Melbourne-based rockers Psychobabel are pretty new to the scene so we had a chat with them to see what makes this eclectic group tick.
You probably haven’t heard about Psychobabel but you may have heard their music, which is loud and aggressive in the style of Arctic Monkeys yet blended with the pop sensibilities of Billie Eilish.
It’s an odd mix yet Leah, Matt, Stu, and Lee somehow make it work.
Having just released their latest single ‘Chaotic Neutral’, which is a psychedelic garage banger, we decided to have a chat with the quartet as part of our popular Get To Know series and tried to see what makes Psychobabel tick as a band.
How did your artist name come about?
Psychobabel is the term used to describe psychology jargon. Since the band is conceptual and it’s all about the character who’s built around Leah’s mind flares, it seemed fitting. It’s spelt differently, simply cause Facebook wouldn’t let us have the original spelling.
How would you describe your music to your grandma?
It’s loud and you wouldn’t like it.
Tell us about a few of your tracks; their titles and what they’re about?
‘Patience’: This track is about a lot of different things. It’s kind of a story within a story and covers a range of emotive struggles which if we were to type out would be confusing and nonsensical. I’m sure everyone who listens to it thinks it about something different, and so that is exactly what it’s about.
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‘Chaotic Neutral’: The song is about fears and the inability to connect and feel human emotion. Leah collected a list of fears from different people in our lives and wrote them all into the song lyrically. The song itself is a little chaotic and as well as fears has themes of Dungeons And Dragons and video games like Skyrim and Dark Souls.
What do you love about your hometown?
We all have different hometowns, Matt is from Bendigo, Stu is from the Mornington Peninsula, and Lee and Leah grew up in Melbourne. I guess Melbourne is just the best place to be if you love music in any way. The music community here is unlike anything else.
Career highlight so far?
We’re a little torn between two shows. We had the absolutely incredible time supporting Earthless last year on their Australian tour, which was insane and we are so stoked to have been able to play that show.
We also got to play with Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes earlier this year, and that was a huge deal for us as big fans of them. That was a pretty amazing time.
What’s on your dream rider?
Our dream rider wouldn’t be anything crazy. A kilo of hummus (crackers not required), a framed photo of Danny Devito as a trash man, a Pokemon booster pack to open upon arrival, and I guess some gin and tonics.
Dream music collaboration?
Leah – Lady Gaga
Lee – Idles
Matt – Yussef Dayes
Stu -Khruangbin
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Hopefully still playing and making music. Otherwise we spoken about opening up a pasta bar/gaming room. Somewhere where people can get some real nice gnocchi, play Magic The Gathering and drink red vermouth on ice. Hopefully still playing in Psychobabel though.
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
We will have to pass on ever going to karaoke, but you can often catch Leah jamming out to the Thomas The Tank Engine theme song.
