A clear blue sky forms the backdrop as Ben Portnoy joins the video call from the streets of London.
“It’s actually been super nice,” says the drummer and singer. “A change from most of the times I’ve been here.” He is there for a screening of 10,000 Miles from Oslo – a documentary chronicling 20 years of C.O.F.F.I.N.
When they return to Europe later in the year, it will be to promote their upcoming sixth album, Out in Oslo. After two decades, the Sydney band is still finding new ways to push themselves. “With this record, we finally had the confidence to not shut anything down or box ourselves in by feeling like, ‘this is what C.O.F.F.I.N sounds like,’ he explains. “We started leaning more into the idea that if it’s us doing it, it is C.O.F.F.I.N, as opposed to feeling like it has to be foot-to-the-floor, constant high-octane vocals.”
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That freedom can be heard on the album, which moves beyond the unrelenting pace and gravel vocals associated with the band. Portnoy partly credits this to working with their first “proper” producer – Amyl and the Sniffers guitarist Declan Mehrtens.
The bands met while opening for Cosmic Psychos in 2017. “We were a bit ambivalent about having him on initially because he’s a good mate of ours,” Portnoy explains. “You hear horror stories of [producers] really wanting to put their flavour on it, as opposed to just helping you bring out what is in you. He was good at facilitating and giving us confidence to do that.”
“When you’re in the middle of it, you can’t see up from down,” he continues. “You’re like, was that good? Is that shit? To have someone removed from it, who you trust, helping you with that direction is really useful.”
Producing the album with Mehrtens was “just like every other day,” says Portnoy. “He’s got a good sense of humour, and everyone in C.O.F.F.I.N is pretty funny and clown-like. So having another clown in the C.O.F.F.I.N circus just added to the humour of it all.”
The band’s new approach is especially clear on the song 13 Days. Initially written as a solo song by Portnoy, it features clean singing for the first time, something he says he’s actively avoided. “We liked the fact that the previous record was so full-on and relentless, but then it’s like ‘we’ve done that.’ I think it’s always a danger to repeat what you’ve done, but in a less interesting way.”
Portnoy initially dismissed the idea, thinking the song wasn’t for C.O.F.F.I.N. “I didn’t want to feel like I was imposing my personal stuff in there, but everyone was like ‘let’s try it out’,” he recalls. “I think that’s one we’re all super pleased with because it really is so different from what we’ve done.”
Their growth isn’t limited to the music itself. Out in Oslo will be released on King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s label, p(doom) records. “Like everything with this album, we felt like it was a new era. Everything was a bit bigger, so we wanted to give it the support and infrastructure that could match that growth,” explains Portnoy. “They live in that world of being super professional and having a high level of production, but still have such a DIY team and attitude.”
For a band that’s been around for 20 years, progress can feel slow. The band’s perception of itself is yet to catch up with its success. “We still have this mentality where we’ll show up to a gig and be like ‘what the fuck?’” says Portnoy. “There’s this sold-out hall on the other side of the world, and we have this feeling like, there must be someone else playing, or we must be on a bill with another band. But it’s like ‘no, this is for you.’”
The band didn’t watch the film until its first screening. “It’s like when you open up a photo album, and you think you’ll have a quick flick through, and the next thing you know, you’re sitting on the floor going through it,” says Portnoy. “It was like that, but with a couple hundred people there with you, so it was a bit confronting and weird.”
The documentary gave the band a chance to see successes that are often difficult to recognise from within. “The wins or the advances aren’t always clear. Sometimes it just feels like grind after grind, and let’s get the next thing done,” explains Portnoy. “So, to see it condensed within the length of the film, it was emotional for all of us. Like it isn’t just, you know, fucking about. This is meaningful for us.”
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