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Razorlily
Though it may be the most isolated major city in the world, geographically speaking, there's something about Perth that ensures there's never a shortage of promising new acts to be heard on the nation's airwaves, particularly if you're tuning into Triple J. Formed when the core of lead singer and guitarist Kate Andrews and guitarist Greig Johnston left their last band to form a new group with Jalukka bass player Cameron Burns, Razorlily are the latest act to make a bid for their name to be added to the long and storied list of bands Perth has produced. After entering Triple J's Unearthed competition last year and getting their track Frozen onto some of the station's playlists, they're certainly on their way and previous support slots for fellow West Australians, like Panda Band and Little Birdy, haven't hurt the band, either.
Trying to figure out why their hometown is so well-represented nationally (Richard Kingsmill recently revealed that Perth provides Triple J with more acts per capita than any other major city in Australia), Razorlily immediately offer a lament that will be very familiar to Adelaide musos. Their theory runs that "Perth bands know they will have to work twice as hard as their eastern counterparts to get the same exposure, so that encourages a good work ethic." Whether it's the foundation of every group's success or not, it's certainly true of Razorlily, who have toured the southwest region surrounding Perth extensively. As a result, despite the fact that this will be the group's first national tour, they're not letting nerves get to them, Andrews adamant that "If we can put on good shows in the west there is no reason why we can't do the same over east."
The tour will be in support of Razorlily's debut CD, "Roaring Trade," but in fact, the material for the album was actually recorded some time ago in 2005. There's a perfectly reasonable explanation for the delay, though. "We had a bit of a mix up with the artwork on the CDs," Andrews explains, "after getting the first batch of CDs from the pressing mob we realised that the names under pictures did not match, so we had to send the whole lot back and wait all over again." No doubt a frustrating process, this delay as they sought to get everything right did have one advantage as it allowed them to reach a wider audience prior to the eventual release through the airplay that they have garnered. Everyone in the band is happy to be gaining national attention after their Unearthed success (though they'd still like a little more), but while they may not have been catapulted to superstardom just yet, "The fact that we have music good enough to be played on national radio has done good things for everyone's egos."
Currently riding a wave of success, the material on this debut release suggests that things haven't always looked so bright for this young band. "Yeah, there are definitely some dark themes running through our music," Andrews responds, "but I wouldn't call it depressing. Some of the songs are personal while others are more of a social comment. You can't tell a story without some conflict." In amongst the thematic content that often centres around unfulfilled desire, standout track Frozen fits right in lyrically, but the lush sound of the track has marked it aside for many listeners and it's a song that the band really enjoys playing as well; "It's the most rockin' track on the album and usually is the encore of our live set."
With Andrews taking piano duties on top of her other roles, 'Roaring Trade' can become a little sombre at times, but it's clear that all four members relish the chance to really rock out and make some noise so it's hardly a surprise that Andrews and bass player Cameron Burns cite their recent musical highlights as Pearl Jam and Tool, respectively. When it's revealed that guitar player Greig Johnston is "Going through an ELO stage at the moment," however, I can't help being surprised as it's certainly not an influence that makes itself strongly felt in their music but with the group currently working on material for their next album, who knows what direction they'll take.
Alexis Buxton-Collins
'Roaring Trade' is out now through MGM
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