Q&A WITH DUO THE HEART SHAPED ACES AHEAD OF DEBUT SINGLE RELEASE
The newly formed, and determined duo The Heart Shaped Aces are gearing up and getting ready to drop their debut track ‘Devotion’ into the lap of music lovers around Aus. We got to chat with them about the release and what they have coming up next. Don’t forget to listen to ‘Devotion’ out on August 18th.
How did you both meet, and what made you get into music?
Charlie: We both went to school together since primary school but weren’t actually really mates until after finishing school. I’d been in bands from a young age and Oscar started to get things going with a band of his own after school. Oscar and I both have quite similar tastes in music and we ended up making some music together a few years ago and found we had a really good dynamic together so we were just waiting for the opportunity to do something properly together. That came when a band I was in broke up and I had a bit of a void to fill which gave rise to some conversations about a potential duo together. We started to talk about how we wanted to sound and the ball started to roll from there.
Who are your biggest inspirations and how do you incorporate them into your own work?
Charlie: We’re really inspired by artists that are able to create immersive systems that their fans are able to explore. Artists like Lana Del Rey, Nick Cave and The 1975 who’s dedication to their craft kind of knows no bounds, so much so that it sparks that whole ‘self-mythologising’ debate. Nonetheless, we love the way artists like that seem to effortlessly merge their appearance and aesthetic with music and literature, creating a really compelling expression of self.
Oscar: When first discussing the soundscape, we were both really attracted to artificial drum sounds found in bands like Joy Division, Molchat Doma and HighSchool. The duelling harmonic guitars of The Strokes and The 1975 was another thing we wanted to draw on. When it came to vocals, we had an inclination towards close harmonies in the vein of The Beatles and The Last Shadow Puppets.
Your debut single ‘Devotion’ will be out very soon - how are you feeling about that?
Oscar: I think the best word to describe it is; ‘excited’ With us both being in bands before, we’ve aimed to learn from past experience and make the start of this band as smooth as possible. After what seems like an eternity it is finally time to show people the work that we’ve been doing together. Since the moment I first listened to the demo Charlie texted me, there has been a lingering eagerness to release the song and hopefully see it fulfil its potential. But, in a way it does almost feel like ‘judgement day’ and there are the obvious nerves that come with that.
Tell us a little about what the track is about, and what the creative process was like.
Charlie: Devotion revolves around a clash between the desire for a devout intimate relationship and an understanding that our personal shortcomings and preoccupations ultimately prevent us from sustaining an idealised love. It’s a confession of inadequacy that kind of pokes fun at the general theme of a standard love song, unbending devotion. I wrote it on a bass guitar in about 10 minutes or so and then recorded a demo which Oscar loved. By chance, we got talking to Ju Shung from The Mirrors and Bollard and he agreed to produce it. Because we drew on the original demo heavily, a lot of the purity of that song, particularly the vocal, still remains on the master, which I quite like.
You’re playing a show on the 25th of August at Bar Open, what can people expect when they see you playing live?
Oscar: We’ve been working hard with our backing band in order to ensure that the Bar Open performance is memorable for the audience. For the duration of the set we hope to let the audience peer into the playful dynamic of our friendship, collaboration and the enjoyment we have had building this project.
If you could change anything about the music industry at the moment, what would be?
Charlie: In Australia, there are issues around transparency and competition. Though the digital age has allowed for some democratisation in music, I think the format we have in this country is at odds with that. Put short, too few players have their fingers in far too many pies. They champion certain artists that fit within a mould and sound that has proven to be successful in the past and refuse to take risks that would otherwise progress the country’s musical output. It makes for a music scene bereft of the diversity we should have. Granted, there’s not nearly as much money in the industry as there once was to allow these operators to take risks on unproven artists, but at least in the case of government funded initiatives, there must be a better way of maximising artists’ and listeners’ benefit.
What’s the next half of the year look like for The Heart Shaped Aces?
Oscar: Over the rest of 2023, we plan on building a body of work with frequent performances around Melbourne including some exciting headline shows on the horizon. Plenty of gigging paired with more single releases, we aim to build the momentum around the band and hit the ground running in the new year!