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Today we have the pleasure in premiering Zombeaches' latest music video for the single, "Now In Red," a straight-ahead, blood-pumping rocker with pub rock thrills and the pure fire guest vocals Wolfgang Buckley of Stiff Richards. Along with the premiere, we chatted with the Melbourne garage band all about their upcoming album, their growth, and their plans to tour Australia and Europe later in the year.
First tell me what you’ve been up to lately? What have you been listening to, reading, or spending a lot of time doing?
Zombeaches: We've been flat out trying to get this new album of ours released into the world, who'd knew it would be so much effort. We've also been trying to figure out how to play these new songs from our album which is always a hard time, especially in our Australian summer when all you want to do is not be in a small and hot rehearsal room. We've all been doing a heap of different stuff. James our singer went to Japan, Jay our guitarist is currently in the forests of New South Wales, whilst Tony, Dom and Nick, the other members, have been slaving away working.
How did you all meet and form Zombeaches?Â
We come from a fairly small coastal community about 1.5 hours south of Melbourne called the Mornington Peninsula. It's mostly filled with holiday homes and old people, but it's also got this amazing local music community with some pretty amazing bands. We formed because we were the only real group of people we knew that wanted to rock! Jay (guitar) and Nick (drums) went to school together and James (vocals) worked with Jay at the local supermarket. That's how we formed and were originally a three-piece until Tony (bass) and Dom (keys) joined as the sound expanded. Â
Besides making music, what's something you love to do when you all get together or something that you'd like fans to know Zombeaches?Â
We like rocking no matter what so if we're not making music we are drinking beers and seeing heaps of bands up in Melbourne at places like the Tote, The Curtin, Old Bar, Gem Bar or our home away from home Frankston's Singing Bird Studios.
What are your thoughts looking back on your past releases and how do you think you've grown since then?Â
It’s been a huge journey and learning experience for us all. Coming from such a small community, we didn't really know anything about the music industry like booking gigs and recording so everything has been growing from the ground up. I am really proud of what we have been able to achieve over the years. And I'm proud of all our releases. From day one, we've always pushed and challenged ourselves to create music that we feel is specifically, uniquely our own. But now I feel as though we are a more focused band, we know our strengths and how to get the best out of the band. Each song is always about the band and not the individual and making that song the best it can be.
Talk to me about your latest single "Now in Red." How did it all come together and how did you get Wolf from Stiff Richards on the track?
We had a couple of hours left in the studio on the last day of recording and were wondering what to do with the time. Nick and Tony had this jam that they had come up with backstage at a Stiff Richards Europe fundraiser show we were playing on with them. So we worked out a quick structure, Nao pressed record on the tape machine and what you hear is the first ever take of that song. We felt that it had a real classic Australian rock/pub feel and James wasn't 100% happy with the original vocal ideas. So we thought who better to give it a go than Wolfy. Coming from the same regional area, we have known Wolfy and Stiff Richards forever, (Dom Garrard's on keys brother is Tim Garrard from Stiff Richards, so we know each other very very well). We recorded the overdub vocals locally on a sunny afternoon with engineer Redro (Who the track is named after) and everything just worked together perfectly. I love this track as it came together so quickly and what you hear is the raw structure without any over thinking or second guessing.Â
Is this a standalone cut or will it also be included on the forthcoming album along with your previous single "A Taste of Oxygen"?
This will be included on our album which we actually have not announced yet, but it'll be coming out mid-year, around May!
What can you say about the making of the album and when/where it was recorded?
We started writing this record in 2021, so the second year of fairly tough Covid restrictions in Australia. So it was quite different for us, I think you can hear that this album has been constructed separately with each song built on rather than us all jamming in a room as we have written in the past. I think this gave us more time to be specific and focused on how each track was constructed. Though we didn't want to lose our live feeling when it came to recording, so we decided to record with esteemed engineer Nao Anzia, recording all the instruments live and direct to Tape at Secret Location Recorders, Fairfield, Melbourne. The vocals and extra overdubs were then recorded over a bunch of weekends at Rolling Stock Studios, Collingwood, Melbourne. Our first time working with Nao was fantastic, his knowledge really helped us get the best out of the songs and we couldn't be prouder of our results. The album was then mastered by long time friend of ours Mikey Young.Â
How has the progress been for the European tour in September? How excited are you for that?Â
The progress on our European tour is going much better than we thought it would be. Almost every date is locked in so somewhere between 15 to 17 shows in a row. We've also teamed up with a couple unreal Europe labels who will be releasing it which we still can't get over!
Aside from the new album and European Tour, what else can fans expect from Zombeaches this year?
We're in the midst of organizing an Australian tour and might also be playing a really regional spot almost in the complete other corner of Australia at the end of the year, but we can't really discuss much more about it yet. Apart from that, we are keen to start recording new songs!
"Now In Red" is out now. Follow the band on Instagram and look out for tour dates here.