It’s been five years since Expatriate’s debut album, In The Midst Of This, was released, and almost four since the quartet relocated to Berlin in the winter of 2008. The quartet using the German city as a base following a freshly inked management deal that saw them supporting Placebo on a European tour, in which they played sixty dates in one year.
According to the band’s guitar/keys player Damian Press, Expatriate were “playing massive arenas to 15,000 people, and then some festivals: 60,000.” Staggering numbers indeed, but now Press is more concerned about finding somewhere to live. “I’m stuck in traffic” says Press humorously, “I’m looking at a place actually, to do a lease for six months.”
Currently located in Sydney’s Northern beaches as the band take the slow march towards their long-gestated sophomore, Hyper/Hearts (slated for a July release); Press admits that it’s been a typically slower pace of life since having decamped back home in the last year. “Beautiful, like most parts of Sydney” says Press, “but there’s nothing happening.”
That must be quite a change from Berlin? “Definitely,” he concurs, “it’s all about lifestyle… go for jogs and look fit. It’s a weird culture.” Discussion turns to Australia’s live music scene, a disastrous climate that has seen the closure of several prominent music venues in most major capitals, but Press notes the irony of escaping Australia’s limited musical support, only to run into other limitations. “Having said that,” he explains, “[with] Berlin, you’d be surprised how many – well, Melbourne has a bigger band scene than Berlin would.”
The romantic notion to the city that’s played host to the spiritual and creative rekindling of artists the likes of Bowie, Iggy, U2 and our own Nick Cave – has long since dissipated. “In terms of bands,” Press continues, “you’ve got four venues, if that. You’ve got the arenas, 15,000 people, for when the big acts come through; but even at the mid-range – bands like Blonde Redhead – they’ll play an Annandale-sized room – 500 people or so.”
Berlin however, still provided the doorway for Expatriate to enter the larger European festival circuit, sharing the enormous stages of stadia hosted by The Killers, Pendulum and The Arctic Monkeys. Returning home to play smaller venues must have been difficult? “It has,” admits Press with candid humility, noting a recent gig for a State of Origin promotion, the band’s “first in a while” where “there was no-one there.”
“We thought ‘Oh fuck, this is weird’” reveals Press, “we didn’t really promote it ourselves… that one in particular… Obviously having done these massive shows, even our headline shows – like in Paris where we played to 350 people at a venue – that was amazing.”
Press admits, with a tone tinged with modesty, not protest, that their time away from the country that bore their initial success has meant having to “build it up again.”
“I think we’ve just gone off the radar,” he says, “we’re starting to get a bit of radio play… it’s almost ‘hey guys, remember us?” Is he frustrated by the potential shrinking of their fanbase since relocating? “I think people have just moved on… which is inevitable, because we haven’t been heard in three years.”
Expatriate are determined to be heard once more.
The campaign trail for album number two began in earnest last November, with lead single “Miracle Mile” and continues with its recently released follow-up “Do You Remember.”
Bright in tone and nostalgically-laced in sentiment, it was, Press says,“a really obvious choice as a single… it has that chorus that picks up that you can really sing.” Driven by its energetic guitars and widescreen hooks, it’s indicative of the stadium-baiting sing-a-longs Expatriate envision for Hyper/Hearts.
Their European sojourn gave them what Press calls an “inflated rock sense.” Asked whether he means ego, he laughs, “I don’t know if it’s an ego thing, but you get a bigger sense of what songs work on what level, on what stage.”
A spirit the band attempted to tune into in hiring Andy Savours on production duties, “he’s worked with PNAU and Alan Moulder who did [Smashing] Pumpkins, PJ Harvey… he’s done a lot,” lists Press.
Decamping to Savour’s British studio to whittle down a list of thirty songs, Press recalls that “funnily enough… the second album was rushed, because we ran out of time in the studio with the producer.” Opting for a measured approach to building up their stadium-laced tracks, he concludes “we spent too much time working on things when we should’ve been doing other [work].”
Returning to Berlin, Expatriate spent another six months working on the material, self-producing what was left from the bountiful sessions. “Everything was there,” says Press, “but it just felt a bit empty. So we spent a lot of time doing overdubs. I guess it’s a much more textured record than the previous one. Many more layers.”
Is that bigger sound a result of their stadium grooming with bands like Placebo? “I think so, definitely the whole chanted vocal approach,” responds Press, “especially on those choruses where it’s the big sing-a-long,” he adds.
Having just finished a small leg in May supporting their latest single, do Expatriate have plans beyond the release of their long-awaited second LP? “This album’s been ready for a year anyway, we’ve got so much new material,” details Press, “there’s such a back-log of music, we thought ‘wow, we have to put this out.’ We really want to get a quick EP out.”
How quickly? “around October,” speculates Press; and are Expatriate planning on sticking around now that they’ve returned after so long?
A protracted “well…” precedes Press’ reply, “I’m going back to Europe in October, Chris [Kollias, drummer] is as well… I think Dave[Molland, bassist] is going to America.” It seems the lure of Europe is well and truly calling once again.
“Ben [King, singer/guitarist] and I have German partners now,” explains Press, “girlfriends, and that just makes the whole thing… you’ve got to divide that time and make sacrifices.” But Press is quick to contemplate, “maybe we’ll do one more tour before we head back.”
It seems they’re once again putting the ex-pat into Expatriate.
Hyper/Hearts is available next month through Dew Process.
