Sharing the same Sign - The Sign
They are born on the same day, play music together, live together and as Pall reminded me, sleep together. Joey Dee and Pall Mall are both Gemini’s who love playing music. They call themselves The Sign.
When I asked Joey and Pall what their ideal day would consist of, I found that in many respects the ideal wasn’t vastly different from the reality. Joey’s days are pretty much as she wishes them to be. She wakes up next to someone she loves and wanders into the kitchen to make tea but is disheartened by the fact that she is still unpacking. She wishes unpredictability would rule her afternoons rather than knowing how they would unfold. I gathered from both Joey and Pall that they are in the throws of settling back into the Tasmanian swing of things after moving from a long stay in Melbourne. Pall’s ideal day consists of waking up at twelve to weather that is twenty three degrees rather than sixteen, “having a great brunch with Jo at our favourite café and then doing some recording in the studio”. Understandably, he’s rather scornful about his current diet of tuna for breakfast. The recording session is then followed by a “great gig to a crowd of about ten thousand people followed by dinner and drinks with good friends and topped off with great sex”. I don’t believe that Pall is missing out on all these things.
Joey describes their musical union as being like “right and left sides of the brain in two bodies” and reminisces about the first time that they played together in Sydney’s Centennial Park very early one perfect morning.
“There was an amazing thunderstorm. All flash and thunder. And he (Pall) could actually play great and sing harmonies at the same time with no rehearsal.” I can only imagine how overwhelming it must have been when they realised how much they actually had in common.
Like the different sides of the brain, their inspirations are also distinct. Joey’s inspiration is diverse and it reflects her open attitude to music as she specifies who inspires her and how. She praises Cher for being a “chameleon timeless”, Nirvana for their “sheer spirit” and Tracey Bonham for “staying true to herself”. She is listening to the production on Australian albums at the moment as The Sign are currently searching for producers and arrangers. Pall isn’t impressed by many bands lately but his inspiration comes from guitarists Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton.
"Jeff approaches guitar as a singer rather than a guitarist,” he tells me, “although sometimes it feels good to wank!” I am still confused by the latter half of Pall’s statement and maybe I needed to know a little bit more about Jeff in order to understand the connection. Pall is currently listening to Nightwish, Evanessence and The Sign. Both are spending a lot of time listening to their new EP Whole Lotta Love which they’ve made completely independently.
They describe their music differently which is interesting for the united pair. Pall recalls the phrase “folk with attitude” and Joey describes it as “a great mix of rough and refined sounds, its rock country pop.” I am still working on how to describe their sound and am looking to the stars for some help.
