I’m speaking to Adrian and Dan from Melbourne-based duo, Funeral Strippers, as their new album There’s A Time And A Place For Dancing is being released to tickle ears around the world. “We’re pretty excited about it and kinda relieved to have finished the album,” says Dan. “To be honest we started this album not really knowing what we were getting ourselves into. We just started working away and we didn’t really have an album in mind. One song turned into another and so we just kinda worked on it over eight months, and it’s really nice to finish it up and get it out there. We’re excited to see what people’s response will be. So far it’s been pretty good. We’re happy with it.
“Initially we were worried a bit,” he says of the multi-genre feel of the album. “There was a bit of a variety there and traditionally you’d stick to one type of music or whatever, but we thought we’d stick with it and hoped that the variety would appeal to more people out there.”
Adrian chimes in, adding, “We won’t write anything we don’t want to listen to ourselves. We’re not going, ‘Let’s write a pop album that’s going to make a million dollars’.
“I guess the one thing that we did try to tie the whole album together with was the slight dance feel that we even did on the rockier tracks,” muses Dan. “Even those have that touch of dance, and we did that to try and make them sit alright together. Some tracks started out with more guitar and singer-songwriter stuff, but in the end we blended those a bit.”
Together, they’re confident that the album will find fans. “I don’t think there’s been much nervousness,” says Adrian. “A lot of people have been waiting in anticipation, and it’s all really kicking off now.” Dan agrees, noting that the creative process was fluid and enjoyable. “We were in a really good head space, working together really well.”
“I think the inspiration came from late night bottles of grog,” he says. “The way that we work – which was really good I guess – being a duo, if someone didn’t like something then it didn’t happen. If Adrian liked something and I came into the studio and said it didn’t work for me, he’d be a bit disappointed but we just let it go and let the egos get out of the way. That’s probably the first time I ever worked like that. In bands before there have been egos pulling this way and that and getting in the way.”
In the end, Dan and Adrian both agree that the key to their music is to write music which they love.
“That’s the only honest thing,” asserts Dan. “We’ve both been in the music industry for awhile, about 20 years, and the one thing you learn is that you can’t write music that you think people want to hear. If you try you’ll just be behind the eight ball, it will have already been done. You’ve got to write for yourself, you’ve got to be happy with the music and if people like it then so be it. Some people might say you’re taking a bit of a risky approach with that because you might confuse people, but we didn’t care, we just wanted to do what sounded good to us, and whatever made the cut went on the album.”
BY JOSH FERGEUS
