Retiree are, somehow, a band for all occasions. Post-club, first light: they're there. Half-way across the country in a car full of friends: they're there. Wedged between sounds of the forest and an old Paul Simon B-side on a mixtape somewhere: they're there and it just feels so right.Matt Crowley, Tori Holleman and Marco Vella make up Sydney via Melbourne trio are back to work, after years of here and there-ing about, with the typically unexpectedly melancholy sort-of-lullabyish single "Jan" and an upcoming record.We sat down with Tori in Melbourne to indulging in pop sensibilities, interstate relations, and humble beginnings in Blink 182 covers.
Are you the only one living in Melbourne?
Yeah, just me.How is that working out?
It works out pretty well actually. In some ways it's nice to jam and hang out all the time, but this way doesn't get as tedious. We get to hang out and work in big chunks. It's kind of nicer. And I suppose we're sort of at a point where we're pretty comfortable, we know each other pretty well, and so we can sort of write songs for each other now. A lot of our writing is through recording and playing live anyway so it's okay. But it's been good. Ryan left the band late last year to concentrate on his own stuff, which was a bit of a bummer but it's okay. But since we've become a bit less dancey and bit more guitar-y.It seems like a lot of people are doing that. Either moving into really electronic places or coming back to guitars and stuff.
Yeah it's a weird one. I think the electronic thing is very Sydney, so maybe it's because I'm back in Melbourne that we're going that way. It's more fun. We have a couple of really dancey songs but they were kind of only fun to play live if it was really cranking, you know? Our live set's a lot more dynamic now. We get to sit on songs a bit more and take it a bit slower. It's a bit more atmospheric or something.Somehow in every single interview I end up talking about Sydney vs Melbourne. I personally love Sydney. But that may be because I'm a yuppie at heart and I like the idea of myself driving my SUV round the harbour up there.
I love it, too, it's so fun. I loved living there. But it's a completely different thing, and it's really expensive. They've both got their pros and cons, you know?They sure do. So what music are you listening to right now?
Hmm… Pretty into that new Kendrick Lamar record.That's basically the only thing I'm listening to at the moment. I was watching videos of him at Coachella and I was getting, like, full body shivers.
He looks fucking awesome live, I'd love to see him. I've also been listening to this compilation Digital Zandoli is pretty cool, I got put onto that by Lauren Hansom. I've been trashing that. It's a bit old now but I really like that PJ Harvey record, it's got really good sax in it.What do you think is influencing new Retiree?
We're all into pretty different music and that's what I like about the band; there's not much of a preconceived idea of what we want the sound to be. By the time we've all touched a song it ends up being something completely different.Do you ever have one band member saying "let's take it in this direction" and you saying, like, "fuck no!"
Sometimes. But slowly you learn to be more open. If you've worked on something alone for a long time and you take it to the band and it changes it can be shocking, but that's usually what makes it more interesting. Because there's more depth.That must be a weird experience, listening back to a song you once wrote that someone else has taken on.
Yeah, it is. But it's really nice.I often listen to a song for the first few times and I think I get it but then a couple of weeks later it's something completely different and I'm like, "oh, this is it."
I think the next little handful of songs that we're going to release are a lot like that. They're songs we worked on for quite a long time, and the element that we might've started with might not even be a part of it anymore. Because you add stuff and you layer things and then you strip everything back and leave the most important things, and half of the time the original song is gone. It's a laborious way of making music but it's cool.I would really suffer if I tried to make music I think. I'd need a second opinion on everything.
Well you have that in a band. That's what's good about it. You can do something and someone can just tell you it's shithouse.Were you a musical kid?
Sort of! I used to play guitar and stuff in primary school, learning Blink 182 covers and stuff. I gave that up until about Year 9 or 10, when I was really into rap. And I started making rap beats and stuff, which slowly segued into instrumental stuff.
He's an amazing saxophonist. He plays with us live sometimes actually. We have this one song that has quite a bit of sax in it and the last time we played at Howler he played with us and he got the biggest cheer out of all of us.Were you in any high school bands as a teenager?
I did… briefly DJ for an Aussie hip hop trio.Wow. Did you wear Fubu?
No, no Fubu. But definitely a Nike hat in the mix somewhere.And how did Retiree get together?
I met Matt and Ryan through some friends in Melbourne. We were hanging out and Ryan showed me this early version of "Altruisme" and we started talking about music. He showed me this cupboard full of synthesisers he had. I was doing solo electronic stuff at the time. Marco was friends of friends. Matt and Ryan grew up together. And then we all just brought a bunch of instruments to this rehearsal studio in Sydney and jammed on "Altruism" and just kept doing it, every Monday. Then we booked a show and worked towards getting a set. It was pretty organic, I guess.And what about the future of Retiree? What's going to happen?
