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The Hiptones.
 Narmon Tulsi is an ebullient chap. To be fair, he's got good reason to be: for one thing, The Hiptones - the firey soul/blues band for which he plays Hammond - have just finished work on their debut album, which is set for release toward the middle of the year. For another, they have the not-inconsiderable honour of playing at the Famous Spiegeltent on the final night of the Fringe. And if that wasn't enough, they've also decided to mark the occasion by filming the show for a future DVD release.
"It's great," he enthuses. "We got a pretty good rap after doing a show at the Regal Tent [at the Fringe] two years ago: we played pretty early in the Fringe and pulled a lot of people in - but the Regal Tent's just a tent while the Spiegeltent is a beautiful structure.
"We were thinking about releasing [the CD] at the show, but then we thought 'no, we won't do that, because people will have run out of money by then,'" he smiles.
"And we'd always been thinking of filming at the Spiegeltent anyway because it's a venue that has international appeal: and 'The Hiptones Live At The Spiegeltent' kinda has a nice ring about it. And just in terms of credibility, the Spiegeltent goes to Melbourne and it goes overseas. And now because we're going to release the CD later, there's a good chance that we'll include some or all of that DVD as part of the package. Just having something of broadcast quality, shot with multiple cameras; it's just something you have to have these days, especially for the kind of thing that we do. It'll look wonderful too - I mean, you've been in there. It's a beautiful venue, 6.30 in the evening, sunset streaming through the leadlight windows: it should be nice."
Certainly, the Hiptones' considerable reputation has been built up through their live shows, but Tulsi thinks that their new recording proves that the band can cut it in the studio as well.
"I mean, live is a particular forte of what we do, but having done this album, [the quality of the band in the studio] was really pleasantly surprising. We recorded at Woodstock Studios in Melbourne, which is Joe Camilleri's studio, and it was a wonderful, wonderful experience: ten days, nine nights, five guys, one motel room, three gigs, four days in the studio, thirteen tracks, three radio interviews, one live to air and a photo shoot.
"And it was 40 degrees the entire time we were there, and the air conditioning wasn't great in this funky little motel in St Kilda. It was a tremendously bonding experience, as you can imagine. We've come back different people. Now we all have little pet names for each other."
The speed of the recording was a testament to the band's musical chops. "We recorded very quickly, mainly because Snooks [La Vie, vocals/harmonica] did everything in one pass: the guide vocal was the vocal," Tulsi explains, shaking his head.
"He really is quite extraordinary. But [with the DVD] we were thinking that lots of people can do it in the studio but not everybody can do it live, so this is a great way to show what it is we can do. And having a base in Adelaide we understand that a DVD can travel much farther than we can. We really have our eye on some of the larger festivals, so this will certainly help.
"We've got a game plan: we're thinking of the release in June/July, tour to Melbourne and possibly Sydney, there's stuff happening. Although having said that, at the moment the promise is good, there's a lot of activity, but at the end of the day it's about sales of the CD. But there's a lot of really healthy and credible interest around that so far."
For now, though, there's the Spiegeltent show to concentrate on - and Tulsi has high hopes for its success. "It's the last night of the Fringe, so there's that momentum, and it's at 6.30pm so people can get home to watch the evening movie, so that works well for us. We can party hard afterwards and deal with Monday when it comes." He pauses. "I've just got to make sure that my Hammond works on the night. You get that with the Hammond: it's a very esoteric little number."
Andrew P Street
 | The Hiptones play at the Famous Spiegeltent on Sun 19 March. |
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