LEROY MACQUEEN OF THE GOOCH PALMS

Hi Leroy and thanks for taking the time out to speak with us at Musicology. Firstly congratulations on the new record. In what ways did you want to push the sonic boundaries and for that matter yourselves in writing and recording III?

Thanks so much!!! With The Goochies we’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, but for this record we wanted to up the fidelity and energy with our producer Dylan Adams and had a blast doing it. It was the first time we went into recording with demos done, so it was awesome to watch all these tracks grow from phone memos into the tracks you hear now. Marfa Lights is still the actual the demo version that never changed. There was just something raw and minimal about that version that we could not beat. But we had fun adding extra elements in this time like a Mellotron Synth and 808 drum machine. We had a drum circle for Coast to Coast and even a few random objects into the mix like a Soda Stream gas canister being hit with a drum stick!

In terms of the writing and lyrical content, was there an overarching narrative tying the album together or an assortment of topics and inspirations that zig zag throughout the record?

Unlike the last two records this one has no one theme running through it. At the time of writing a lot of these tracks we were on the road touring so there are a few tracks about that, such as Coast to Coast and Burnout. But we like to write the music first with a melody then come up with a lyric theme and kinda go from there.

How is the dynamism between you both in terms of what each of you bring to the collective table for this album compared to previous releases?

All Goochies songs kinda start out the same with me demoing the guitar and humming a melody on top, then I’ll show Kat the rough demo then Kat gets to work and starts adding lyrics into the melody. Sometimes the lyrics won’t fit into the melody so we re work it until it's better than the original, then the song is mostly done. We have always kinda worked this way so it’s pretty similar to previous releases. But there was definitely a bit more added in the studio than on previous albums. That part was super fun and a collaborative effort.

Your video clips are endlessly entertaining and varied. Can you elaborate on some of the creative approaches you take when setting about making a clip?

I personally hate making music videos! (laughs). But it’s well worth it when Kat’s done editing it. She makes most of the videos, sometimes with help from our friend Brice. They just come up with an idea and we see if we can make it work. If not, we pivot the idea into something we can make work. We never take the videos too seriously so whatever we end up with is good enough for us!

Known for your exuberant and lively shows, what performance elements have you taken into your own shows from what you have seen of other acts (and for that matter what you haven’t seen) that makes its way into your stage craft?

My favourite band on planet earth is KISS so we draw a lot from them but I also love a good no thrills punk show so we try and blend a little of both. But for us I feel like most of it is very in the moment and the crowd are definitely a big part of our show and that kinda dictates where it’s going to go on the night or day.

Having performed countless live shows, can you share with us a personal favourite and why it was so memorable?

Probably the first time we played with Straight Arrows. We always wanted to play with them and one day Owen from the band called me up to see if we wanted to open for them in Sydney. I kept my cool with him but when I called Kat up to tell her there was a lot excitement in my voice. The show was awesome and it was the start of an awesome friendship with them and we still love them to this day.

Coming off the back of some heavy touring, do you find touring to be inspirational whereby it helps you write and create more material or are you so focused on the task at hand that writing and creating new material takes a back seat?

I feel like in the moment we’re not really thinking about songs. But every now and then we’ll have an idea on tour. Mostly just lyrics though. I feel like it’s more when we get home from a tour that we will start drawing from our experiences on the road.

After writing, recording and performing for so long, what has been one of the hardest lessons you have learnt during your time as The Gooch Palms?

I feel sometimes you forget that you are a human and not a robot, and that you have to look after yourself. I have a tendency of bottling things up then exploding with emotion at the most random of times. But I’m definitely on the right path now with medication and also have awesome friends that are always down talk about stuff which is very important.

What else is on the cards for the rest of 2019?

Touring, touring, touring, eat, shit, sleep and repeat!