“I just find radio exciting anyway, and I think we’ve only ever done one live-to-air before,” Oogjes says fervently. “I think they kind of capture a moment quite well. It’s just an interesting way of getting music out to people: experiencing music live but not necessarily watching it live.” It’s a great point, the truth of which gets a bit buried in the more obvious duality of being present at a live venue versus listening to an artist’s well-produced album on your stereo. “I love PBS and community radio stations, so it’s always good getting involved with people; no one’s making any money or anything, everyone’s just doing it for the music,” he explains.
The songwriter and creative head of NO ZU considers interplaying with isolated, sidelined or supposedly unremarkable groups an important and ongoing post. “I’m really interested in engaging people that aren’t just, you know, inner city people that know about niches. I actually find that… repulsive.” He’s momentarily surprised at the force of the word he’s chosen, and has a laugh. “That was a bit strong, but I really don’t like cliquey vibes or elitist ways of thinking about ‘What references are this band using’ and whatnot. I’m actually really interested in trying to engage more of the segregated [groups]. I’m not necessarily saying we have done that, but I always think about music – without getting too tacky – as a universal thing, which of course it is. And it’d be great to kind of expand on who music goes out to.”
While NO ZU might not have achieved all there is to achieve in that realm, it’s clear that the band’s inclusive spirit is communicated through their music, clips and approach. Oogjes describes a photo shoot the band undertook late last year for Melbourne Music Week, and part of the deal was that the musicians could choose where they’d like the resulting pictures to be displayed. They decided on a Korean store, which sold DVDs, CDs and music-related paraphernalia. “And so we had out picture up next to like, some K-Pop stars,” he says happily. “But to me, that’s just common sense. No point in preaching to the converted, and some people you might need to reach out to moreso than the people that will just by nature discover you anyway.” The sentiment is reflected in the clip for Emotion, from 2012’s debut album Life; a simultaneously dreamy and totally real bit of video described by Beat’s Chris Girdler as “Gummo through the lens of Darren Sylvester.” “I think I heard someone criticise something about it, making an ‘Other’ of people, but the intention of it was completely the opposite,” says Oogjes. “I’d like to engage with younger, and – like Gail in the clip – older people. And people that are close to home for most people; most people have stayed in caravan parks, and know their little cousins and stuff like that,” he explains, referring to the clip’s setting and some of its primary characters. “There’s no reason why our weird music can’t maybe appeal to them or communicate with them.”
When it comes to projects like Drive Live, Oogjes thinks it’s a combination of both listeners and dedicated staff that ensures activities that aim to promote diverse music come to fruition. “I think it comes from both, it’s just people doing things for the right reasons, I imagine,” he says. “As I said, there’s not much money involved. Especially PBS [and] the community radio stations, they’re basically doing the same thing we’re doing with making music. We never expect to make any money… or to be popular or anything like that. And that gives you a certain kind of freedom, and I think that’s why you can have lesser heard music, delve more into music for music’s sake. Salsa music, underground Melbourne music, or whatever.”
Having had a primo lead-up to Drive Live with “the most incredible run of shows” that they’ve ever done with New York legends ESG, Oogjes says “things are really good in the NO ZU camp” right now. “This weekend we’re going to play Lost City Festival in Adelaide, and then we’re going to do Drive Live at PBS, and then we’re getting ready for Golden Plains. So it’s all very exciting at the moment.” Be sure to keep an ear out for the group’s spot during the week of Drive Live, accompanied by other stellar acts such as Lower Plenty, Brothers Grim and Spinning Rooms, as the band trip through another stepping stone in the ascent of their blossoming career.
BY ZOË RADAS
