While he stops short of giving an actual timeline, the band’s enigmatic frontman Kin Etik assures us that work on Twelve Foot Ninja’s sophomore album is steadily progressing, so something new from the band shouldn’t be too far off.
“I can’t confirm anything, it’s classified information, unfortunately,” he says. “But we are working with it, and we’ve got a lot of tracks that we’re happy with. The material has definitely progressed, but that’s all I can really say at this point in time.”
He is able to give us a hint as to the direction of the new material. “It’s definitely Ninja-eclectic,” he says. “It’s the usual sort of thing – we’re experimenting with a lot of different styles as usual. At this point in time it’s a little bit heavier, and there’s some new added flavours in there as well. It’s sounding pretty fresh to us, and that’s a good sign.”
If the album surfaces sometime in 2016, that’ll make it nearly four years in between drinks for the band. But while Silent Machine holds up as an absolute treat three years down the line, Etik maintains that the band are far more focused on getting the album ready than they are on thinking about past glories.
“Personally, I find it difficult to listen to my own work,” he says. “I guess that’s because we’re focusing on new material all the time now. Occasionally I might hear bits and pieces [of Silent Machine], like I might go to a friend’s party and they’ll put it on for shits and giggles. I usually end up politely telling them to turn it off. I just try to stay more future focused.”
In the shorter term, the band are surfacing from album writing hibernation for a one-off show at the Croxton Park Hotel, where they’ll road test some of their new material. “We just want to test out a couple of new songs,” says Etik. “We thought we’d just play a show in Melbourne and see how they go.”
The Croxton Park Hotel hasn’t exactly been known for its commitment to original contemporary music in recent times, however the venue has significantly changed its tune, and putting on Twelve Foot Ninja is emblematic of its new era.
“It did [support original rock] in the ‘70s and ‘80s I believe,” Etik says. “It does have the reputation of being a pretty rough venue, and home for a lot of classic Australian rock. But it’s recently refurbished the band room, and they’re hoping to become a legitimate live venue for local music. So we’re really honoured to get to play the new room, and yeah, walk the hallways of the legends of Aussie rock. So come on down to the Crocko.”
Along with a taste of never before heard material, the band’s set will showcase songs from Silent Machine and their two EP releases. “It’ll be our usual headline show, maybe an hour to an hour and fifteen, and we’ll be playing songs from across our catalogue, and a couple of new ones.”
BY ROD WHITFIELD
