands that might have some of these ideas in mind?

J: Make sure your clip has a concept. I think that’s a really big one, make sure it’s got some kind of binding story running through it.

You can check out Enerate on Facebook or you can download some of their songs and check out the new “Unstoppable” clip on their website, www.enerate.com.au, and if all that doesn’t sate your hunger for this shiny new Sydney four-piece, you can come along to Spectrum nightclub in
Sydney on October 20 for their live show.
- South Sydney Herald

Enerate - Unstoppable

More of this please. Glow-wave nice guys singing like their balls upped and left home a few months ago. Really lo-fi, twee, utterly delightful/shitty little tune from a fresh-faced Sydney electro quartet. Love it. Unstoppable by Enerate How good are the mile-high sweeps into that brutalised 8-bit lead line. AWESOME. - Electrorash