Radio Free Alice talk sold out shows, career highs and future plans
We sat down with the Australian rockers ahead of their appearance at Leeds Festival.
Photo: Harry Baker
Radio Free Alice — made up of vocalist and guitarist Noah Learmonth, guitarist Jules Paradiso, bassist and saxophonist Michael Phillips and drummer Lochie Dowd — have been gaining attention from across the pond, with their distinctive post-punk-tinged indie rock sound.
Having just released their latest EP Empty Words, we caught up with Noah and Jules at Leeds Festival, ahead of a busy weekend for the band.
Have you managed to see anybody at the festival yet?
Jules: No. Honestly, no, we just ate.
We’ve heard that Australians don’t enjoy our cuisine so much… What’s your opinion on British food?
Noah: I had my first scotch egg and pork pie the other day and, to be honest, it’s rank. I was told it was meant to be cold. That can’t be right.
Yeah, I’d try a pork pie heated up — or maybe try a sausage roll. How many times have you been over here?
N: Well, a lot growing up, but we toured here last year. So this is our second time [together].
You’ve sold out six shows in London. How many have you played so far?
J: We just finished our sixth one.
How was that?
J: It was good. It was at The Windmill in Brixton. It was fun. It was, yeah — it was a nice send-off.
N: Yeah, London shows have been very consistently good. We’re thinking about moving here, I’m trying to convince the band. But, yeah, London shows have been consistently really good.
I feel like you’ve been quite well-received in London as well.
N: Yeah, we’re quite English.
Where did the name ‘Radio Free Alice’ come from?
J: It was a record store that we used to go to in Sydney growing up, and we just took the name Radio Free Alice from them.
N: The guy who owns it is sort of a friend of ours called James Tsai, and he’s a really sweet guy.
J: He has one of the coolest record stores in Sydney.
N: I think he got the name from — I believe it was a socialist pirate radio station in Italy in the 70s called ‘Radio Free Alice’. So, I think that’s where he got the name from. I don’t know if we were necessarily privy to that.
With the EP, how did that start? Did you always have the idea to make the EP when you were writing?
N: No, we sort of had to because we couldn’t release the album this year for external circumstances that are too tedious to talk about, so we had to release another fucking EP.
So… when can we expect the debut album?
N: Next year. Hopefully mid-next year.
What about the writing style? Who does the writing in the band?
N: Very collaborative. We sort of just jam for hours, and then eventually we have a good idea. We record stuff, little ideas. Often Frank and Simon together.
Do you have a live setting in mind when you’re writing?
N: No. Just what feels good in a general sense.
Going back to your London shows, did you play different sets for each night?
N: We changed it up a little bit. We were touring with this band called Humane the Moon. We did basically a whole tour. They’re great. We did the first few shows in this similar way where we kind of left the bangers towards the end and they told us to change that. Then we changed it… and it improved a lot.
J: We used to put our most popular song first in the set. Yeah, there was one little taster. In retrospect, it was insane.
I’ve seen Human The Moon live — he’s really good! Have you found a good order for the set now?
J: I think so. This feels right.
N: We need to write more bangers; we’re rationing out our two good songs. [Laughs]
J: Ideally, every song is a banger.
If you could show somebody who’s never heard your music before only one song, what would it be?
N: I really like Paris is Gone. I’m proud of it.
J: See, I would say our newest song, Chinese Restaurant. I feel like it depends when you ask that question. But yeah, Paris is Gone is a good one.
What’s been your proudest career moment so far?
J: Probably opening for The Killers, I’d say. It was around Australia. We played, I think, six or seven shows with them in arenas, which was ridiculous — [it was] to like ten thousand people or something! That was probably the highlight for me so far.
N: I’d say this tour, just coming on and having the tickets sell so quickly. Because opening for The Killers or playing a big festival is exciting. But you’re being picked by industry people. So, on some level, it’s not like real ‘success’. Because the only real success is having real people who really like your stuff. And, so, to come over here and have actual fans, that’s very surreal.
Selling tickets is always a good sign. Australia’s government is quite good when it comes to funding tours overseas, isn’t it?
N: Yeah, we couldn’t do it without them. We get government grants every time we go on a tour to America or England; we’ve got a big grant. You almost couldn’t do it otherwise. I mean, you guys don’t do that, but you also don’t need to do it, I suppose, to the extent that we do, because we’re so far away.
What was your favourite band growing up?
N: It was The Smiths for me.
J: Probably Radiohead.
Very British! What about any Australian bands?
N: The Go-Betweens are my favourite Australian band of all time.
What is the music scene like over there at the moment? Do you have the same kind of small venues and places that you get in London?
N: Commercially, it’s crap. In our opinion, at least. Or, in my opinion. But within where we grew up, where we live in Melbourne — where we’re from — it’s amazing. There are so many good bands. There’s such a rich culture and talent around right now. But, when I say commercially, I mean just what’s mainstream, what’s being promoted in Australia right now.
Empty Words is out now via Double Drummer.
