Something With Numbers engineer the soul

Aussie band Something With Numbers are at an exciting time of their career. Their much-anticipated third album, Engineering The Soul is set to be launched in just a few short days . On top of that, the band are preparing for a major tour of Australia over the next couple of months, stopping in every state to bring us their musical goodness. However, the ever-friendly band always seems to have time for the fans, as the constant blog updates on their MySpace seem to indicate. Lead singer and frontman Jake Grigg spares The Dwarf a moment for a quick over-the-phone catch-up.

The first thing I thought I’d ask Jake was where he was at the moment. “Ah, just trying to break into the back of this house,” came the laughing reply, accompanied by a jingle of keys and something that sounded suspiciously like a vase smashing to floor. Fair enough! Moving on…

Engineering The Soul was a bit of a metaphorical ‘step outside the box’ for Something With Numbers. However in this case it was a literal step too – the album was recorded away from home, over in the United States. Jake quickly informed me that the transition had had a positive effect on the music. “It was great because it made us stay together in the studio… there was some really good camaraderie happening, it made us really creative.” The band worked with producer Tim O’Heir on the album, and Jake had nothing but good things to say about the results. “He really pushed us musically…It was great to have someone egging us on the whole time”. The leading track on the album is of course pop-rock single Stay With Me Bright Eyes, a song that has had a huge amount of play on radio stations recently as more and more people find themselves requesting it. Jake happily acknowledged that the band hit a winner with that one. “Yeah, we’ve got some really good feedback from it…it’s had a really good response in live shows.” And with a bright bouncing tune, heart-touching lyrics and the ultimate win, claps featured as part of the music, why not? “The crowds have been loving it,” Jake agreed with obvious pleasure.

Just because I could, I asked Jake if he’d mind talking about the recent fashion shoot that the band starred in for Ralph men’s magazine (for those interested, the photos are on the band's MySpace). “Ah…that,” laughed Jake, a tinge of rueful embarrassment touching his voice. “Well, they asked us, ‘Do you wanna do a fashion shoot?’, and I was like ‘Er, do they know what we look like??’”. I commented that the photos showed that the band looked like they were enjoying themselves immensely, whether they liked it or not, and the response was honest. “Yeah…in the end we just dressed up in all these funny suits and pretended to be high class models. It was a lot of fun… I’d do it again for sure.” Nice one!

One thing that’s for sure, Something With Numbers are not one of those bands that hates touring. First for the band is the inaugural Coaster 2008 festival, where the musos will be playing alongside the likes of Kisschasy and The Living End. “Kisschasy are great mates,” Jake asserted. “And The Matches from the U.S. as well… It’s going to be great to be able to hang out with everyone. It’s going to be like one big party!” Something With Numbers haven’t been on tour since the early months of the year with the Big Day(s) Out, and they are also looking forward to their upcoming Australia-wide tour with ill-concealed excitement. In particular, they’re looking forward to Perth! “Yeah… we really like the place,” Jake confirmed. “It’s just like a big country town, we’ve got a lot of friends there.”

One other thing Jake was happy to talk about was a certain recording session for a track on ‘Engineering The Soul’, titled ‘I’ll Be There’. The song was originally going to be just an acoustic guitar and vocals track, but the band pulled in pianist John Deley to guest-star on the track. “I asked if he wanted to have a rehearsal before we started, and he was like ‘No, no, let’s just do it,’” remembered Jake. “We just sat down and started playing and, it just developed into this great feeling… It was like that one moment where the world just stopped, you know? When I stopped playing I was sweating and I had my eyes shut and John was like ‘Oh my god, oh my god’, and everyone in the studio had their hands in the air and we’re shouting ‘Yeah! Yeah!’ And that’s the take we used on the record, we didn’t do another one – you can hear the piano stool creaking and everything. It was the best recording experience I’ve ever had.”
Something With Numbers will be on tour soon. And what should we do? “Come and watch us,” laughed Jake in an affected pleading tone. I know I’ll be there.

Something With Numbers play:

8 Oct- FOUNDRY (18+) Cannington, Perth
9 Oct- Prince of Wales (18+) Bunbury, Western Australia
10 Oct- HQ (AllAges) Leederville, Western Australia
11 Oct- Amplifier Bar (18+) Perth, Western Australia
12 Oct- Newport Hotel (18+) Freemantle, Western Australia
16 Oct- Batman Fawkner (18+) Launceston, Tasmania
17 Oct- Sirocco’s (18+) Burnie, Tasmania
18 Oct- Brisbane Hotel - Under 18’s- Hobart, Tasmania
18 Oct- Brisbane Hotel (18+) Hobart, Tasmania
19 Oct- Batman Fawkner (Under 18’s) Launceston, Tasmania
23 Oct- Uni of Wollongong (18+) Wollongong, New South Wales
24 Oct- Newcastle Uni - Bar on The Hill- Callaghan, New South Wales
31 Oct- The Metro- Sydney, New South Wales
1 Nov- The Roxy- Parramatta, New South Wales
7 Nov- Fitzroy Hotel - Windsor, New South Wales
13 Nov- Peninsula Lounge- Moorooduc, Victoria
14 Nov- The Corner Hotel- Melbourne
15 Nov- Fowlers Live- Adelaide
22 Nov- TRACKSIDE FESTIVAL- Canberra
27 Nov- Sands Tavern, Maroochydoore
28 Nov- Club 299- Fortitude Valley, Queensland
29 Nov- Coolangatta Hotel- Coolangatta

Share this article on Facebook