And as guitarist Ryan Adamson attests, it took an appreciation for the recording studio to attain that level of comfort.
“We think about bands like Pink Floyd, and how they used the studio as a tool,” he says, reached on the phone before performing a live-to-air session on 2SER in Sydney. “This time around we put more time into messing around with the arrangements and the sonics of it all. A lot more textures; we used a lot of what we call ‘Headphone trinkets,” which took some time to set up, but I think made the whole album a lot more rewarding in the end.”
Indeed, Strange Flowers is a marked departure from The Peaceful Atom is a Bomb; it’s a flushed, textured and most importantly, mature listen.
Adamson insists the band couldn’t be happier with the results on Strange Flowers.
“We wanted to use more instruments that we’ve acquired over the years, analog synths and stuff like that,” he says. “That’s what we’re into so it made sense to get them on there. We’re into the album as an experience so we tried to create a world that we could bring the listener into. As if, ‘Hey, this is what we do, come join us,’ kind of thing.”
Many listeners had already “Joined” the band after their previous full-length garnered critical acclaim. The risk of joining the corporate rock elite isn’t one that concerns Adamson, however.
In fact, he insists the band wasn’t affected by the dreaded sophomore slump and felt very little pressure entering the studio to record Strange Flowers.
“I can’t say there really was [any pressure]. It’d been quite a while for us, so what happened with the last record didn’t really enter our minds. We just got into our own little world so we didn’t think about anything outside the studio. The only expectations we had were our own.”
Adamson continues, outlining the band’s motives when recording Strange Flowers.
“We love albums, and the only question we asked ourselves at the end of the process was whether we were happy with it.”
There’s a palpable enthusiasm in Adamson’s voice that insists both he and the band are indeed happy with the results.
Where the enthusiasm truly speaks volumes is on record; “Slume,” the album’s first single builds slowly with Flaming Lips-influenced fuzz before crashing into a wall of guitars that pays homage to the better bands of the early 90’s hard rock explosion.
It’s more enlightening than anything the band has ever attempted, but Adamson understands that balance of slow build and all-out sonic assault didn’t come easy to the band.
“It was definitely easier a few years to just go full on with every song we wrote. But we’ve learnt that oversaturation can kill a song. If something is really noisy or really fuzzy, after about a minute you get used to it. And then it’s not that heavy anymore. If you let things build, and then take them away, then build again, you notice it and it becomes that much more powerful. If you have that little oasis of quiet in the middle, the fuzz really stays with you,” he says, chuckling.
The textured approach Regular John took towards Strange Flowers is all the more impressive considering how tempered and balanced each track sounds. While Adamson immediately defers to bassist Caleb Goman as the creative head of the band, he insists that Regular John operates as a democracy instead of a dictatorship.
The layered sound of Strange Flowers was conceived with input from the whole band. Similarly, Adamson insists every member of the band must find a way to put their fingerprints on a song before it becomes a Regular John track. “Most of our songs can be broken down into a singular, acoustic performance. So we do have free reign to do what we’d like. We’re not as a free-flowing a band like, Architecture in Helsinki, but we do just try to jam and jam and jam and see what works. Maybe it’s a bit like cooking, where you have to spend time letting a good soup simmer.”
“We’re into trying different things and ultimately deciding what’s best for the song,” Adamson continues. As he speaks, his voice becomes steadier, underlying the focus both he and the band have gained surrounding the release of the record.
“It’s much easier to be gratuitous, but we’ve had to be a bit disciplined at times. It might be a cool sound, but we can’t help but wonder if six months down the line, it’ll sound cheesy or dated. You’ve always got to keep one ear on the objective. It’s not about other people’s perception, but we have to keep a level head on things.”
With Strange Flowers now ready for the road, Adamson is able to look back on the recording process. He isn’t giving away too much, but its clear Regular John understand how they discovered the sound that may very well end up defining them. “You’ve always got to get outside your comfort zone if you want to grow. If it gets to the point where it’s not challenging, then it’s not fun anymore.”
BY JOSHUA KLOKE
