Before that something comes to fruition, Millions are heading down the coast from Brisbane for the Converse ‘Get Loud’ gigs. With some kick arse lineups gracing cities in Australia and New Zealand, Melbourne is set to enjoy Converse’s chaotic spirit in the form of music so literally, get yo dancin’ skate shoes on. For Millions, this will most probably be their last gig before locking the doors and getting to work on their debut album. It’s late and everyone, including them, is getting a little anxious about bringing it to life. The writing has finally found its groove again after a lineup change. “We’re writing for our debut album which we’re hoping to record sometime this year,” Smith says. “We’re hoping to release it, if everything goes to plan, early next year and hopefully have a single out by late October. After the Converse show, we’ve got time off until September when we hope to record it.”
With the recent departure of drummer James Wright (replaced by newcomer Louis Tilbrook, brother of guitarist Ted Tilbrook) things are moving forward with greater pace. “We’ve had a lot of pressure on us to write the album for a while,” he says. “It probably should’ve come out halfway through this year but we had the lineup change with our new drummer so since then it’s been fun and easy again to play. We’ve been in the rehearsal room almost every day and it’s just been a real breath of fresh air. It feels like starting a new band. There’s just such a different energy when everyone actually wants to be there; it’s kinda hard to be creative when the mood is low and people don’t wanna be there.”
Lucky for Millions, they belong to a tight knit group of friends in Brisbane who mostly happen to be musicians. They support each other, tour with each other, live together and occasionally steal ideas off each other. In high school it may have been cheating of a friends test paper, now it’s cheating off their Facebook page. “It’s always good to know people,” he says. “That way you have a scope of who to give your music to and stuff like that. I guess having lots of friends that play in bands is really good in its own way. I live with the guys from Gung Ho and Last Dinosaurs. You can’t help but always keep your eye on what each other’s band is doing and you kinda think ‘Oh why aren’t we doing that?’, so there’s a lot of friendly competiveness. It keeps everyone working hard at least.”
The writing process has been fruitful for Millions but also taken things in a new direction. When asked what the single will be that they plan on releasing in October, Smith admits that he doesn’t feel like they’ve written it yet. “We’ve got a few different tracks coming together but nothing feels like the single yet,” he says. “It’s kinda in the back of your mind to be mindful of the fans you have earned now and what they might want from you but we’re always writing for ourselves at the end of the day. There are some songs that we’ve written that we’re not really fond of so it feels good to start to be really proud of your music again.”
The recording plans are only just taking shape and ideas are still in an incubation period. So far the UK looks to be an option as it fulfils their strict budget requirements but a decision needs to be made and time is running out. “[What we’re going to do] is a good question,” he laughs. “Things are going back and forth about budget but we’re thinking about going to the UK to record it. It just so happens Louis and Ted’s dad owns a studio over there so given our budget it sounds like a really good option. We can take our time, play some gigs over there and have the space that we might need to get it all right.”
BY KRISSI WEISS
