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INTERVIEW: World's End Press @ Mountain Sounds Festival

16 March 2014 | 8:44 pm | Tony Kingston

We sat down with World's End Press to have a chat at the inaugural Mountain Sounds Festival on the Central Coast.

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The inaugural Mountain Sounds Festival took place on the Central Coast last Saturday, which saw performances from a strong variety of bands and DJs including BALL PARK MUSIC, YACHT CLUB DJs, COSMO'S MIDNIGHT, SNAKADAKTAL (who have since announced they're calling it quits), STICKY FINGERS, WORDLIFE and many more.

We were lucky enough to have a chat with Melbourne's WORLD'S END PRESS following one of their famous sets. Here's what went down!

You just played a set at the debut of Mountain Sounds Festival, what was the response like?

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It was really good! The crowd seemed to be having such a great time, it was really infectious. It was an early slot, mid afternoon, so you don’t expect too much from an audience because they’re just getting into it. I think there was a good spirit out there.

Can you tell us some of the main differences you’ve discovered between regional festivals like this and capital city events?

Well you know, a credit to this festival which is obviously just starting up is that I don’t really notice much of a difference. Obviously there’s the stage size and all that, but in terms of the way everything is run it’s really well organised and well catered for. We feel great, we’re sitting on couches and we’re really comfortable.

Is there anyone on the bill you’re looking forward to checking out today?

I think Snakadaktal are about to start, we’re on the same label as them and we’ve never seem them before so we think it’s probably time to check them out. Unfortunately we’re leaving soon because we have to get back tonight.

Do you have another gig planned?

Nah not another gig, we’re just hitting the clubs. It’s Saturday night in Melbourne! (Laughing).

So who are you going to see tonight in Melbourne club wise? Tornado Wallace has a big following there, is that someone you see DJ on a regular basis?

Pleasure Planet! We wish Tornado Wallace was going to be there, we do like him. We really like going to see DJs and dancing.

I really like the whole underground disco and house scene going on there at the moment, like Andras Fox and all those guys. Who would you say some of your favourite Melbourne producers are?

We really like Roland Tings, he keeps getting better and better. Nile Delta as well. I’ve worked on one track with him and I’m working on another. I’ve always really liked his stuff. He was one half of Riot In Belgium with another guy who’s now called Beni.

You guys are known for your extremely energetic live shows. During a time where not many people buy music, is there a lot of pressure to put on a memorable performance in order to stay relevant in the scene today?

Yes! I wouldn’t say pressure though as it’s not really something we think about. We obviously think about tailoring a set, like a good flow of songs, but when it comes to putting on a show with the energy or whatever it’s not as though we’re aching to be an energetic band. I think we just have fun out there.

Does it come naturally?

I feel as though we are comfortable in each other’s presence enough to act like dicks. Before we had an album out we were touring constantly for about three years or something, so I think it became natural that we had to have a decent live show because we literally had nothing else.

I went to your second residency at Brighton Up Bar in Sydney and although the venue wasn’t that packed you still put on a fantastic performance.

Yeah, at that stage we hadn’t explained ourselves to Sydney.

Would you say Sydney is still trying to figure you guys out?

Yeah, well I think they hadn’t really heard of us as well but I think we’ve since played some more shows which were better attended and I think things are on the rise for our relationship with Sydney.

Your Oxford Art Factory show had a great turn out!

For that show it felt like we captured a similar vibe to some of the special gigs we’ve done in Melbourne.

You recently supported Phoenix at a couple of large venues in Sydney and Melbourne, how’d these shows go?

They were great! I mean, we’ve played with a few bands in the past and we’ve found that people don’t go for the supports really. They go there to see the main act, but all ages audiences seem to get there earlier so we had a massive crowd at those gigs which always helps the vibe, you know.

What were those guys like to hang out with?

Really polite and very approachable, gentle dudes. Really nice. No bullshit, just decent human beings.

You also supported Hot Chip a little while ago. What were they like?

Kind of the same, just down to earth. I think the bands that we actually like ourselves are pretty normal people. There aren't really any egos. It’s not as though they have to join a band and be some sort of character, an extroverted freak or weirdo. I think the artists which have had to work quite hard to get to where they are now are pretty normal. That’s not to say that the younger bands aren’t the same, but I think some of them are in it for reasons other than pure music making.

It must be inspiring to meet your heroes with that sort of attitude towards music.

Definitely! Years ago we supported Primal Scream and they have a reputation to be party monsters and felt a bit intimidated meeting them at first because we thought they might be kind of 'laddy' dudes but they were just really sweet and gentle people.

What was it like working with DFA co-founder Tim Goldsworthy on your debut record?

It was great! It was a dream come true. The best part of it for me was visiting Massive Studios. In my teenage years I used to obsess about Massive Attack and never thought in my wildest dreams I’d meet them and record an album in their studio. That was a bucket list tick really, it was totally amazing.

Next month you’re supporting Architecture In Helsinki. Do you have any favourite tracks of theirs you’d like to share with us?

I suppose you could say we’ve collaborated with them on one of their tracks. At Valley Fiesta in Brisbane, there was a typhoon and a really bad storm and the whole festival got rained out. They’ve never cancelled a show before so they got us and everyone who was backstage to practice an a capella version of one of their songs. They had about 30 people out the front of the stage performing to people in the rain with trombones and percussion for ‘Dream A Little Crazy’.

Are you heading back into the studio this year for album number two?

We already have. I mean, we’re wishful thinkers and it seems natural for a band to put together an album each year. Don’t hold us to that though. We’re slowing down on gigs for the next few months and we’ve got our own underground studio in Carlton so we’re doing this one ourselves.

Words by Tony Kingston

Photo via Voena

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