Rising Indie alternatives Girl Shaped Gun have hit the scene with significant impact in recent months. The Perth-based band are currently riding high on the success of their single Denim Jacket, and we were blessed with the opportunity to talk music and touring with them. Here’s how it went.
Hi guys – what a pleasure, thanks for the interview! To introduce things, what are girl shaped gun all about, and what first inspired you to make music together?
Joash: We all gel quite well together as a unit, and all share a love of indie rock. The band formed quite quickly – Sean and I are good friends who have known each other for years and were in a band a few years ago called Sad Hour. We put an ad out for a singer and Eliza responded, who brought Jake in through another band they were in together, and Sean knew Joe from being Lifeguards back in the day.
Let’s talk about the superb release denim jacket – brilliantly organic, nostalgic indie rock, great dynamic between the verses and voices – what was the creative process like?
Joash: The single was actually an older song written by Sean from his solo project. He brought it into the band and we changed the arrangement to work with our band’s sound. It was reworked during our band practices to be punchier with new elements added like Joe’s guitar solo and Eliza’s vocals. The song was all recorded during one recording session at Vision studios, with the production being done at my house.
Sean: I’d just like to add that Eliza also wrote the second verse. I sort of sprung it on her that it would be great for the dynamics if she wrote something. She then put it that verse together in the space of 2 minutes and it really added to the call/response technique we had going.
What does the song mean to you?
Sean: The song is a love letter to 50s/60s pop culture. There’s a few references to James Dean, The Yardbirds, Vidal Sassoon etc. I wrote the lyrics when I was working in a Care Home. After listening to so many stories from the Residents, I tried to put myself into their frame of mind. When they told these stories you would look in their eyes and see them reliving their youth. For a few moments they were free from age.
Who are the bands that motivate you, and what’s the live scene like in Perth right now for indie rock?
Sean: I think we have a good mixture of influences… Eliza loves Ball Park Music, Joe = Foo Fighters, Jake = Charles Mingus, Joash = Fall Out Boy and I’m into everything from Grime to Country.
Right now the Perth Scene is good. Little Guilt, The Darling Strangers, Asparagus Soop are a few names to watch out for.
Loving the solo during the latter half – exemplifying the passion and longing of the subject matter between vocals. How easy is it as a band to all emotively commit to the moment when the topic is something quite personal?
Joe B: You’ve got to put yourself in the subject’s shoes. If you can pretend you’re the character in a song , you can feel their emotions, and channel that to make a song that accurately represents the experience (and sometimes sounds sick too)
The song is also distinctly catchy – how important is that aspect of songwriting for you as an independent, creatively free band?
It’s essential. With the saturation of indi music in the Australian scene right now, songs have to be catchy to make people’s ears prick up. Not only does this make them more popular, but also draw people in so they listen to the story or message the song is telling.
Do you ever disagree creatively, and if so, how do you overcome that?
Joe B: One of our better qualities as a group is that we’re constructive. We disagree all the time – disagreeing is a normal and productive part of creating music. If we agreed on everything, band practice would be pretty boring haha. We usually pull the piss out of each other’s ideas for a while until we realise they mightn’t be that bad.
Do you have plans to tour much in the coming months?
Sean: We will be releasing our second single try October 28th and our EP Launch will be the 30th December at Lynott’s Lounge.
You’re still fairly new to the scene, what’s been the hardest part of breaking through to build a name, and what would you say is your biggest ambition right now?
Sean: We actually have a good crowd that come to watch us and denim jacket will have over 1000 streams by the end of next week. The struggle is getting more gigs. There are so many bands so it’s hard breaking into the venues that haven’t booked us before. We feel a bit like Lindsey Lohan at the start of Mean Girls.
How important is image and the visual side of your project, and what can we anticipate in terms of videos and social content?
Sean: Marketing is very important. We’ll stepping up our game in the coming months. Hopefully releasing a music video early next year.
What would you change about the music industry if you could?
Sean: I don’t speak for the entire band here, but I’d give more exposure to actual musicians/bands who write their own songs. Performers are great in their own right, but I feel like the emotional connection to their songs can be bit hollow.
What’s something about you that might surprise fans?
We have cute nicknames for each other. We all love peppermint tea!
Find Girl Shaped Gun on Facebook, TikTok & Instagram.
