Operator Please

Take everything you think you know about Operator Please and put it aside. The Queensland-based band defy all expectations on their second album, Gloves, with the youthful enthusiasm and teenage angst that gave them worldwide recognition making way for a more sophisticated and developed sound.

The energy is still there, it’s just been channelled in a new direction as the band has grown in expertise and knuckled down to produce their latest body of work with band members Amandah Wilkinson and Tim Commandeur stepping up to take on the role of producers for the project. In effect, it’s a tighter, more focussed band which is set to conquer the charts all over again.

Gloves had its inception towards the end of 2008, when the ARIA Award-winning five-piece returned home after an exhausting 18 months spent touring the globe to promote their debut album, Yes Yes Vindictive. Buoyed by the success of it – and in particular the infectious hit single “Just A Song About Ping Pong” – the band travelled throughout Australia, Europe and Japan, with a series of gigs that included performances at Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds Festival and Splendour In The Grass, as well as support slots for bands such as Kaiser Chiefs and Arctic Monkeys.

Such a frenzied schedule could have ended in disaster, but instead the experience helped unify the band’s line-up and instil each member of the group with a greater ambition and commitment.

“All the experience of living in each other’s pockets for years on end, you learn how to be more patient and respectful of each other,” Amandah says of the band’s dynamic after their world tour. “And on a personal note, I think I became a better person because of it. It most definitely broadened my horizons and extended my mind.”

Barely pausing to catch their breath, the band quickly went into songwriting mode with new inspiration. “I was really ready to get straight into writing,” Amandah recalls. “I’m a bit of my own worst enemy. I thought, ‘I need to just chill out’, because we’d been on tour for ages, but I felt really lazy because I didn’t have anything to do and I’d start writing demos in my downtime. There are a lot of songs that are self-affirmations - about pushing yourself forward.”

Amandah wasn’t alone in wanting to extend herself artistically and push forward. For Tim, who was a relative novice at writing, his determination at being more involved this time around not only resulted in personal growth for him as a songwriter and producer, but was symptomatic of the whole band’s frame of mind going into Gloves.

Refusing to let themselves become complacent with the success they’d already enjoyed, Operator Please knew they had to keep the momentum going and work as hard as – if not harder than – they did on their debut album. Were they nervous? Sure, which band wouldn’t be when tasked with recording a follow-up to a successful debut? But Operator Please thrive under pressure and, while there was stress and the odd breakdown during the writing and recording process, the quintet had a strong desire to make it work – and do whatever it took to achieve the result they wanted.