Alex Moore spoke to yourGigs as Dappled Cities geared up for their national Wall of Zounds tour throughout August and September.
yourGig (yG)s: Where does the name Zounds come from? It kind of sounds like a superhero's catchphrase.
Alex Moore (AM): I don't really know what it is. Tim [Derricourt] says it's a ye olde way of swearing. I think we were more just drawn to the sound of it rather than anything else. We just liked the word.
yG: How do you generally go about naming an album? Is it something you decide at the very beginning of the process or does it remain untitled until the end?
AM: It remains untitled until we send each other about 150 emails, 'til it gets to the point where there are more swear words in emails than anything else. When you've got five people trying to decide on a name it's hard to just come up with just one.
yG: It's been three years since you released your last record, Granddance. What have the band been up to?
AM: We moved to America for a while ... played lots of music and saw lots of America. Then we came home and started writing this record.
yG: How have you been received by overseas audiences?
AM: Very, very positively. It's always really positive, it's lovely touring America.
yG: Has touring abroad changed the goals or aspirations of the band?
AM: Well I think we've learned a lot about ourselves and our relationship to one another. We've always seen ourselves as an international band though, so doing international touring is just one of those processes.
yG: So how long did it take to produce Zounds?
AM: It was meant to take about six weeks but in the end it took about five months! It was a good experience; it had its extreme highs and very, very extreme lows but in the end they all sort of averaged out.
yG: What was the process behind writing the new album?
AM: We started writing it when we were in the US in 2007 [but only] kept one of the songs from there. Then we came home and just started to get more and more into writing. And we did that for about four months, came up with all the songs and then hit the studio.
yG: What was it like working with people like Chris Coady (TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Beck, Nine Inch Nails)?
AM: Working with Justin was an absolute pleasure. He was really lovely to work with; he's just a really good guy. He's very positive. He was there to help us out with ideas and tell us funny stories. Working with Chris Coady was also quite fun. He was a little bit of a character and occasionally we butted heads, but in the end we got there.
yG: What did they bring to the record?
AM: I guess with Justin, he was kind of the mediator between the five of us, a sixth person to go through ideas and help us reach a sensible conclusion. And Chris, he was a facilitator for recording.
yG: What's the difference between playing in the studio and playing live?
AM: I think we enjoy playing live a lot more, I think we've always thought of ourselves more as a live band. One of the processes for this record was that we were hoping to do it all live and capture what we think we sound like live ... Zounds has a different sound to Granddance, it's a lot more realised, more mature.
yG: You recently put on two exclusive Zounds Listening Exhibitions, where different artists created a piece of work relating to each track on the record. How did this work out?
AM: It went absolutely "fanastically"! Is that even a word?
yG: You just made it a word!
AM: Yeah! Anyway, [the exhibitions] were both really, really awesome. The quality [of the artwork] for both of them was absolutely spectacular. People just put so much effort in and it made us feel really lovely. It's such a great way to listen to your own music ... to hear your songs in that context. It was something really special.
yG: So the upcoming Wall of Zounds tour - are you excited? What should we expect from the tour?
AM: Very excited! I'm expecting to have a lot of fun playing some sweet shows. We're going to Hobart, and that excites me. Haven't been there for ages.
yG: Finally, imagine this interview was taking place in "the future" and you were looking back on the Zounds tour. What do you hope will be a stand out memory?
AM: I hope that there's some sort of ticker-tape parade through a small town ... Preferably Frankston.
Bella Crea
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