Let's Evolve with Dappled Cities

“Is it cold in Melbourne?…That’s a shame. It's 26 and sunny here”.

Alex Moore has a sense of humour. Well good for bloody him as he sits about the Sydney north shore sipping Pimms and strawberries upon a banana lounge covered with bikini-clad women with gold teeth…some of that could be fabricated, but so what? It’s really cold in Melbourne!

But true enough is that Dappled Cities are in their Sydney-based manager's office preparing for their nation wide tour, following the release of their third album Zounds. One task at hand for bassist Moore is that he must endure a conversation with a bitter southerner.

So, one thing that is evidently clear when seeing you perform live is that you are incredibly in sync. It is a very tight unit. Is this a result of extensive amounts of practice?

Actually, no. We suck at practicing. We avoid it, and when we do practice, it usually turns into us messing around and covering old songs. We have been playing together for eleven years now. So I think that’s how it happened. You just get to know each other and each others' styles.

So how did you all meet?

We met at school actually. In Sydney. Except for Allan (Kumpulainen). Hugh (Boyce) left the band last year and Allan replaced him. Which I actually think has really added to the tightness. He has a totally different approach. Far more methodical. In a good way. A really good way.

Just last week played shows in Melbourne and Sydney where you had artists install work based on your songs. How did that come about?

It was actually our manager's idea. I don’t really know the whole process of it. But it was really cool.

What did you think of the pieces? Did any stand out for you?

I was really impressed with all of them. It was cool seeing your music translated into other peoples perspectives. They were both pretty different from each other. The Sydney one was more manic. But I really liked the one: Answer is zero, the one with the people stabbed with the arrows. That one was great.

Did you think any were terrible?

No. I thought they were all really well done.

Are you lying?

No I’m really not! I might be easy to please. Diplomatic perhaps.

So you are off to spend vast amounts of time together in close quarters once again. How is that for you?

It's not so bad. We all get along really well. We don’t fight or anything. At most we squabble and then its over by the next day. And plus we don’t live together back home. That would be stupid. When we lived in New York, We had to share a tiny one bedroom flat. It was pretty intense and Dave would leave his horrible towels all over the floor. That got a bit much. But besides that, there are really no issues with us. Again adding to that whole tightness thing I think.

So do you have any crazy stories of life on the road?

One-legged prostitutes or dead bell boys? Actually, we are pretty well behaved. We all have long term girlfriends which I think helps keep our feet on the ground and all that. They are really understanding. I guess you have to be when you start dating someone in a band. You have to love not getting phone calls and emails. They all totally love that.

So have you reached full time musician status yet?

Not quite. I still work at the Hopetoun Hotel. We all still have jobs to pay the rent. Which I don’t mind at all. Its fun to get back from a tour, or going overseas and having a sense of reality. Especially working at the Hopetoun. I get to meet people constantly. Random conversations outside of the band. And I get to see heaps of live acts. I saw Alouls the other day. They were great. Real psychadalic rock.

So; best DC gig?

In Toowoomba with Wolfmother. That was amazing. It was so loose. Such a good time. But ultimately I would love to be able to be in a line-up with The Flaming Lips or Of Montreal. That would be pretty special, ya know.

So I only have enough money to buy one of your albums. Which one is it going to be?

The latest one. Why? It's like the evolution of us. Zounds is the pinnacle of where we are today as a band. It is our evolution to date. Like primates to cave man. Homo Erectus. Oh, I like that. I might use that. That could be the name of our next album. So if you see that on the stands, you can come hunt us down.

So together with an extra hot coffee, and the gentlemanly words of lovely young man, today ain't so bad.

Go and see Dappled Cities hijack album titles and not offend anyone starting next month. Or at very least, go watch their latest single The Price on YouTube. It is never not fun to watch boys dance in reels of Christmas lights while singing sweetly enough that it's fine when they don’t go up in flames. Because its what we are all thinking, society made it so.

Zounds is out now on Dangerbird.

Dappled Cities are touring, shaking up a venue near you. Head to http://www.myspace.com/dappledcities for dates and deets.

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