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Belittle League.
When I first meet Morgan Read, AKA Belittle League, at the Wheatsheaf
for a quiet drink, he asks if I like his new album. Following
last year's triumphant debut, 'Oh, I Fell Down', it is wittily
entitled 'Backup', and includes a number of songs that have
become crowd favourites in recent shows.
Read also plays in La Femme La Fever, although they would have played their last show by the time you've read this. He's a little worried that he might have fluked it with his first CD. Perhaps he's just fishing for compliments, because after I reassure him that yes, 'Backup' is an even more accomplished collection of synth-dance tunes than 'Oh, I Fell Down', I ask if his ego allows him to acknowledge how good his music is.
"Yeah," Read replies. "My ego says 'yeah, I'm alright, I can do that.'"
Recording of this newest release required a different tack. "Because on the first CD, I just recorded songs without thinking of how to play them live," explains Read. "I didn't even think about playing live then. Whereas with this one, a lot of the songs I worked out with the intention of playing them live."
It turns out that seeing some like minded synth-pop artists live in action was what first inspired Read to move into live gigs. "I saw Max Tundra, and then I saw Peaches. So then I thought, 'yeah, I reckon I can do this'. So I just started getting gigs and playing live, and working out my songs."
But even before that, the whole idea behind Belittle League was to make music that was more accessible that anything Read had done previously in bands such as Parlour. "I think I made a conscious effort to make it as poppy as possible," suggests Read, "because I was sick of playing stuff that I like the sound of, and no one listening to it. So I tried to adopt all the methods used by the talentless people who make it big, and so I thought it they can make simple, stupid pop music and dance around and look like idiots, then I should do that as well. I've got the last bit down; I'm not sure yet on the simple pop music. My original plan was to sell out as quickly as possible. But that hasn't come yet. I'm still hoping."
With former bandmates moving onto projects such as Jemima Jemima and Damn Arms, I ask whether Read regrets not making a move interstate along with his colleagues. "Well, they're doing well. It was a good move on their part. But I don't regret not going, because I've got more important things here. I also just went over to Melbourne recently to visit [ex-Parlour/Canino bandmate Simon Parker] and I still don't like it as a city, especially at three in the morning, where you're just wandering around trying to find somewhere to go. At least in Adelaide you know that there's nowhere to go, so you go home."
We talk about what he's been listening to and watching of late. The Mighty Boosh comes up - he is still looking for a chance to use the question, "You know the black bits in bananas, are they really tarantula's eggs?"
We talk about addictive video games like 'Singstar' and 'We Love Katamari': "I can't get that music out of my head," he admits, before discussing how hard it can be to wean yourself off of eBay. Read has recently been bidding on a Korg MS-2000. It's the "big brother" of the synth that Read uses on stage. Talk then turns to different musical gadgets Read would like to have, and perhaps use stage in future. One thing Read would like is a hearing testing machine. "I had to go on those all the time when I was a kid, because I'm deaf in one ear. I think it's the only way I can compare myself to Brian Wilson," he laughs.
Eddie Chan
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'Backup' is in independent record stores right now, and Belittle League plays with Lankey at the Exeter Hotel (Rundle St) on Fri 10 March.
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The latest issue
available now!
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