New Navy
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Image courtesy of the band
On the eve of their first national headline tour, Phoebe Dubar spoke with James Chave-Dubois, guitarist from dream-popsters New Navy, about the tour, their forthcoming debut album… and unicorns.
PD: So we’ll start with a truly hard-hitting question up first…. if you, Luke and Jamie really were in the Navy, what positions would you be, and why?
JCD: I’d be the captain, because I have to keep the boys in line in every way possible. I’d put Luke as the cook, not for his cooking skills but for his non-cooking skills, because he needs the practice. He’s takeout man. Jamie’s a hard one – he doesn’t really dedicate himself to one job in particular. Maybe something technical as he’s the tech-head.
PD: It’s been three years since your break-out single “Zimbabwe” dominated the airwaves. Fill us in on the past three years in New Navy’s world.
JCD: It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster. Not long after “Zimbabwe” we had a big line-up change where our lead singer decided he wanted to pursue a career in the police force. We lost him not long after that and we really had to put our heads together and come up with a plan to keep the band afloat. We got really lucky with our good friend Luke, who just fitted in nicely. So basically we went underground and started writing our record and just thought “let’s come out with something big and something new, and just hope that everyone takes to that”.
PD: So we’ll start with a truly hard-hitting question up first…. if you, Luke and Jamie really were in the Navy, what positions would you be, and why?
JCD: I’d be the captain, because I have to keep the boys in line in every way possible. I’d put Luke as the cook, not for his cooking skills but for his non-cooking skills, because he needs the practice. He’s takeout man. Jamie’s a hard one – he doesn’t really dedicate himself to one job in particular. Maybe something technical as he’s the tech-head.
PD: It’s been three years since your break-out single “Zimbabwe” dominated the airwaves. Fill us in on the past three years in New Navy’s world.
JCD: It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster. Not long after “Zimbabwe” we had a big line-up change where our lead singer decided he wanted to pursue a career in the police force. We lost him not long after that and we really had to put our heads together and come up with a plan to keep the band afloat. We got really lucky with our good friend Luke, who just fitted in nicely. So basically we went underground and started writing our record and just thought “let’s come out with something big and something new, and just hope that everyone takes to that”.
PD: …which would be your recent single “Heaven”, and it’s absolute eargold. Where did you record it?
JCD: We actually recorded our entire forthcoming album at a friend’s place in Melbourne. We just got back to where we began with recording, which was in bedrooms and home studios. We recorded with a friend from Melbourne who’s a producer – his name is Jack Arentz and he plays in a band called De̊ǰa, they’re a two piece electronic band. He produced, and we wrote and recorded everything out of his bedroom in Melbourne, over a one week stint. We got the tracks mixed by another guy, Matt Redlich who works out of Brisbane. We spent a week with him to finalise the tracks in mixing. He’s worked with Hungry Kids of Hungary and Ballpark Music and he’s done a lot of cool stuff, so he did a really good job on the mixing.
PD: Is “Heaven” a good indication of what the rest of the album’s going to be like?
JCD: “Heaven” is the track we wanted to put out first because of its difference and because it was probably the furthest track from any old New Navy stuff. We thought it would be cool to put it out despite it being the longest and slowest on the album, but we really liked it, so thought “let’s do this - put out something that’s different but cool”. There’s some more uptempo stuff on the album, but overall the songs are really varied.
PD: When’s it out? Do you have a release date yet?
JCD: We’re pushing for sometime early next year.
JCD: We actually recorded our entire forthcoming album at a friend’s place in Melbourne. We just got back to where we began with recording, which was in bedrooms and home studios. We recorded with a friend from Melbourne who’s a producer – his name is Jack Arentz and he plays in a band called De̊ǰa, they’re a two piece electronic band. He produced, and we wrote and recorded everything out of his bedroom in Melbourne, over a one week stint. We got the tracks mixed by another guy, Matt Redlich who works out of Brisbane. We spent a week with him to finalise the tracks in mixing. He’s worked with Hungry Kids of Hungary and Ballpark Music and he’s done a lot of cool stuff, so he did a really good job on the mixing.
PD: Is “Heaven” a good indication of what the rest of the album’s going to be like?
JCD: “Heaven” is the track we wanted to put out first because of its difference and because it was probably the furthest track from any old New Navy stuff. We thought it would be cool to put it out despite it being the longest and slowest on the album, but we really liked it, so thought “let’s do this - put out something that’s different but cool”. There’s some more uptempo stuff on the album, but overall the songs are really varied.
PD: When’s it out? Do you have a release date yet?
JCD: We’re pushing for sometime early next year.
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PD: I just discovered that you guys did a cover of Telepopmusik’s “Breathe” as part of a collaboration with Le Coq Sportif. Explain how that all happened.
