Models Chat About Their Upcoming Tour, The Past, And What's Next

After the success of the band’s two shows at Melbourne’s Ding Dong Lounge in September, Models – Kelly, Duffield, Price, and Ferrie are back to showcase new material and play some old favourites for two special shows in Sydney and Melbourne in December. 2010 saw Models inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame after gaining notoriety in the early 80′s with ground breaking mini album ‘Cut Lunch’, but it was their long player The Pleasure Of Your Company’ featuring the hit ‘I Hear Motion’ which cracked it commercially for the band. Now, 25 years after the heady days of massive hits & platinum albums in the 80s, 2014 will see the band release a long awaited album of new material. In December, Models will be previewing new tracks from the album at the upcoming shows and will have a special, limited edition EP for sale at the gigs. This is the chance to see the band back in action, playing the tracks you know and love and some brand spanking new music to satisfy the most hardcore Model fans – it’s been years in the making and you won’t be disappointed!

2014 is set to see exciting new material from the band. When was the decision made to go back into the studio to record a full-length?
We have a lot of new material, so starting to slot some in just seemed like an obvious thing to do.

We were asked would we be prepared to perform one of our albums in its entirety, I guess as a kind of unique showcase… I personally may have kyboshed that idea, and then in coming up with a new band biography someone decided to put the ‘new material’ spin on our endeavours. There is actually no formal plan to record a new album as yet. We are simply making a new five-track E.P. available for sale at our shows, and I suppose from our website too. Naturally enough, we’d like to record an entire album, if indeed, there is a demand, and of course, a budget.

Has there been a lot of ideas or even full tracks that have been on the Models backburner for some time now?
We’re certainly prolific at times as writers and composers and yes; we do have a stockpile of material.

I’m never sure which songs are appropriate for which projects I’m involved in. I have a solo outfit that I work with occasionally, so it’s very much a matter of horses for courses. The new E.P. features three songs that were pretty much complete, one of them a Peter Lillie composition, two by myself, and the other two songs, we came up with together in the studio, improvising, or jamming.

Has the creative process differed significantly since the golden eighties for the band?
Not really, we pretty much work in the same fashion that we always have when it comes to choosing material, it’s a case of just working out what sounds best, what seems to suit the band; what perhaps is the strongest material available to us.

What hints can the band give away for the new record? What kind of sound awaits our eager ears?
What we have is more of an E.P. than an L.P. In the old jargon that was ‘Extended Play’, and ‘Long Play’. The tracks include a range of styles, there’s a very dynamic, almost heavy rock piece, there’s the swampy blues element, there’s a kind of Calypso vibe, electronic overtones, and it’s an eclectic mix. If anything it’s reminiscent of our Cut Lunch, Local and/or General, Pleasure of Your Company period, it’s like the early stuff, with the big beat of the later material.

Having performed as recent as September this year, are there particular tracks that the band loves to perform over all others?
Well of course it’s always fun playing a song that’s been a hit, that everyone seems to know and like, playing ‘Out Of Mind Out Of Sight’ towards the end of a bracket was always, if not a little predictable, a lot of fun. These days we approach it more philosophically; we try to build to a climax still, but if anything, we’d rather surprise people, than rely on, you know, the frisson, of performing past hits.

The band have seen many a venue in Australia over the years – is there a particular ‘home base’ that you guys really love performing at above any other?
The trouble is most live music venues have a limited lifespan, and with a few exceptions, just about every club I’ve ever liked playing at, doesn’t exist any more. I used to like the Tivoli in Sydney, mainly because it was an old-style theatre, which meant there was a curtain, and, personally I prefer the curtain reveal, to the sometimes awkwardness of walking on and hooking up all my guitar effects and adjusting the mic. height etc.

What about touring highlights, is there a particular tour/show that really stands boldly as a favourite of the band?
It was a tremendous thrill to play at The Ritz in New York City and pack it out, and be well received.

Take us through one of the bands greatest international touring highlights.
Does touring Australia with the Ramones count? That was certainly memorable and a thrill. Our experience in London in the early eighties when we went over to record Local and/or General was a highlight, we were looked after well by our record company A&M, we were put up in a Chelsea townhouse, and then re-located to a luxurious studio in the sticks, with full-time catering. That tour also included working with stablemates, U.K. Squeeze, The Police, Joan Armatrading, and Midnight Oil.

Any crazy/hilarious stories that can be revealed?
There was a show we did at The Manly Vale Hotel in Sydney many years ago. It was like a mini concert hall, quite old, and the stage had an incline, towards the front. ‘Til this day, we still elevate Barton on a riser at the rear of the stage, and on this particular occasion, over the course of a few songs, he just sort of edged forward, on the riser with his complete kit, and slowly sort of did a right-hand turn. I became aware of this when I felt this strange kind of pressure, against the back of my legs.

If you could choose three bands to hit the road with in 2014, who would they be and why?
Well, Kraftwerk are one of my favourite bands, it would be fabulous to spend some time with those guys again. Not sure if I want to travel to Dusseldorf though? We recently did a few shows with Devo around Australia, and I certainly would have been happy for that tour to have been longer. Looking forward to working with the Dog Trumpets again, we could possibly tour with them?!

Do you guys check out much of the local music scene nowadays?
Well our bass player Mark Ferrie is certainly across all the new music because of his gig at Rockwiz, where he is working with not only established artists, but also up-and-coming artists that are regarded as, worth watching. Personally I find it just too hard, to stay abreast of everything, it’s just so expansive.

I particularly like Improv, and RnB. – increasingly I’m out of touch with any kind of perceived Pop Music scene, or mainstream music scene, so yeah, it’s certainly a strange beast the music industry, it’s changed so much since we first started out.

If so, are there any acts that have really struck your fancy in 2013?
We recently worked in Melbourne with Montero, the soft-rock super group, they were pretty fabulous. Sophie Hanlon is playing with us in Sydney on the 13th of December, a wonderful young singer.

For your upcoming shows in December, there will be a ‘limited edition EP’ available – are you able to take us through this special release?
Well, the E.P. is called G.T.K., as in ‘get to know’, it has five tracks on it, and four of them are tunes we came up with ourselves. One of them is a song by our dear departed friend Peter Lillie, called ‘Drive Through Love’.

Peter pitched this song at me a few years ago, at the time I was hesitant because the words are kind of banal, about takeaway food, and having a crush on the shop assistant, but anyway, it’s come up well, The other tunes get a bit rocky, a bit swampy, they get a bit bluesy, it’s kind of a mish-mash, quite an eclectic mix.