The Audreys: Good to be humble

29 June 2010

by Celline Narinli

With The Audreys’ upcoming third studio album due for release towards the end of the year, Taasha Coates talks about her travels, possible future projects and her upcoming album with the band.

Travel and songwriting seem to go hand in hand for Coates. In the past she has spoken about how her songwriting flourished in unfamiliar locations such as the Chelsea Hotel in New York, where Jack Kerouac wrote On The Road, and Dylan Thomas died in an alcoholic haze. According to Coates, this displacement is more about getting away from the norm than it is about any specific inspiration.

“[It’s] anywhere you get a bit of a creative shot in the arm. And that could be in the middle of the world’s biggest city, or in a sleazy hotel. We worked on some of this record at a beach house down the Great Ocean Road. It doesn’t matter where it is so much as where your head space is at,” she explains.

“Because we don’t really write songs about landscapes or places, we write songs about characters and people’s emotional stories and things like that. So it doesn’t matter where you are.”

And although Coates insists that location bears little influence in the lyrical content, she admits that her recent trip to India inspired some of the musical direction.

“Well I did go backpacking in India for five weeks at the start of the year, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna get all Beatles-y,” she jokes, referring to the band’s psychedelic 1968 trip. “It was something really enjoyable to be immersed in another culture. It’s such a great reality check travelling to places like that.”

It was after her trip to India that she decided to simplify the band’s musical style, stripping back each song and eschewing the layered production of past releases. However, in this case musical economy hasn't lessened the lyrical impact. The Audreys' music is nestled comfortably in the blues roots sound, while their two ARIA Award wins (2006, 2008) for best Blues and Roots Album have cemented the band in the consciousness of the Australian public. Coates quickly shoots down any future plans to break out of the confines of the genre.

“I just don’t think I’d sing a pop album very well. I don’t even know if I can write a pop song. I’ve never even tried,” she says laughing. “We’re just happy doing what we do. I’ll tell you what I would love to do though is, and we’ve done a little bit of it, but what I’d love to do more is film soundtracks as such.

“Actually, there was a guy who really wanted to get into soundtrack work, but it’s really hard to break in to in North America, so he made up a pretend film title and released a soundtrack (laughs).”

The Audreys have also seen their music featured in various short films and the ABC show Rain Shadow. But this foray into the commercial world is hardly typical, nor their growing fame likely to give The Audreys' unrealistic expectations of their importance.

“It has made me realise that I just write music, you know, I’m not doing anything really that profound. I’m not changing the world; I’m not feeding the poor, yeah, just giving people something to listen to. So you know, it’s just good to be humble like that sometimes...”

With this optimistic realisation, Taasha Coates seems more at ease now than past lyrical content may have suggested.

“I’m just in a better place,” she laughs.