We caught up with Elliott from Babe Rainbow ahead of the release of their anticipated fourth album, Changing Colours.
If ever there was a band that could be synonymous with a distinct place and a way of life, it would be Babe Rainbow. The Byron Bay boys craft laidback and languorous grooves that encapsulate the freedom and elation of the surfing and hippy communities that the band come from.
That relaxed and breezy conclave is the closest they can get to the romanticised world of the late 60’s and early 70’s, which their music often sounds like it belongs in: Babe Rainbow have been reviving those psychedelic and folk influences and using them in their own inimitable way over four albums now.
They might go at life at their own unhurried pace but their new record, Changing Colours, doesn’t see the band rest on their laurels. While it maintains the mellow melodies of previous releases, there’s now increased experimentation.
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The band travelled to California’s Topanga Canyon to work on the album, working with noted producer Kyle Mullarky (Allah Las, Tomorrow’s Tulips) and perhaps it’s why they sound refreshed here. Everything from baggy rock to disco and funk is explored in the songs, all while keeping the resolutely joyous and breezy atmosphere that they always reside under.
Perhaps the most surprising part is the excellent collaboration on ‘Your Imagination’ with none other than Jaden Smith – that Jaden Smith – for the sort of unexpected musical pairing that surely won’t be topped for the rest of the year
Listening to Changing Colours is to wish that it had been released in the middle of 2020, at the height of the claustrophobic lockdowns: the gentle wistfulness and idyllic dreaminess would have been the type of transformative escapism that would have taken any listener back to the beach, the sun, and good memories.
We spoke with Elliott from the band before the album’s release and discussed the changing sound on Changing Colours, life in Byron Bay, and that Jaden collaboration.
Changing Colours comes out Friday, May 14th, via Eureka/AWAL/Flightless Records.
Check out ‘Zeitgeist’:
Did you have Changing Colours ready to go last year before COVID-19 hit?
We did. It’s always like that, you get these huge lags between recording a record and releasing it. We finished the album in late 2019. It’s been a while.
What was it like recording it in Topanga Canyon?
It was amazing! Thinking about it now, we got it so good, just before everything went haywire. It’s the hinterland of Malibu. It’s that in-between area between LA and the beach zone. So many interesting people have lived there over the years and still do now.
How was it working with Kyle Mullarky? He’s worked with so many similar artists to you.
We’ve never worked with him before but he was good friends with people we know, The Growlers and the like. It was funny, we just arrived in LA and headed over to his place, not really knowing what to expect, and he just had this amazing setup. There were a few caravans for us to sleep in, this groovy little cabin studio which was open 24 hours. We’d go play a gig, come back, and just had free rein all night. And he was down to party as well so it was perfect.
How much has changed between your last album, Today, and Changing Colours?
I think the way we wrote the album has changed. Today was more spontaneous, we were just sitting around in the studio. With Changing Colours though, we wanted to have more of an idea going into recording. We wanted to write songs that we could play live, basically. We were doing so much touring in 2019 and we weren’t playing a lot of the Today album so we just thought ‘fuck, we should probably write some songs that we can play live and that work well live’. That was the main idea behind it.
So what’s your songwriting process? Is it shared between the entire band?
Jack’s the cluemaster, he comes up with the riffs and starts the story. And then Angus is the singer and writes the lyrics and melodies. I’m the bassman and I write the harmonies on the bass. They all get intertwined. Jack pushes us in different directions and it’s definitely not a one-man show.
There were a few songs in particular that really jumped out. ‘Rainbow Rock’ sounds more like a Madchester-era cut from someone like Happy Mondays!
I know (laughs). That song actually started the whole album. When we first started tinkering around with the riff, we immediately got excited about it, and then all these other songs kept coming. I think we had started listening to all these different sounds, a lot more contemporary stuff, so those were influencing us.
And the name ‘New Zealand Spinach’ really stands out. What’s that about? Really good Kiwi veg?
That’s such a funny little song. A few years ago, when we were all a bit more young and free, we went to New Zealand together and drove around in our buddy’s combi for a month. He had this idea that we’d go over and re-enact some sort of 70’s psychedelic surf movie. I think he really just wanted to hang out with us so he invited us over!
It was such a gas, we cruised around from the top to the bottom of New Zealand. The car broke down everyday, we had to give it a push start every morning. And that song just contained all those funny little moments that we still laugh about. It’s just reminiscing about those good days.
Check out ‘The Wind’:
The other one I’ve got to ask about is the Jaden collaboration, ‘Your Imagination’. I mean, how did that come about?!
