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The Creases are an integral part of the Brisbane music scene, aside from crafting some of the best pop music to come out of Australia in the past decade, they've also been a huge part of curating fantastic shows and supporting the scene.
Joe Agius, Aimon Clark, Gabe Webster, Jarrod Mahon (and recently joined live member) Steve Kempnich have left a huge impression on this town as not only The Creases but as; Rinse, Emerson Snowe, Ciggy Pop, and part of Morning Harvey. 2017 was a massive year for the band with the release of their long-awaited debut album Tremolow and a pretty hefty tour to match. Now onto their second tour in six months, The Creases are set to play two hometown shows at The Foundry this week. The boys will also be playing The Australian Open tomorrow.
I had a chat with Joe as part of our new monthly segment where we get to know which bands and songs helped shape some of our favourite musicians to become the people they are today. To celebrate the start of this segment, we'll also be giving away two free passes to the sold-out show this Friday at The Foundry. Find out how at the bottom of this page.
In 2017 you released your highly anticipated debut album Tremolow, toured around the country, and played a plethora of amazing festival slots. What was your personal high point of the year?
Our album release tour last year was very special to us because it was the first time where people knew our entire set and having that attention and response from song one was something we’ve never really had before. Some unexpected shows like Adelaide were crazy especially and the crowd sang back every song to us louder than we could sing them.
As well as The Creases, you're all individually quite busy with other projects, will we be seeing much from you all in 2018?
We’ve got some really exciting things coming up this year but in terms of releasing any new music soon, I’m not sure. It’s in conversation at the moment. New songs have and are being written but it’s always quite a long process from demo to actual release for us. As you said we’ve got a lot of other projects going on so I think we’re looking forward to taking some extended breaks to push those and finish writing the new Creases album in the meantime. These January shows will probably be our last headline shows for a while before doing that.
Tremolow features a number of beautifully produced pop songs, some brand new ones but also a few older tracks as well. After signing with Liberation some years ago, what was the most important part of producing this record for you, and what were some setbacks you faced?
The most important part for us was just to put together an album where we felt strongly about every track as much as the next and looked at it as something for a wider audience that hadn’t heard of us or any of the older tracks before. Older tracks like ‘Point’ were also added for selfish reasons of wanting it to finally have a physical home. Set backs included most things you could imagine happening with redoing recordings and overcooking production / mixing. I really learnt exactly how not to make an album in a lot of ways with all that stuff and it’s made me very excited to record again and do things a lot more streamlined.
Song 1:
Soul On Fire
Who it's by:
Spiritualized
When you first heard it:
2012
What it means to you:
I went by myself to see Spiritualized at Max Watts in 2012 and this song immediately became one of my favourites after seeing them perform it. I remember being completely sober because I was driving but felt on almost on drugs while being blasted by both sound and visuals front row haha.
Why it has stuck with you:
I had liked a lot of Spiritualized music before I saw them but it really woke a special kind of love for them, this song and all kinds of noisey gospel inspired pop from then on after in me.
Song 2:
Rebel Rebel
Who it's by:
David Bowie
When you first heard it:
Not sure!
What it means to you:
To me it’s a perfect pop song. Sex, Roll N Roll, rebellion, youthfulness all rolled into one. That kind of thing can be so cheesy and usually is. It makes me feel good anytime I hear it and was really inspired by it sonically particularly rhythm when writing Everybody Knows.
Why its stuck with you:
I used to religiously request it at Ric’s dancing til the early hours of the morning every weekend when I first moved to Brisbane. It’s got a funny and special spot in my heart because of the memories I have associated with it now from back then.
Song 3:
Dead Souls
Who it's by:
Joy Division
When you first heard it:
Teenager
What it means to you:
Joy Division has a very soft spot in my heart (and takes up a large portion of my right arm as a tattoo) as it was the bridge between what I listened to when I was young to everything I love and am influenced as a musician now. I grew up in a very beach-y town in Northern NSW and always felt like a real black sheep there and Joy Division just sounded like everything I felt at the time and was a band no one I knew listened to and loved for that reason. I was obsessed with them to the point it worried my mum and went down to the local tattoo shop when she was away one time just after I’d turned 18 to get the Unknown Pleasures artwork on my arm. It was also a bit of terrible time for me mentally and I unfortunately cannot listen to much Joy Division anymore without it giving me a bit of a flashback to those times.
Why its stuck with you:
Dead Souls out of most Joy Division songs really resonated with me and is a track I still listen to a lot.
Song 4:
Movin’ On Up
Who it's by:
Primal Scream
When you first heard it:
2013
What it means to you:
I (finally) got my head out of 80s post-punk and shoegaze around 2013 and got really obsessed with a lot of 90s brit-pop and acid house. I’d always loved PULP but had never listened to too much Primal Scream and it became pretty influential on The Creases record that was beginning to be written at that time in terms of rhythm and vibe.
Why its stuck with you:
I think I just became really sick of dark, slow and downer music and was searching for something more uplifting to listen to and be influenced by. I’m also just a sucker for gospel vocals.
Song 5:
What Ever Happened?
Who it's by:
The Strokes
When you first heard it:
High school
What it means to you:
The Strokes in general are probably one of the most influential bands to me, I can’t really choose a favourite song but this is definitely one of them. After seeing them at Splendour in 2011 sitting on the hill blown away afterwards I told my friends all I wanted to do was start a band and play Splendour one day. No one really took me seriously because I’d never really played music that much before and was stupidly drunk but three years later I played the same stage with The Creases, and as silly as it is, they were one of the main initial driving forces in me working hard and getting myself to that point
Why its stuck with you:
This is one of my favourites lyric wise and was my absolute jam as an emo heartbroken teenager.