JCD: It was basically a joint project by Future Classic, our label and Le Coq Sportif, a French fashion label. They put the idea to four bands on Future Classic and asked whether they’d be interested in covering a French song. We weren’t even familiar with that song, we just came randomly across it and thought “we could do something with this!” So basically we just spent a day in the studio and just pushed it out really quickly, there wasn’t much thought, it came out really naturally – we just ran with it. |
It was a lot of fun – we actually still play that track live, so we’ll be playing that on the upcoming tour… it goes down really well.
PD: Speaking of the tour, you’ve chosen to kick off your national tour in your hometown of Ulladulla…
JCD: That’s where I met the guys – at school. We played in high school bands until we ventured out into the big smoke, and then recently reformed in Sydney. Luke’s actually originally from Adelaide and we came together in Sydney – he was playing in another band that supported us one night and we hit it off and kept in touch.
PD: Speaking of the tour, you’ve chosen to kick off your national tour in your hometown of Ulladulla…
JCD: That’s where I met the guys – at school. We played in high school bands until we ventured out into the big smoke, and then recently reformed in Sydney. Luke’s actually originally from Adelaide and we came together in Sydney – he was playing in another band that supported us one night and we hit it off and kept in touch.
New Navy image courtesy of the band
PD: It’s always tricky to replace a lead singer but from the sounds of things, you guys have managed to do it pretty seamlessly…
JCD: Yeah, it is a huge thing but luck had a lot to do with it. It just fell into place really nicely for us. He was the first guy we thought of and he agreed to it, so we got straight down to working on new tracks. We couldn’t have asked for a better outcome than that.
PD: The thing about the New Navy sound is that it’s so driven by the instruments and production – a total sound, rather than a distinctive voice…
JCD: I think that’s true. We’ve always worked really closely in pre-production, a lot of the EP came from instrumentals or guitar lines which sparked the song. We’ve never really relied on one person, it’s always been a joint venture.
PD: Back onto the tour, you’ve got a big few months coming up – in terms of past shows, what would you consider the best show you’ve ever done?
JCD: I’ve been asked this question a lot and I still don’t think I have an answer… some of the smaller town shows are usually the best fun. You get the most excitement from the festivals because you’ve got the roar of the crowd and a lot of noise, so they kind of blow your mind. But I think it’s the smaller gigs where we’ve kinda challenged ourselves and got into it. We really thrive on those smaller, more challenging shows.
JCD: Yeah, it is a huge thing but luck had a lot to do with it. It just fell into place really nicely for us. He was the first guy we thought of and he agreed to it, so we got straight down to working on new tracks. We couldn’t have asked for a better outcome than that.
PD: The thing about the New Navy sound is that it’s so driven by the instruments and production – a total sound, rather than a distinctive voice…
JCD: I think that’s true. We’ve always worked really closely in pre-production, a lot of the EP came from instrumentals or guitar lines which sparked the song. We’ve never really relied on one person, it’s always been a joint venture.
PD: Back onto the tour, you’ve got a big few months coming up – in terms of past shows, what would you consider the best show you’ve ever done?
JCD: I’ve been asked this question a lot and I still don’t think I have an answer… some of the smaller town shows are usually the best fun. You get the most excitement from the festivals because you’ve got the roar of the crowd and a lot of noise, so they kind of blow your mind. But I think it’s the smaller gigs where we’ve kinda challenged ourselves and got into it. We really thrive on those smaller, more challenging shows.
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PD: What other music have you been listening to lately?
JCD: We listen to so much music – there is so much new stuff to listen to. We’re always getting back to our roots, to the older stuff – Talking Heads, Beach Boys, Paul Simon… But then I like so much good, modern day stuff – we recently did a writing trip and were listening to a lot of Heavenly Beat and The Radio Dept… and Phoenix. We love Phoenix. They’re always a favourite of ours to go back to. PD: So… tell us something we don’t know. JCD: First day of the tour, we’ll have something special dropping for the fans. PD: And last but not least… Unicorn or Pegasus? JCD: Unicorn. Because they’re awesome. Phoebe Dubar |
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Select Music Presents...
NEW NAVY NATIONAL 'HEAVEN' TOUR 2014 Saturday 8th November 2014 The Marlin, Ulladulla NSW Tickets here. Thursday 13th November 2014 Northcote Social Club, Melbourne VIC Tickets here. |
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Friday 14th November 2014
Pirie & Co. Social Club, Adelaide SA Tickets here. Wednesday 19th November 2014 The Cambridge, Newcastle NSW Tickets here. Friday 21st November 2014 Newtown Social Club, Sydney NSW Tickets here. |
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Saturday 22nd November 2014
Transit Bar, Canberra ACT Tickets here. Wednesday 10th December 2014 Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane QLD Tickets here. |
Saturday 29th November 2014
Amplifier, Perth WA Tickets here. Thursday, 11th December 2014 The Northern, Byron Bay NSW FREE ENTRY |