We’re Ensemble Formidable, a West Aussie band of chaps and flappers who play electroswing mostly – fast paced gypsy jazz mushed up with electronic new school stuff. We’ve been together about 9 months, and in that time we’ve played a few festivals, released a single, filmed a video clip, been nominated for a WAMi and generally had heaps of fun! We’re all good friends who have played in other bands together before, and we formed to make a big band that we’d want to dance to – music to make your limbs flail while your brain gyrates.
You’ve already made preparations for Eclipse Festival with your ‘Van Cooking’ videos, what’s the most important thing to take to a festival such as Eclipse?
Eclipse will be held in a natural bush area, with hot days and cold nights. It will be important to blend into the environment, stay cool, keep hydrated and have fresh food for vitamins. We recommend smearing yourself in mud, wearing a pocket protector to hook some beroccas onto and eating celery.
Are there any special surprises for the live show at Eclipse? What can fans expect?
We can’t tell you because that would ruin the surprise! But expect an exciting array of fruity shirts, LED lights, more LED lights and maybe some celery… with LED lights. We’ve also got some exciting new songs, and more genres than you can poke a sharp stick at. And LED lights!
Who are you most excited to see at Eclipse Festival?
Fat Freddy’s Drop, Beats Antique, Tipper, Kooii, Bobby Alu, Dub FX, Spoonbill. But mostly the eclipse!
What’s your best festival memory?
We love permaculture, so our favourite memory is Michael Franti jumping into the crowd to pick up rubbish with the punters at West Coast Blues & Roots. What a legend!
You released the single ‘Industrial Chook’ in April, are there any plans to release an EP or an album soon?
We’re just looking for a studio big enough to fit us all in! Look out for something early next year.
‘Fess up. What records have you stolen from your parent’s record collection and why?
Apparently we’re a band of dirty stealers – Paul Simon, Frank Zappa, Jethro Tull, Pop Will Eat Itself, Talking Heads and lots of jazz have all been ganked.
Do you have any particular ritual before you go on stage, or even a lucky charm you take with you?
No rituals just yet, but getting drunk and dancing the charleston backstage has happened a bit.
If you could curate your own festival, where would it be, who would be on the bill, how many people would you let in and what features would it have?
The festival site would be hot springs on a mountainside in Japan, with chilled out monkeys sitting in the springs with snow on their heads. There would be a model railway, an island in the springs, and mini-golf for the monkeys. Food and drinks would be served on the back of really strong chooks. Caravan Palace and Jackson Jackson would play, while the rest of the artists would be holograms of all the greats, or maybe the real thing if we could somehow resurrect them. We would let in anyone who could bring a monkey or cluck like a chook.
Because it’s more fun to do things together, which living Australian artist would you most like to collaborate with? Tell us why?
We would love to collaborate with Harry Angus from the Cat Empire and Jackson Jackson. He plays a mean trumpet and can sing high like a lady, what more could you want?
What is your band’s music the best soundtrack for?
If they shot a remake of Pulp Fiction starring chickens, we’d love to do the soundtrack. Also good for hitch-hiking and jumping in puddles.
What’s next for Ensemble Formidable?
We’ve got more gigs coming up, but then it’s off into the wilderness to hunker down and write more songs and get ready to record. Most of us are in other bands that we’ve been neglecting, too!
