Interview: We chat to Gazey's Josiah Padmanabham about their new single, "River"

When it comes to upcoming albums from Perth’s local bands, Gazey’s long-awaited debut LP Sole is pretty high on the list for this year. We’re getting our first little appetiser from them this week with the release of their new single “River”, which comes straight from the new album. To mark its release, we sat down with frontman Josiah Padmanabham to have a quick chat about where the track came from and what’s been going on with the band lately.  

Talk a little about the new single. Where did “River” come from? How does it fit overall into your upcoming LP?

I was listening to a lot of Springsteen’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town” and Nick Cave’s “Tender Prey”. I wanted to write a song that was narrative, symbolic, but the protagonist was a group of people. It shares identity with the rest of the songs on our upcoming album Sole, being about isolation and individuality. But it definitely stands on its own as the rockier track on the album.

Favourite experience gigging in the last year?

We played at The Bird earlier this year (I think it might have been for our last single launch) and the atmosphere was just perfect and emotional – realising how much people loved the songs. People were actually singing along to our songs, which was awesome. It really made us feel like we are doing something right.

You guys seem focused on the experience of live performance. Having gigged so much over the last year, how have you fine-tuned your performances?

We’re really focusing on getting our live show tight and energetic, and playing regularly is strengthening that. Beyond the usual development, playing regularly helps us learn and define our individual roles in the band, on stage and off. 

Anyone else you seen recently who’re also putting on amazing live shows?

There are so many amazing live acts in Perth right now that we love. Didion’s Bible, Priscilla, Lana Rothnie, Con Art, Cuss, etc… The list is really, really long.

Who are you listening to at the moment?

Right now I’m listening to Lauryn Hill, Joni Mitchell, Brahms, Arvo Pärt, some power-pop: to name a few.

What’s coming next from you guys?

We’ve got a lot of gigs coming up including supporting Katy Steele for a couple dates, Wave Rock, and a bunch more. We also have a music video coming and the Sole release. Haha that’s funny to see typed out...  Other than that we’re just writing a lot for the next one.