It’s such a strange coincidence. He messaged us not too long ago and I think he was just keen to touch base with us. Then we started having a bit of a chat with him and we sent him the song and next thing we knew, he was having a bit of a groove on it! It wasn’t thought out but it worked out pretty nicely.
Did he write his own part of the song or was that you?
No, that was him (laughs). We just sent him the stems of the song. I don’t know what Angus thought he would even do to it because we’ve never really collaborated with anyone before.
So can you count Jaden as a friend now?
I think so. I think when we go back to Topanga Canyon, we’ll go straight to his house and visit him (laughs).
How did the video for ‘Your Imagination’ come about?
That same guy who took us around New Zealand, he had lots of footage from over the years. Every year he comes over and visits us for a while, taking videos of us making music, surfing, whatever. So he had a nice backlog of footage and because we couldn’t travel with the restrictions, he put the few things that he had together and Jaden did the same with some things he’d recorded for his last album.
They joined up nicely, it worked really well together somehow. I didn’t expect it to be so smooth. Everyone keeps thinking that we’ve been over in LA hanging out with Jaden but that’s not the case!
I wanted to ask you about genres because there’s been so many different ones that people have tried to tie you to over the years – psychedelic rock, folk rock, dream pop. Do you see yourself belonging to any one genre in particular or do you see the band’s sound belonging more to a time period, 60’s and 70’s revival?
I feel like we used to be like that, very hardcore revivalists. As you get older, your tastes just broaden so much and then it comes out in your music. We’ve still got the grounding of folk rock but everything else coming in now, it’s so twisted and varied. Our sound now incorporates everything.
If there was one band from that period in the 60’s and 70’s that you could have collaborated with though, who would it have been?
If you’d asked me that question five years ago, it would probably have been The Beatles. I’ve been really loving Herbie Hancock now though. His albums are just so on the money with the grooves and the funks. And being a bassman, I’m trying to learn as much from him as possible.
Check out ‘Your Imagination’ ft. Jaden:
What do you think about the psychedelic music scene in Australia right now? There seems to be another wave of bands coming through.
It’s just such an amazing era. You can get into any part of it and it’s so rich. Anyone who’s interested in psychedelic music takes out of it what they like and it makes it so interesting for everyone else. There’s probably going to be revivalists coming through forever, don’t you reckon? There were heaps in the 90’s, the early 2000’s, it’ll just keep going. And every wave is weirdly different and reflective of the time and technology. It’ll keep going because that music is just so good.
You’re based in Byron Bay? How much has it changed since it was the centre of counterculture in the 70’s?
A lot of money has moved in and a lot of the hippies that were here originally have tried to set up new lives for themselves without that consumerist culture around them. It happens everywhere hippies go – they always explore these amazing places, find the best places on earth to live, and then the world catches up with them. And that’s what’s happened around here.
There’s a new Netflix show called Byron Baes, have you heard about this?
Yeah (laughs). I know. It kind of doesn’t surprise me because this area is going crazy. There’s millionaires coming in left, right and centre. It’s got the attention of the world.
How did Topanga Canyon’s music community compare to Byron Bay’s then?
It’s pretty similar. They’ve both got the hinterland and the surf and the old hippies that settled there. It’s weirdly similar. We’re up in the hills in Byron Bay. Byron Shire is this huge area but the town is just this little beach community. There’s all these ridges and valleys stretching back and all the hippies conquered this land back in the day, making nice communities. We’re still close to the beach but a bit away.
Positivity has always been this massive thing for your band, in both your sound and ethos. How was it maintaining this during the events of the last year?
It’s lucky because we all live within a couple of minutes of each other so we just get to hang out so much. We’re not exactly going surfing all day like we used to but we still get to catch up whenever. We go to the studio on Jack’s farm now, so we can hang out there in the evenings and make music. Before COVID-19, none of us were living this close together, so the pandemic weirdly brought us together in a nice and tight-knit way. And we all had babies as well in the COVID year so we timed it well! We weren’t going to be touring anyway.
What’s the plan for the remainder of this year after the album? Any festival dates planned?
I’d love to if the invites come but so many events are getting cancelled. We’re actually already recording a new album already and we’re working on another one with Jaden as well. We’ll probably try and do some other collaborations with some local guys because there’s heaps of interesting musicians around this area. And there’s this really great studio near here where we make the tracks as well.
So we’ll probably just lay low and then tour again in September. I think because we’re not going international as much, it would be good to have more local shows. Some people think you shouldn’t play too many times in the one city over the year but I think it’s different now. It’d be cool to come down to Melbourne and play every few months.
Check out ‘Ready For Tomorrow’:
