Loud And Proud

With their jangly take on indie pop – drenched in reverb and with sweetly harmonised vocals – there's a distinct '60s feel to Anywhere Else, Gung Ho's debut EP. The first three singles, all collected here, have seen interest in the band ratchet up nationally and internationally, with major support slots and a place on the bill at Harvest courtesy of triple j. It's been a labour of love for the band, or perhaps a quest for perfection.

“We recorded it all ourselves and I mixed it myself,” McAlary begins. “We're maybe not perfectionists, but we really want it to sound a particular way. We've gone to studios and not been entirely happy with the results. So being able to do it ourselves and get it right is definitely an advantage. That's the plus side, not having to pay the studio and worry about time. But it can mean that you're spending way longer working on a song than you would be otherwise. You definitely need constraints, to say, 'This is the last take', or, 'We're only doing it a certain number of times', because otherwise it can just go on forever. But I can't listen to the songs anymore. I have no idea if the EP sounds good or bad, just because I can't stand hearing the tracks now.”

But performing the tracks live is ”really different”, he clarifies. “We've got a live drummer and we have more of a punk edge to us, in the live show. I really enjoy playing my songs; I just don't really like listening to them.”

Committed to finding that perfect live sound, Gung Ho have now brought on a touring sound engineer who is working with the band to achieve the perfect reverb level. McAlary acknowledges that with the layering in the music, there's a necessary difference to the sounds from the stage. “There are parts of the songs that we can't really get across live without another member,” he says thoughtfully. “And we don't really want to do that. We like the stripped-back aspect of just having the absolute essentials of the music live. Thinking about the live aspect of the songs is good when writing because it sets limits to what you're doing, it creates those constraints. But if layered guitars sound good, or harmonies, I'm not going to take them away. We'll find another way to make it sound good live.

“It's pretty loud,” he continues. “There are only three of us, but we crank our amps up as loud as the venue will allow and make as much noise as possible. This tour, with the EP coming out, we want to crank the live experience up more, too. This tour will have a visual aspect to it. Ollie [Duncan, bass/vocals], the other member of the band, studied film for a while, so we're making use of that, putting together a projection [element]. It's just a collection of images and sections of films mixed together that goes with the music, but we want to make this show more than sitting there playing songs. We want to get people dancing as well. And this tour is sponsored by Sailor Jerry, so things should get pretty raucous.”

As for what's ahead for the band? McAlary certainly isn't prepared to rest on his laurels. “We have a drive to write just the perfect pop song. I don't know what form it will be but... I like the harmonic style we're doing. We want to have an edge to our music. We kind of have a punk aspect to our songs and our performance and I think that sets us apart a little and makes sure the songs aren't too straight-forward, but we just really like well-crafted pop music.”

Gung Ho will be playing the following dates:

Friday 22 February - Rocket Bar, Adelaide SA
Saturday 23 February - The Workers Club, Fitzroy VIC
Thursday 28 February - Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane QLD
Friday 1 March - FBi Social, Kings Cross NSW
Saturday 2 March - Yours And Owls, Wollongong NSW
Wednesday 20 March - Plantation Hotel, Coffs Harbour NSW
Thursday 21 March - The Tivoli, Brisbane QLD
Saturday 23 March - Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast QLD