What do you get when you throw six Aussie musicians into an art gallery?
That was the question that Melbourne’s the National Gallery Of Victoria (NGV) asked when they threw their doors open on a month-long project that saw the art space turned into a publicly viewed, fully functioning recording studio, where a collection of Melbourne musicians were holed up to write, record, and produce a full release.
Put together as part of the ‘Wired For Melbourne Sound’ exhibition, the Melbourne supergroup featured members of Aleks and the Ramps, Teeth & Tongue, Pikelet, Milk Teddy, The Ocean Party, Pascal Babare and Teeth.
As previously reported, tasked with putting the team together was Alex Badham, of Aleks And The Ramps and Magic Hands; “I asked some talented folk I know, aiming for a mix that would be interesting – people who had never worked with each other, but not so disparate that it would make no sense,” says Badham.
That pool of talent included Jess Cornelius (Teeth & Tongue), Evelyn Morris (Pikelet), Thomas Mendelovits (Milk Teddy), Lachlan Denton (Ocean Party) and Pascal Barbare (of Pascal Barbare and Teeth), and “in the tradition of naming bands after dorky Melbourne landmarks, we settled on Batman Park,” explains Badham, with “Café Romantica and Danny Burger came in a close equal second.”
Batman Park’s goal, in the words of NGV director Tony Ellwood, was to “explore the creativity that exists within the music scene and [to] provide an insight into this vibrant aspect of the cultural life of Melbourne.”
Following the NGV tenancy, running from 28th September to the 27th October, Batman Park have now released the results in a six-track self-titled EP, with artwork from Rick Milovanovic of Twerps and Boomgates, now available as a digital download from Bandcamp as well as a limited edition cassette tape. (Hipsteriffic!)
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Meanwhile a makeshift video for the track, ‘Gardenings’, provides an insight of the Wired For Melbourne Sound exhibition project with a montage of footage shot inside the makeshift studio.
Reflecting on their time holed up in the NGV public studio, Badham says: “we had no real modus operandi or goal in mind. When we began we acknowledged the possibility that what we made might not be so great. There was no real reason why these particular six people combined might make music that would be halfway decent or even listenable.”
The Batman Park ringleader adds: “We figured whatever we made probably wouldn’t set the world on fire, but we’d just wing it and if it was awful we’d move on with our lives and never talk of it again.”
The results however, are very listenable indeed, curving between lush guitar pop and charming electronic-hued indie, with a rotating cast of vocalists and styles.
“No one was precious or highly strung in ways that they might be with their own band,” says Badham of the finished EP. “Everyone tried out things that they probably wouldn’t have the gumption to do on their own records,” he adds.
“Somehow I ended up playing slap bass, Jess [Cornelius, Teeth & Tongue] wrote a chorus which is basically “Sandra Buuuuullock” (on ‘Sandra’) and Thom [Mendelovits, Milk Teddy] did his best T-Pain impression over a 90s guitar jam (‘Priest‘). So it figures that none of the songs sound anything like The Ocean Party, Pikelet, etc.”
The entire recording process – engineered by Morgan McWaters and then mixed by Joe Hammond – was also viewable by patrons of the NGV; “the general public came and went, occasionally they got to witness us rocking out, sometimes we were a total snooze to watch,” admits Badham, but one highlight of the experiment involved a school excursion by the children of Lloyd St. Primary, offering animal noises, screaming, and singing for ‘Nice Palace Hotel’.
Batman Park also had their live debut for the EP launch gig at the opening weekend of Melbourne Now, over 23rd and 24th November.
“We had fun, and we’re proud of this weird little record we made,” Badham tells Tone Deaf of the project.
You can listen/purchase the Batman Park EP below and over at Bandcamp.
(Image: Fairfax Media. Source: Sydney Morning Herald)
