“With Violetine, we ended up with a good sized record contract and all that sort of stuff, but it was a bit of a bad experience in the end and I started to question what my motives were for playing music,” says Miljoen. “When you’ve got stars in your eyes, it’s easy to get away from the reasons you were doing it in the first place.
“Steve and I got back together just because I was writing songs again and it was exactly how we started in the first place – just having some fun. We’ve vowed to keep it that way and so far we have. We made ourselves self-sufficient – we’ve got our own studio and record label. Having that control and being able to record from home makes it much more enjoyable creatively.”
This ethos has paid tremendous dividends. After forming She’s The Driver ten years ago, Miljoen and Leicester recorded three albums as a two-piece before recruiting bass player Joe Golotta for their latest album Kill That Sound.
“When we were a two-piece, I had a guitar setup that went from guitar to bass – I had one pedal on my left foot, one on my right. My head would be going a million miles an hour to try and keep up with what I was doing,” laughs Miljoen. “When Joe’s band split up I told him he should come and jam with us, and he fit in straight away. It was really enjoyable for me to be able to just play guitar again.”
The trio are all seasoned members of the Melbourne music scene – Miljoen and Leicester in Violetine, Golotta in The Jailbird Jokers. While they’ve faced their fair share of setbacks, they’ve also played alongside some Australian rock lynchpins, including The Living End, Magic Dirt and Sarah McLeod.
“A couple of years back, we opened for The Living End at one of their secret gigs, which are the worst kept secret you’ve ever heard,” says Miljoen. “It was one of the first times I’d done the two-piece thing, tackling the bass and guitar setup and singing by myself, so I was really nervous – you feel a bit nude up there on stage. We drove into town and the queue was down the entire street and I started freaking out, but it turned out to be a really good show, the crowd were fantastic. We also got to play some gigs with Magic Dirt before Dean Turner passed away, which was another highlight.”
Having dealt with both the rises and pitfalls of the music industry, Kill That Sound finds the trio reflecting on their experiences over the past two decades. The title track looks at coming to terms with the self-doubt that plagues many musicians, and being able to let go of the negative thoughts that fill one’s mind.
“I really like the title song, which is also the first song on the album,” says Miljoen. “I like the premise of the song. When you’re a musician you have to question what you’re doing a lot and get rid of the negativity, the bad sounds in your head. I find it a really positive song and I’m quite proud of how it turned out.”
BY KELSEY BERRY
