Spacey Jane’s slow, fast, messy rise to fame
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06.12.2022

Spacey Jane’s slow, fast, messy rise to fame

Spacey Jane
Words by Bridget McArthur

Spacey Jane frontman Caleb Harper recalls his first ever Falls Festival fondly. It involved a 4L goon sack stuffed in a Woolies Tote and was, in his own words, “so messy”.   

By 2019, Harper and bandmates Kieran Lama (drums), Ashton Hardman-Le Cornu (guitar) and Peppa Lane (bass) had progressed from the mosh to the stage, opening Falls Fremantle in the triple j unearthed slot. “Ashton broke a string. I remember we didn’t have spare guitars or anything, and ended up playing four songs in total – which is pretty embarrassing, but we had a good time.”

This year, the indie pop-rock darlings have broken out of Fremantle and are playing all three festival locations – Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia – alongside headline acts like Arctic Monkeys, Lil Nas X, Peggy Gou, CHVRCHES and Jamie xx. It’s a progression that reflects the band’s broader narrative arc – from music-loving punters, to rookie support act, to crowd-pulling festival favourite. Tickets are still available here.

Keep up with the latest music news, features, festivals, interviews and reviews here.

And not only in Australia. The band has just returned from their first ever North American tour, which saw all 24 dates sold out. “We played a show in Denver to over 1,000 people. That was wild, because it took so long to get to that level in Perth, let alone the East Coast.”

Speaking to me from a sunny porch in Canberra just 24 hours after flying in from Los Angeles, Harper has one week to recover before Spacey Jane kicks off their summer festival season with Spilt Milk Festival in Ballarat.

“I think we probably feel more pressure playing at home. Now that we’re playing later in the day and on the mainstage, it’s really this pressure to earn that spot, and show our appreciation.”

Perhaps that’s the burden that comes with a seemingly charmed rise to fame – the need to prove that they deserve their rapidly accrued popularity on the Aus music scene. But while their first album, Sunlight, may have only come out in 2020, Spacey Jane’s been at it for coming-on seven years. 

Spacey Jane

“There’s definitely been a lot of work for us that’s laid the groundwork for everything that is happening now. And many months, even years, of not necessarily plateauing, but gathering the skills and the experience that would allow us to do this. It’s been a slog, and we’ve put it first, prioritised it, above lots of other parts of our life. 

“At the same time, when we put Sunlight out in 2020, and Booster Seat got that traction, things definitely happened much quicker. Before COVID hit, versus after, we went from playing 200 or 300 capacity rooms, to playing multiple 1,000 capacity rooms. So we can’t deny the fact that it was quick in that way. But also, we’ve been at it for a long time.”

That’s evident in the considered way Harper talks about show craft. While a song or an album might climb up the charts with some help from the whims of luck, a good performance can’t be faked. The audience either loves you or they don’t. And, scrawling through Instagram and YouTube comments following live shows, boy do they love Spacey Jane. 

“We’ve always just worked on being as energetic as we can be. And that hasn’t really changed. I think the only thing that’s different now is, depending on the size of the show, what level of production we bring. The goal is to deliver shows for people where they’re like, ‘wow, that was an event’, not just a band on stage.”

They’ll be bringing that energy to the 10,000+ capacity Sidney Myer Music Bowl on December 30th as part of Falls Downtown – the first ever Falls Festival Victoria to take place in Melbourne’s CBD, after Birregurra residents appealed to VCAT and forced a temporary relocation. 

Unlike some festival-goers, Harper’s not too bummed. “I was excited to see the grounds [in Birregurra], but we love Sidney Myer Music Bowl so much. We’ve done our own show there a few times, and played Beyond the City there this time last year. It’s just such an amazing venue. I know the Falls team are disappointed because they want to have it at the camping grounds and that’s sort of what Falls means to people. But I think that it will be just as special, different. And it’s always fun being in Melbourne in the CBD.” 

The last time they were here it was for a five-show series at The Forum, where they also shot a series of acoustic versions of It’s Been A Long Day, Lots of Nothing and Hardlightthe latter of which is Harper’s current favourite, and the track he’s rooting for in the upcoming triple j Hottest 100 (though if history’s anything to go by they’re likely to see more than one make that list). 

They come off Spacey Jane’s latest album, Here Comes Everybody, which debuted at #1 on the ARIA album chart in June. The title is borrowed (with permission) from the working title of Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. While it’s received some criticism for being a tad hubristic, drawing parallels between the almost 30-year-old global music icons and the comparatively young West Australian group, to Harper, it’s just a nice phrase. 

“I just really liked it. And I’m a massive fan of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – probably my favourite album of all time. But I find with certain phrases, you hear them, and you feel this weight. It seems to have a certain gravity that you’re drawn to. There’s sort of two ways of looking at it. One where Here Comes Everybody is like, you’re alone, and there’s everybody. A sense of being overwhelmed by this crowd, or whatever it is that you’re looking up at. Or it’s an empowering feeling, because you’re a part of the everyone. There’s this sort of strength in the unity of people.”

The album carries that sense of dichotomy in the odd dissonance between the predominantly upbeat, compulsively dancey chorus break-outs, and the pretty exclusively unhappy lyricism, suggesting maybe that there’s something redeeming or hopeful in the universality of human suffering. And in a post-COVID, mid-climate crisis, generally anxiety-riddled kind of world, maybe that’s exactly the weird sort of comfort we all need. 

So go on, grab a goon sack. Let’s get messy.

Spacey Jane are playing Falls Festival around the country, including Melbourne from December 29-31 at Sidney Myer Music Bowl. They’ll also play Heaps Good Festival in Adelaide on January 6. All tour dates and deets right here.