We've had a bit of a break because I was in Germany and that slowed things down a lot. We didn't do any playing but we were writing the whole time. So now we're just really excited to release all the stuff.Retiree are playing at Freda's in Sydney May 20th alongside Lauren Hansom and Donnotella. Tickets available here. Follow Retiree on Facebook.
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Are you the only one living in Melbourne?
Yeah, just me.How is that working out?
It works out pretty well actually. In some ways it's nice to jam and hang out all the time, but this way doesn't get as tedious. We get to hang out and work in big chunks. It's kind of nicer. And I suppose we're sort of at a point where we're pretty comfortable, we know each other pretty well, and so we can sort of write songs for each other now. A lot of our writing is through recording and playing live anyway so it's okay. But it's been good. Ryan left the band late last year to concentrate on his own stuff, which was a bit of a bummer but it's okay. But since we've become a bit less dancey and bit more guitar-y.It seems like a lot of people are doing that. Either moving into really electronic places or coming back to guitars and stuff.
Yeah it's a weird one. I think the electronic thing is very Sydney, so maybe it's because I'm back in Melbourne that we're going that way. It's more fun. We have a couple of really dancey songs but they were kind of only fun to play live if it was really cranking, you know? Our live set's a lot more dynamic now. We get to sit on songs a bit more and take it a bit slower. It's a bit more atmospheric or something.Somehow in every single interview I end up talking about Sydney vs Melbourne. I personally love Sydney. But that may be because I'm a yuppie at heart and I like the idea of myself driving my SUV round the harbour up there.
I love it, too, it's so fun. I loved living there. But it's a completely different thing, and it's really expensive. They've both got their pros and cons, you know?
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Hmm… Pretty into that new Kendrick Lamar record.That's basically the only thing I'm listening to at the moment. I was watching videos of him at Coachella and I was getting, like, full body shivers.
He looks fucking awesome live, I'd love to see him. I've also been listening to this compilation Digital Zandoli is pretty cool, I got put onto that by Lauren Hansom. I've been trashing that. It's a bit old now but I really like that PJ Harvey record, it's got really good sax in it.What do you think is influencing new Retiree?
We're all into pretty different music and that's what I like about the band; there's not much of a preconceived idea of what we want the sound to be. By the time we've all touched a song it ends up being something completely different.Do you ever have one band member saying "let's take it in this direction" and you saying, like, "fuck no!"
Sometimes. But slowly you learn to be more open. If you've worked on something alone for a long time and you take it to the band and it changes it can be shocking, but that's usually what makes it more interesting. Because there's more depth.That must be a weird experience, listening back to a song you once wrote that someone else has taken on.
Yeah, it is. But it's really nice.I often listen to a song for the first few times and I think I get it but then a couple of weeks later it's something completely different and I'm like, "oh, this is it."
I think the next little handful of songs that we're going to release are a lot like that. They're songs we worked on for quite a long time, and the element that we might've started with might not even be a part of it anymore. Because you add stuff and you layer things and then you strip everything back and leave the most important things, and half of the time the original song is gone. It's a laborious way of making music but it's cool.
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Well you have that in a band. That's what's good about it. You can do something and someone can just tell you it's shithouse.Were you a musical kid?
Sort of! I used to play guitar and stuff in primary school, learning Blink 182 covers and stuff. I gave that up until about Year 9 or 10, when I was really into rap. And I started making rap beats and stuff, which slowly segued into instrumental stuff.
And were you making beats on like, the family computer?Yeah, yeah. My dad's a musician so I was cutting up his old records most of the time, and doing my best to imitate whatever else I was listening to.What kind of music does your dad make?
He's an amazing saxophonist. He plays with us live sometimes actually. We have this one song that has quite a bit of sax in it and the last time we played at Howler he played with us and he got the biggest cheer out of all of us.Were you in any high school bands as a teenager?
I did… briefly DJ for an Aussie hip hop trio.Wow. Did you wear Fubu?
No, no Fubu. But definitely a Nike hat in the mix somewhere.And how did Retiree get together?
I met Matt and Ryan through some friends in Melbourne. We were hanging out and Ryan showed me this early version of "Altruisme" and we started talking about music. He showed me this cupboard full of synthesisers he had. I was doing solo electronic stuff at the time. Marco was friends of friends. Matt and Ryan grew up together. And then we all just brought a bunch of instruments to this rehearsal studio in Sydney and jammed on "Altruism" and just kept doing it, every Monday. Then we booked a show and worked towards getting a set. It was pretty organic, I guess.And what about the future of Retiree? What's going to happen?
We've had a bit of a break because I was in Germany and that slowed things down a lot. We didn't do any playing but we were writing the whole time. So now we're just really excited to release all the stuff.Retiree are playing at Freda's in Sydney May 20th alongside Lauren Hansom and Donnotella. Tickets available here. Follow Retiree on Facebook.