Q&A: Sun-Soaked, Dreamlike, Psychedelic Magic in Babe Rainbow’s New Record ‘Slipper imp and shakaerator’
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY JASMINE AGUIRRE ☆
Photo by Izzie Austin
A VIVID KALEIDOSCOPE OF COLORS – from working on a farm together in their earlier years and opening up for their good friends, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, to releasing their newest project and kicking off their upcoming tour. Australian psych-rock band Babe Rainbow is comprised of band members Angus Dowling, Jack ‘Cool-Breeze’ Crowther, Dr Elliot ‘Love Wisdom’ O’Reilly and Miles Myjavec. The band excitedly describes their newest album as their most “homegrown” yet, that embodies genuine feeling and connection.
Babe Rainbow’s newest project, released April 4, Slipper imp and shakaerator bounces from simplistic yet enigmatic lyricism on new tracks like “Aquarium cowgirl” to groovy, funk sounds on the track “Like cleopatra.” The new record touches on one’s exploration of the soul, free-spirit energy, and earthy undertones that encapsulate the group’s OG sound celebrating their creative relationship together after all these years.
The band spent most of their time recording the album at a studio on an old banana farm which helped them dive back into their roots and original surf-psychedelic pop sounds. Experimenting with a more indie, emotional take on the song “LONG LIVE THE WILDERNESS,” Babe Rainbow continues to gravitate towards astrological themes that are spread throughout their entire discography.
Slipper imp and shakaerator is vibrant, fun, upbeat, and rich in color. These visionaries created their brightest project yet with psych-infused rhythms that melts listeners into a dreamlike state. With long instrumentals that feel almost spiritual, Babe Rainbow wants their listeners to feel at uttermost peace and cheerful. They hope that listeners enjoy the album with the people closest to them and of course, surrounded by beautiful scenery.
Read below to hear Angus Dowling from Babe Rainbow chat with Luna about their newest release.
Photo by Maclay Heriot
LUNA: Thank you so much for joining me today! How are you guys doing?
DOWLING: Yeah, of course. We're just hanging out with our little babies up at Jack's house. So nice. It's a bit overcast over here but all good.
LUNA: Nice, we can start off by just introducing yourself, your part in the band, and what is something that you've been really enjoying lately?
DOWLING: My name's Angus and I'm the singer. Well, we all sing, but guess I sort of sing the most often, and I've been enjoying the response to all the new stuff lately, which is so awesome. And I'm enjoying that our friend from Paris is here, Camille, who sings on the album, so it's cool that we're going to be able to play the new sounds on the records, which is new for us.
LUNA: So how did Babe Rainbow come to be and what's the story behind that?
DOWLING: We kind of all grew up, you know, not necessarily together, but in the same sort of area. And a friend of ours, he had a space above an old bank in the town here, and we decided together to make it into this second hand book shop. I don't know. I think that we thought that we were just like, super bohemian, groovy, and we would make this book shop where people could chill there, and, you know, you could get stoned and hang out or whatever, and then, I don't know, we just sort of ended up playing music from there.
LUNA: I read that you guys had worked on a farm together in the past. How was that?
DOWLING: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So this guy, this local surfer, had a vegetable farm and fruit trees. We met him in the surf, and he asked us to come up there to help him put this some sort of thing together with him that he needed. He just needed extra muscle for it. And then we just became friends. And then we sort of all sort of started working for him, kale and potatoes and pumpkins and guavas. It was really nice.
LUNA: That’s so cool. Did that experience and that scenery shape some of your music, too in a way?
DOWLING: Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I guess for a while it kept us out of working in bars and restaurants. So we're a bit more on the lighter side of the casual work, casual employment scene. So that was nice, but yeah, I suppose. He used to play the best music on his radio up there, just like Bluesbreakers and Eric Clapton.
LUNA: Well, diving into the new album, Slipper imp and shakaerator. How did you guys come up with that name?
DOWLING: It's a farming thing. But recently, our bass player decided that he was more influenced by the virgin Espresso Martini, which I believe they called a Shakerato. It's kind of coming into having a few meanings. But firstly, it was just a farm slaying. It’s a tractor implement. Yeah it sounded buzzy, good deal and it's positive.
LUNA: I’m a big fan of all your past works too, and I noticed in your entire discography including the new stuff, have themes surrounding astrology and some tarot in there too. I heard it especially in the song “Sunday” with the lyrics, “you're an earth sign/ a constellation is what you are.” How and when did you guys start taking interest in these themes and what made you gravitate towards it and apply it to your music?
DOWLING: I feel like we've always been pretty interested in it. I mean, I don't think that we consider ourselves to be that deeply ingrained in it at all. But we like to tap in and out of the messaging behind it. And when you're searching for themes to represent sounds that we've decided to play sometimes, that sort of area or those sorts of chapters of things can be good things to explore and have such nice, happy and positive messaging in it.
