Tessa And The Typecast are fast becoming a band to watch out for. Their moody mix of piano- and classically-based pop with beautiful female vocals and some post-rock edge makes for an intellectual, brooding and joyful musical delight.
Tessa And The Typecast are fast becoming a band to watch out for. Their moody mix of piano- and classically-based pop with beautiful female vocals and some post-rock edge makes for an intellectual, brooding and joyful musical delight.
Despite launching their single, Painter last week at The Grace Darling, Tessa Pavilach and her band will repeat the launch this Thursday due to some serious industry interest, which is well-earned and, for Tessa, quite surprising.
“I guess because we weren’t going to release this single, we were just going to do a farewell show, but we thought we’d just do it,” says Tessa, who is beehived, made up and dapper as ever, buzzing as she talks about the recent success of her band. “Single launches aren’t that big – at least a year ago, no-one really did single launches, it was always about the EP. So we thought maybe we could get some hype up before we go on break.
“I think,” she muses, “when you write a song and then record it, you don’t realise what effect it can have. We’ve done this quite a few times and nothing’s really come of it, [but this time] we got these phone calls and we saw that we had to do another show and the Grace was pretty packed out… it’s a bit like, ‘How and why is this happening?’”
Her excitement is palpable and, well, adorable. For such a young band, though, it’s justifiable. With all the band members under 21 and pretty much fresh out of high school – and Ballarat – all this attention is huge. “[We met] mid-way through year twelve,” explains Natalie Foster, the cellist and backup vocalist for the band. “We met in high school and started off playing some covers.”
“I was in year twelve and the other boys were in year eleven,” Tessa explains, “and I met Ed through the other class, and I was always too scared to ask him to play with me. And I think it was in house chapel or some other house event that Ed, Pat and I ended up doing something.”
“’Something unpredictable but in the end it’s right’. What’s that one?” asks Nat, happily quoting Greenday. “Time Of Your Life” – they each answer at the same time, laughing. “But with three part harmonies.” Nat adds. Unsurprising, really, if you listen to the perfect harmonies and arrangements that Tessa And The Typecast effortlessly produce.
Now in Melbourne, the band spent most of this year trying to really find out who they are and what they’re about. “I think that [this year] there’s been so much trying to find our sound,” muses Tessa. “We’ve gone through so many different stages – I guess you get influenced especially by what is big at the moment – everyone does it, even if you’re indie or you don’t want to. We’ve been through some really interesting phases.”
“We started off really mellow and then we tried to make people dance,” says Nat. Tessa agrees, nodding: “We tried to make it more quirky and pop,” she says. “We were playing a lot of pub gigs – and especially Karova Lounge was a really late night gig and we felt that people would get a bit lost if they weren’t moving, so we tried to write some ‘uppy’ songs – it kinda worked but they were always a little bit quirky, in a sense, so people didn’t end up dancing to them anyway. I think it’s just been a meander of trying to find who we are as musos [and] finding a sound and being happy with it… but also still being able to have that chemistry between us.”
It’s that quirkiness that really makes Tessa And The Typecast something different. And the soul searching continues for Tessa, who jets off for three months in New York on Sunday. “I just need new inspiration, I’m just dry,” she sighs. “I think maybe it will be good to have some songs lined up in case we end up releasing an album next year.”
It may sound premature, but for a band like Tessa And The Typecast, change is what drives and inspires them, and keeps their music so very fresh and innovative. “I don’t think we’ll ever settle on anything, I think it’s so healthy to change.” Tessa smiles.
TESSA AND THE TYPECAST launch their single Painter (again) this Thursday November 11 at The Grace Darling Hotel along with RedBerryPlum and Kristina Miltiadou.
