Apricot Rail talk to Album of The Week

Courtesy of a great tip-off from their label (Hidden Shoal Recordings) the incredibly beautiful, melodic sounds of Australian band Apricot Rail have been brought to our attention. Who better to introduce them than one of the band’s many multi-instrumentalists, Ambrose Nock. We asked him a few questions about the band, their plans and their enigmatic sound…

Describe your music to us

It was described once in a live review as ‘the soundtrack to some time-lapse Belgian art house film about clouds or migrating ducks’. Its generally quite pretty, melodic & experimental with lots of different instruments used to carry the melody.

Who is in the band and what do they do?

Jack Quirk – Guitar, Glock, Trumpet, Electronica, Voice
Daniel Burt – Bass guitar
Matt Saville – Drum Kit/Percussion
Mayuka Juber – Clarinet, Flute, Keyboard, Melodica, Voice
Ambrose Nock – Guitar, Glock, Keyboard

What are the origins of Apricot Rail – how did you form?

Very gradually, with members being added along the journey. The actual concept of the band is quite old but really was only fully realized when Mayuka joined after about our fourth or fifth show sometime in the middle of last year.

Compare your sound to other bands – to give people a reference point?

Some ball park names would be: Sandpit, Mum, Tortoise, Bluetile Lounge, Mogwai, Sigur Ros, Braving the Seabed, Broken Social Scene.

What’s your favourite song or songs?

From the album? ‘If You Can’t Join Them, Beat Them’ is still my favourite.
Actual fave song? Hard to go past ‘Huddle Formation’ by the Go! Team

What is Apricot Rail’s ultimate collaboration – who would you love to collaborate with?

This would be different for all of us… For me I’d go with Emily Haines who sings a few tracks for Broken Social Scene and plays in a band called Metric – In my head I can hear her voice over my songs and I think they’d be something pretty special.

Tell us about your touring plans – where can we see you?

Hopefully everyone will be back in Perth in March next year working on a new record and then after that we’ll see.

Which artists are influential to the band?

In terms of guitars Sandpit, Sonic Youth & Braving the Seabed. In terms of melody and instrumentation: Tortoise and Mum. Jack and Daniel listen to a lot of electronic and minimal techno type stuff as well which is gradually starting to filter into a few songs and could feature a bit on the new record.

Where does Apricot Rail hope to be in the future?

Our goals are strictly musical – and as long as we get this part right we’re happy to end up wherever it takes us (barring Gaol or the Liberal party) [Ed: that’s an Australian political party]

Which bands did you listen to as kids that made you want to be musicians?

At about aged 14 I decided i had to play guitar after hearing Sandpit. Before that I'd been dablling in piano and bass guitar listening to a lot of random 80's stuff like XTC, Spandau Ballet, REM, Thompson Twins. But I always wanted to play music I don't think it was based on hearing anything particular.

Finally, what is your album of the week?

The new Pond album "Corridors of Blissterday" is in the car stereo at the moment and well worth everyone’s attention.

Apricot Rail’s self-titled album is out now, so we suggest you check it out post haste. This band is definitely one to watch out for, so keep them on your radar.

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