Photo by Izzie Austin
LUNA: Do you guys have a specific creative writing process? What does that typically look like?
DOWLING: I'd say it's always Jack with that guitar or his piano or something, and either me or Miles will accompany him with some sort of rhythm. And then Elliot will come in with some rogue ideas and his bass guitar, and it'll develop usually from there. Sometimes he'll even just put a whole demo together, and then he'll show us, and we'll kind of work on singing together, or I would have something from a while ago that somehow will fit. We're kind of all around together. Lately, we've been going into a space with a few ideas and just committing to it for a few weeks. That's what we did with these new songs. So we did a really big chunk as much as possible, and then had a break for a couple of weeks, and then did it again. And I think that works, really cool. The dream would be to go somewhere amazing in Europe or Thailand and just be committed there and be somewhere completely removed altogether for a bit.
LUNA: You guys recorded the new album on a banana farm, right?
DOWLING: Yeah! Well, it used to be a plantation down there. Now it's just this crazy lizard guy that has it boarded and made it into this recording, gallery, sort of space. And it's amazing down there. So quite removed from the township. I mean, it's already pretty quiet around here, but even further removed, it's totally peaceful.
LUNA: I really enjoyed the new songs, “Long live the wilderness” and then “Now and zen.” Those two back to back, I thought they meshed and flowed really well.
DOWLING: Oh cool, thank you. Yeah, I like those ones a lot, too. That cool bit and that instrumental part at the end of the wilderness song, that's so awesome. We've been playing that one live, and it's such a cool moment in the set.
Photo by Izzie Austin
LUNA: With “Now and zen,” Could you go a little more in depth to that song’s lyrics? What is this “other side” that you guys are referencing?
DOWLING: I really don't know, I suppose it’s more, just the harmony of the opposite, the other side of the dark. Less a physical space, more of like a yin and yang. A parallel of yourself or like an identical, but opposite. It’s like trying to tap into the forgiving part of your psyche, almost.
LUNA: I have to ask, in the song “When the milk flows,” what is the milk?
DOWLING: Well, raw milk is having a huge moment over here. And so, you know, the milk theme, the milk content, is really getting a workout, which is cool. We were just keeping it flowing and it worked really well on the vocoder.
LUNA: You have a couple features on the new record with Camille and with Stu from King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. How was it collaborating with them? You guys have toured before with King Gizzard right?
DOWLING: It was so sweet. We didn't really get to tap into it properly yet, but we will soon, because we just sent both of those guys the songs and just got them to sing on it however they wanted and that turned out really cool. It would be nice to make some stuff together, which maybe we'll do eventually. And, yeah when we were younger, and, optimistic guys, we toured with them lots when they were a bit smaller as well playing the flute. So yeah, they're funny old friends of ours.
LUNA: Do you guys have a core memory or favorite memory that really stood out to you guys when making the album?
DOWLING: We were with Cami, and we're at Mike D from the Beastie Boys’ son's house, and we were just jamming and trying to come up with some sort of spoken word parts for the “Rainbows end” song that Cami sings on. That was definitely a cool moment, because it was a good stepping stone. Then it sort of happened that day. It was really sunny, and they live in this cool, old California bungalow thing in Point Dume, and we'd never been there before, and that was hilarious.
LUNA: You guys are going on tour very soon. Do you guys have any pre-show rituals?
DOWLING: Plenty of water. We like to play tennis a lot. It'd be great to play tennis every time before the show, that really frees you up. Jack likes to get us playing The Beach Boys Pet Sounds songs on the piano to warm up the vocals a bit.
LUNA: That’s always a good album for any time. That’s awesome.
DOWLING: Yup, but yeah a couple fist bumps and that’s pretty much to it.
Photo by Maclay Heriot
LUNA: What are you guys most looking forward to for the tour?
DOWLING: I mean, it's all really good. The new ones just go so good live. I'm trying to convince them to put some more of the new ones in the sets, because it's just the best vibe ever playing them. It's so much more fun playing the new ones. The after parties should be great too. We got a few DJ sets lined up. We’re going to play some more modern stuff and some retro stuff, and just drive around listening to songs. We're staying in a beach house in Sydney, so that should be cool. Cami's friend from America is coming over and she's kind of like our personal stylist and publicist, and she makes everything seem a bit more badass and legit so that’s cool.
LUNA: Hopefully, you guys do get to play a lot more of the new ones live. They were so great. I think this new record would be really perfect especially for summertime. Lastly, what do you hope your listeners gain from this new album?
DOWLING: It’d be nice for them to enjoy it somewhere beautiful with their friends and the sunshine, really nice, small waves, low tide. We went and played at this event and we went skiing recently. None of us are skiers, we're all sort of more from the beach, and it is so fun. And this definitely can soundtrack a bit of parallel skiing. Good vibes all around.
