Cloud Control are a band swathed in awards, picking up the 2011 Australian Music Prize, credibility by facsimile having played with Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend and The Local Natives and now seem poised to further the success of their debut album Bliss Release. Already substantiated in the southern hemisphere with their dreamy take on the traditional four-piece, they are coming north, sitting on sophomore record Dream Cave and a handful of rapidly selling out UK dates late in September.
Picking up on the fourth ring of the second time I call him Ulrich Lenffer, the band’s drummer, offers a cheerful hello and apologises for having his hands full a couple of minutes ago. He explains the band are still in London. “We fly back tomorrow morning. Just packing up the house at the moment as I’m moving just before we go on tour.” Despite being in the midst of upping sticks and harbouring a slight cold beneath a gently spoken Australian accent, as we begin talking about his mental state prior to a 4 month long tour his voice lights up slightly. “We’re going to America next week, via a short stay in Australia. We’ve been once before playing in LA and New York but this is our first proper tour. I’m really, really excited because we’ve been so long off the road. It’s been nice having some home time but touring is what we were born to do.”
The slight hint of laughter that accompanies this declaration is a recurring sound throughout the interview and a welcome one considering Cloud Control’s undeniably cool niche within the current tour de force that is modern Australian alt rock. Although uninterested and unmotivated by innumerable comparisons with Tame Impala, Dream Cave is a clear change in form from their guitar dominated first album.”It’s quite different. The rest of the album has influences of ‘Dojo'(the lead single) but its the most developed electronically and almost has that hip-hop vibe. We went with ‘Dojo’ deliberately as the single as it has the different elements.”
Despite being aware of the clunkiness of questions that ask artists to define themselves within any kind of grander scheme, for some reason I cannot help but ask if this progression is one geared to shaking off the clumsily conceived label of ”The Australian Fleet Foxes.’ Ulrich responds with the coolness of a man who has answered similar questions too many times.”‘I think making decisions based on that kind of thing is a bit of a cop out. We didn’t even think about that. Al the lead singer first started writing songs at 15, sitting in the mountain on his computer. They were electronic songs and now all our demos are written on a computer. On our last album we just accoustified these demos rather than leaving in some of the electronic elements.”
When asked about the Blue Mountains, a majestic series of foothills 50km outside of Sydney and whether the writing process has differed living away from home Ulrich explains how, “It’s been quite varied. We had a week or two in Ile de Re. Someone kindly lent us their house there and we bunkered down, went crabbing, drunk a lot of good wine and wrote. At other times we had periods of proper, proper writing, edge cracking in a studio on Nairn Street. It used to be a car garage and its underground, a bit bunker like, a bit mildewed and smelly. And then other songs were written on the road, so its all over the shop. A completely different experience from the first record.” Mildewed studio aside, for a moment I am effusive about my perception of crabbing, drinking and touring America as the perfect lifestyle to which Ulrich concedes that whilst “not trying to talk it up, it is pretty incredible that we have this opportunity. I find it a bit annoying when I hear bands whinging about writing processes. Most of the time you’re just hanging out with your mates and writing songs. We’re not tortured artists. Not that it’s always easy, but its not going into an office and whiling away your 9 to 5.”
At this point I attempt to establish a commonality by mentioning how I had spent the morning prior to our interview chiselling a wall and re-listening to their first album and how I could therefore appreciate the aching arms that must’ve followed his recent undertaking of a two hour drum solo. To this Ulrich expresses slight glee at the fact that I believed his Facebook status flippantry, to which I qualify my naivety by noting Andrew WK’s recent 24 hour drumming success. “Jeez, he’s a maniac, an amazing guy. I’m not a fan of the music but I have a lot of respect for him. Even if you hate him, he was born to perform, born to write music.”
Although I wouldn’t place Cloud Control and Andrew WK on the same level, both in terms of music and enthusiasm, their 3 and a half year preparation for Dream Cave emphasises a commitment to song writing and a perfectionism which is clearly evident within the album. Highlights include the dreamy chanting of Heidi Lenffer, Alister Wright and Jeremy Kelshaw that drifts over ‘Moonrabbit’s’ drumbeat, ebbing in and out of focus, and the undeniably catchy ‘Dojo Rising.’ When I ask about the video Ulrich explains “I was put in change of finding a director for that clip, googled a whole bunch of dudes and found this one guy I liked(Ian Pons Jewell). I Emailed him and he said he was in Bolivia. He’s really excitable, a really funny guy. We talked, threw a few things back and forth but the final product was all his idea. We had no idea what we wanted for the clip. He did Naughty boy(the lalalala song) and Naughty Boy himself has a little cameo in the video and the lead girl is his sister. She’s incredible. I saw an interview with her afterwards and she’s a seasoned pro, talking to the camera and gesticulating with wild facial expressions.” I ask if the clowns are a metaphor for absent fathers and Ulrich explains that “the lyrics and content of the video don’t have much congruence. He’s just a clown who’s fucked up a birthday party and is running away.”
We next turn to drumming and whether its fun to be sitting at the back of the stage behind a drum kit. “Yes and no. Yes if its a bad gig and no I want to be at the front if its a good gig; sometimes when it’s a beautiful day, everyone’s going mental and I’m just holding it down at the back.” In terms of influences, “I’m not a hugely technically minded drummer, but I really like the guy from Can, the 70s kraut rock German band. Can’t remember his name but he’s an incredibly talented jazz drummer who applies it to psychedelic rock. Has a lot of feeling in it. I’ve been listening to a lot of the Walkmen recently and I like their drummer a lot. Very inventive and consistent.”
At this point our conversation seems to be winding down leaving me with time to ask one final question. On the subject of the song writing and where the drums fit in I’m offered an account of how “some of the songs started with a beat on a computer which we try and replicate on drums or mesh with the electronic beat, or we’re in a room playing the songs or sometimes it’ll just begin with a beat.” Seemingly reflecting for a moment on this varied songwriting process Ulrich pauses before gifting me with a final, hand slightly in mouth statement; “Our mantra was no rules.”