Spanning everything from the smell of an old Holden Astra to coloured popcorn and the Maccas car park.
There’s been growing intrigue surrounding the indie-rock genre in recent years as the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, Snail Mail and Lucy Dacus, among others, lead a female revolution in the space.
Australia is enjoying its own metamorphosis in the field as well with names such as Julia Jacklin, Stella Donnelly and Alex Lahey leading the way. Then there’s Tired Lion, the Sophie Hopes-led four-piece who have always courted the heavier side of indie-rock, but have done so with sublime.
Plaudits aside, Hopes is one of Australia’s most exciting music talents and as her band gears up for their second album, we asked her to give us five notable influences for the record. From the smell of her old car to coloured popcorn and the Maccas car park, buckle up because Hopes has prepared something that’s wonderfully bizarre.
The smell of my old Holden Astra
I remember when I was officially leaving Perth I wrote an email to my manager something like, “It’s the small things I’ll miss like my shitty car that has a DVD holding up its window – its musky smell of fuel/crayons, the high ceilings in my bedroom, my mismatched op shopped furniture, my dog”. I know it’s kinda weird but when I thought about home and that familiarity I’d think of that fuel/crayon smell in my old car. I couldn’t replicate it here. Was just too strong a memory. I guess it’s all these small things that help attach you to a feeling of home. Without them you become pretty depersonalised I guess.
SM7 microphone and LA 610 MKII pre-amp
I demoed the whole record in my house/bedroom. I finally got a decent sounding vocal after years of covering it with distortion using horrible gear and well just being super bad at recording. For the first time I felt comfortable with my own voice and I was able to actually practice ‘singing’ instead of just shouting over the guitars in a jam room.
I’d always been pretty self conscious firstly having an obscure voice, a failed singing lesson attempt when I was six and my failed audition at WAAPA (prestigious performing arts school in WA after leaving high school). I basically got told that I wasn’t using my real voice and didn’t have what it takes/wasn’t good enough to pursue a career in music at all… eek.
Being comfortable within my own voice was essential in writing and recording this record and exploring different territory that I felt was always forbidden and out of reach.
Coloured popcorn
The most pathetic breakfast I’ve eaten. I can’t believe I actually had a few mouthfuls before I took a good hard look at myself. What a travesty of where my life was headed.
Weird guitar tunings
Discovering a new tuning that works is like finding a new way to play guitar altogether. Chord shapes are reversed and my usual go-to’s were flipped into something that sounded completely different. Maybe it’s cheating but I really found it helped to come up with different chord progressions and I ended up with three songs on the album in weird tunings.
Maccas car park
I always find myself sitting in Maccas car parks at the weirdest points in my life. Whether that’s after a breakdown in a relationship or the start of something new. It’s like going to visit an old friend really. Crying in the car park is fine too. Maybe grab a small chips and an iced latte and just stare out the window of its comings and goings. Here, I write notes/poetry on my iPhone which helps me work shit out and a lot of these notes made the cut as lyrics on the record.
Tired Lion’s new album Breakfast for Pathetics is out on Friday November 20 through Dew Process. Pre-order it here.
For more on Tired Lion, check out their website, Facebook and Instagram.
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