COLLAGE: Ella Atcheson

I caught up with Bec Rigby, Martin King and Jack Madin from Melbourne-based 4-piece The Harpoons at Kingsland Road Market Bar to discuss their music, their influences, and getting the boot (in a good way).

When I first heard the Harpoons at a Sofar Sounds , spreading their bright, soulful pop sound through a shadowy recording studio space in Tottenham Hale on a dramatically stormy night, I had no idea they had only just arrived in London a few hours earlier, fresh from a mini tour in Japan. ‘Fresh’ is the word I keep coming back to when describing their sound, a tasty cocktail of old school RnB melodies, soulful vocals and lyrics about love sharpened up with ice cool beats and tangy electronic vibes. Refreshing, relaxing, and impossible not to dance to it - exactly what I’m ordering this summer.

VIDEO: The Harpoons performing Can We Work This Out? from their LP Falling For You (Two Bright Lakes / Remote Control Records)

I caught up with the band during their first visit to the UK, (sandwiched between tour dates in Japan and the CMJ Festival in the USA) which they spent working on their music, playing shows (including 2 hauntingly beautiful Sofar Sounds performances) and making the most of the East London club scene, citing Power Lunches (a “stunning disco dungeon”), Dance Tunnel (one to catch before it closes in August) and Kingsland High St as their top spots.

Over pizza and beer the group recount stories of partying with wonderful Air BnB hosts in Coventry who were generous with the Sambuca, and the DJ who ran through the entire history of British music at a former-church-now-club just for them, as well as finding Camden Town rather “apocalyptic” when I dropped them off there to grab some food after their first show (to be fair, Camden on a night out is as close to the apocalypse as any North Londoner will get…).

Starting off making ‘60s garage pop, early Rolling Stones style, the band (Bec, Marty (Martin), Jack and Henry [Madin, Jack’s brother]) have been performing and writing together since “basically forever” and their style has evolved taking inspiration from the ‘70s and then jumping forward to the ‘90s with the electronic influence that can be heard on spacier tracks like Can We Work This Out?, which combines Martin and Bec’s delicate vocals with achingly cool beats. Their wide range of influences across several musical genres is clear in the clever layering of modern electronic beats and more old school RnB and soul styles, taking inspiration from Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Sade and Aretha Franklin to name a few. Modern RnB and pop also plays a very influential role, with the band citing The Neptunes, Destiny’s Child and both Justins (Timberlake and Bieber) as songwriting inspiration (clear proof that it’s definitely OK to like Bieber now). But at the heart of their songwriting lies good old pop:

“We all really at the base level just love pop songs, pop music, pop forms, pop lyrics… I think that is our ultimate inspiration, like the wellspring of our songs,” explains guitarist (and multi-instrumentalist) Jack. The classic pop tune is updated with modern electronic beats which add a Metronomy vibe to tracks like Never Stop Loving You. 

PHOTO: The Harpoons perform at Sofar Sounds London. (Photo: Simone Topel)

Performing in the stripped-back setting of a Sofar Sounds can potentially pose problems for electronic-based acts, but The Harpoons rose to the challenge of developing a more acoustic sound.

“It was pretty much all because of Japan,” the band explains, when a “genius” friend of Henry’s organised a string of shows in Japan in generally very under-equipped venues, including “a tiny living room converted into bar-like rehearsal space thing” which sat 18 people. Rather than shy away from the challenge, the group experienced a “revelation” and worked out an acoustic set which they’d certainly mastered by the time I saw them in London, with acoustic guitars and a xylophone perfectly complimenting Bec’s soulful lead vocals. This allows variation in the live sets, with Jack explaining: “So now we have 2 options, like 2 modes.” The songs’ flexibility no doubt comes from the fusion of different musical styles, but also, as Marty adds: “I think it just comes down to the quality of the songwriting. If you’ve got a good song it kind of translates on any format, and if you haven’t, it doesn’t.”

All great musicians, the members all collaborate on a range of instruments and their music is predominantly self-produced, with some help from musician mate Nick Huggins (or as Bec describes him, “the obscure Floating Points of Melbourne - he looks exactly the same and he’s got a similar approach to music and sound.”) The songwriting process is equally collaborative, with ideas for songs coming out of long jamming sessions, described by Marty as “long meetings over quite a lot of beers and then at the other end of that we hopefully have a bit of a song”.

