What does a city sound like?
Its song comes together as a cacophony of experiences, a mosaic of scenes and a tapestry of moments. It’s a tricky essence to capture, but chuck on Piggietails – the self-titled album from a quartet of mates making jumble-pop goodness – and you’ve pretty much found it.
Piggietails have been playing shows all over the city (and some outside of it) for the past two years, cementing their sound into something tangible with the recent release of their debut album. A collection of 10 songs that will take you from a fishing expedition to the public pool, the album is best consumed beside a body of water. Or, as they say, with “one drink for hydration and one for fun.”
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Beaming in on a group call from various parts of Naarm’s inner north, Cal Blackburn (vocals, bass, guitar), Jet Noonan (vocals, keys), Izzy Hardisty (vocals, drums) and Tino D’Onghia (vocals, guitar, bass) reflect on the week they spent in a shed, committing their debut record to tape.
“We had a few songs that had a pretty loose structure going into recording, and then Dylan helped us refine them,” Izzy says, referring to Dylan Young of Way Dynamic, who engineered, mixed and co-produced the album. “One particular one that comes to mind is Possum Magic. We didn’t really know how to structure that song until we recorded it, but because we were recording to tape and couldn’t go back and change things, as soon as we played the version, we were like, ‘Okay that’s it.’”
While the songs were still “rapidly evolving” into something close to their final form up until the week of recording the album, Jet explains that the songs you hear on the album just happened to be captured in the form they existed in, in that moment in time. “Even since then, they have continued to change a little bit as we play them more and more live,” she says. “It’s fun to keep the songs interesting and different.”
Coming from a slew of different musical backgrounds and bands from across the Naarm scene, the collaboration between the members of Piggietails and those of their peers runs deep. Snowy of Snowy Band mastered the record, while designer Liz Luby worked her magic on the album’s layout and design.
The four-piece have also shared a bunch of lineups with local outfits like the Greer Clemens Band, Babyccino, Sour Worm, Gavin! and Big Farmer.
Their favourite shows, however, are the ones that have taken place outside of Naarm. “We played in Beechworth in April last year,” Cal remembers. “And earlier this year we played a show supporting Mess Esque in Archie’s Creek.”
One of Naarm’s most beloved duos going around, Mess Esque have been big supporters of Piggietails from the get-go. Game recognises game, as they say.
Speaking about the band’s dynamic, Tino describes their process as one of utmost collaboration. “Usually someone comes to the band with a chord progression or just the start of a song,” he says.
“There is a really strong trust with everyone in the band that collaborating will make the song better or more fun.”
An undercurrent of fun is at the forefront of everything Piggietails does; it’s as visceral in reality as it sounds in all their songs. Even in the ones that lean into more of the melancholy, like stand-out song And I’m Alright, the camaraderie that weaves the musicians together is palpable.
“Friendship is important to the band,” Cal says. “I feel like we’ve valued that above all other things in the process of making the music. We never want it to not be fun. So much of our band practices are just us hanging out and catching up. It’s very special.”
They’re not trying to sound like this city, and they’re not positing that they know what it sounds like any better than the rest of us. But if you’ve ever found yourself at a gig, or in a pub, or barefoot in someone’s backyard backgrounded by a baby blue sunset, you’ll hear the sound of this corner of the country in all of Piggietails’ songs. And, if you’re lucky, you might find them there too.
Piggietails are playing Summer Slam at the Barwon Club on 17 January, tickets here.
