The term 'Perth psych' has a certain ring to it. But while Kevin Parker and Tame Impala have drawn worldwide attention with their shimmering sheen, Erasers play a more mesmerisng desert psych. Not quite peyote tea and foreheads daubed with holy ash, but the duo of Rupert Thomas and Rebecca Orchard produce an almost ritualistic pop.The duo have drawn comparisons to their Melbourne contemporaries Fabulous Diamonds, owing in part to vocalist Orchard's Nisa Venerosa-esque low drawl. This is a fair comparison, but there’s more to the band’s minimal percussion and pulsating gloom.Established as a bedroom-recording project in 2009, Orchard and Thomas have slowly amassed a catalogue of short run cassettes and CD-Rs. Two years in the making, the band are finally preparing to release their debut LP Stem Together; a co-release between Perth DIY label Pouring Dream and Brooklyn label Fire Talk.We had a chat to Rebecca before the launch of Stem Together and a run of East Coast shows.Noisey: You came to Erasers with no prior singing experience; how did you guys start playing music together?
Rebecca Orchard: Erasers started as a recording only project; we had been dating for some time before starting the project and had similar taste in the music we liked. Rupert was on a uni break and started recording some songs; the songs needed vocals so he asked Rebecca to sing. After some convincing, she agreed.Much of Erasers' output to this point has been home recorded. Is that also the case with the album?
Yeah, this album was also recorded and mixed at home. I'm not sure if we'd ever work outside of that, sometimes our songs are written as they are recorded, so being in a proper studio wouldn't allow for those songs to surface naturally. A big part of this project has been about trying learn how to do things live and improve on the way the recorded songs sound from release to release – hopefully that's something we're achieving.You have been a pretty Perth-centric band; how did your relationship with Brooklyn label Fire Talk begin?
We had seen Trevor's band Woodsman play a couple of times in Brooklyn when we were there on holiday. A couple of years down the track we were travelling through Europe and noticed they were playing Rome while we were in town so we went to see them play, then by chance we saw them play in a record store in Barcelona a few days later. After that show we got chatting to the guys; we had a mutual friend Drew Gibson who had put out a tape for us a few years prior on his label Solid Melts'and Trevor was interested in checking out our music. A few months later he got in touch about helping us with a release.
Sep 26 – Perth at The Bird
Oct 10 - Perth at Camp Doogs
Oct 16 – Sydney at Black Wire Records
Oct 17 – Melbourne at Bella Union
Oct 20 – Melbourne at Howler
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Rebecca Orchard: Erasers started as a recording only project; we had been dating for some time before starting the project and had similar taste in the music we liked. Rupert was on a uni break and started recording some songs; the songs needed vocals so he asked Rebecca to sing. After some convincing, she agreed.Much of Erasers' output to this point has been home recorded. Is that also the case with the album?
Yeah, this album was also recorded and mixed at home. I'm not sure if we'd ever work outside of that, sometimes our songs are written as they are recorded, so being in a proper studio wouldn't allow for those songs to surface naturally. A big part of this project has been about trying learn how to do things live and improve on the way the recorded songs sound from release to release – hopefully that's something we're achieving.You have been a pretty Perth-centric band; how did your relationship with Brooklyn label Fire Talk begin?
We had seen Trevor's band Woodsman play a couple of times in Brooklyn when we were there on holiday. A couple of years down the track we were travelling through Europe and noticed they were playing Rome while we were in town so we went to see them play, then by chance we saw them play in a record store in Barcelona a few days later. After that show we got chatting to the guys; we had a mutual friend Drew Gibson who had put out a tape for us a few years prior on his label Solid Melts'and Trevor was interested in checking out our music. A few months later he got in touch about helping us with a release.
Erasers' debut LP 'Stem Together' is available Sept 25 through Pouring Dream and Fire Talk.Catch them at these shows:
Sep 26 – Perth at The Bird
Oct 10 - Perth at Camp Doogs
Oct 16 – Sydney at Black Wire Records
Oct 17 – Melbourne at Bella Union
Oct 20 – Melbourne at Howler