Modern technology has also been a key factor in the creation of new tunes. Jack explains, “I think there would be no new songs for the past 2 years if it weren’t for iPhone voice memos”, as the group guess they have thousands of hours recorded to capture the stream of consciousness that turns into refreshingly honest and relatable lyrics, something which clearly comes naturally to lead vocalist Bec: “I like playing with melody a lot, so sometimes I just make them up on the night.” (Hopefully someone turned on the voice recorder!)

Their Melbourne roots are also influential on their sound, with the Aussie city boasting a music scene to rival London’s in terms of its diversity and sheer number of exciting acts, whilst the industry side of things is kept at bay over in Sydney.

Bec and Marty are both originally from Melbourne, with Jack and Henry hailing from nearby Geelong (i.e. “the Coventry of Melbourne”), and describe the scene as both amazing and happily confused as “lots of different styles of music get attempted at once”, and indie bands (the band cite Totally Mild as one of their faves) play alongside dance and electronic acts on the same lineups.

Bec: “What I really like about the scene in Melbourne is that I call it like friend rock, like everyone just goes to support their friends. You can get like such a nice crowd just from all your friends coming out, because going to see music is just such a big part of the scene. And its just like such a normal thing to do and so many people are doing it, like leaving there and looking at other scenes has made me feel pretty excited about Melbourne. There’s heaps of bands that are my mates, that I love, and I’m so so proud (…) to go and see them, and love their music, and also be able to hang out with them, say “I’m from there!””

Despite the occasional struggle of being involved in a scene of so many talented musicians, the general feeling amongst Melbourne acts seems to be one of pride to support each other, and The Harpoons leap at the chance to recommend the music of their (many) talented friends, including Collar Bones, Habits, Kllo, I’lls, Banoffee, Black Vanilla and Oscar Key Sung. “Everyone’s kind of doing it - it means that people are kind of fighting over success - but on the other end of the spectrum people are just doing it cos they like it, and for the sake of the music,” Bec continues.

VIDEO: Keep You Around by The Harpoons (Two Bright Lakes) directed by Genevieve Bailey.

The soulful choruses and sheer sunshine in tracks like Keep You Around clearly translate well in different audiences all over the world, as Bec explains: “I was actually really amazed and really proud of how the reaction was the same. We’ve always had really small audiences on the tour but every time it feels like people get the same thing out of the music which is really cool, and enjoy the same songs.”

The band’s favourite live show to date, though, was probably back home in Melbourne at Meredith, a music festival taking place every December in the height of the Aussie summer, where the organisers give out extra tickets to the most passionate and deserving fans who missed out in the general sale. The festival boasts an incredible array of acts celebrating the talent and diversity of Melbourne’s music scene, as well as a naked running race and a “no dickhead policy”, where fun-spoiling punters are kicked out for, well, being a dickhead (indicated by activities such as abusing other festival-goers or wearing a Native American headdress.)

“It’s a very special festival, and it’s amazing in that it’s very popular and populous but it’s also very cool,” Bec explains. “I remember playing, and there were like, more people than we’d ever played to… like probably the sum total of everyone we’d ever played to… it’s a pretty amazing feeling”. The band received a lot of boots raised in the air, the Meredith equivalent of the ‘like’ button, where fans raise a muddy Wellie to show their appreciation for their favourite act of the festival.

Aside from the magic of Meredith, any venue where the crowd gets a bit sweaty will please The Harpoons.“I would really like to just make the people dance as much as possible,” explains Marty. And with tunes as bright as these, it would be impossible to keep still even in a straight jacket. So what’s next? Caught between 2 directions (“a full dance act” and “a full acoustic singer-songwriter act with 4-part harmonies”), one man’s identity crisis sounds like another opportunity for creating delightfully genre-blending new music. So, where are they headed next? Jack: “To where the people dance.” Well, Harpoons, I’ll see ya there. You totally get my boot.

The Harpoons’ LP Falling For You (Two Bright Lakes / Remote Control Records) is available to download here. 

LISTEN: https://soundcloud.com/the-harpoons

WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpw2Kl2sPDzKPT1VG5e23lA

UnderCityLights’ top tracks by The Harpoons:

Unforgettable - spacey electronic sounds dissolve into a strong fist-pumping beat carried through with soulful professions of love. Try and stand still, I dare you.

Keep You Around - more of an old school RnB vibe on this track that’s as chilled out as a warm summer’s evening.

Losing You - a fresh take on Solange’s RnB anthem.

WORDS: Ella Atcheson