Hi guys, can you tell us a little about yourself and also who the members of The Hello Morning are, and their roles?
Melbourne 6 piece
Steven Clifford – Sings/Guitar
David Manton – Sings/Guitar
Matthew John Smith – Sings/Guitar
David Oxley – Bass
Joseph Cope – Hammond Organ
Matthew Vance – Drums
How long have you been playing together? Can you tell us how you originally formed? Where did the name The Hello Morning come from?
Matthew and I started playing together about 5 years ago now. We wanted to start something new. A band that only had people in it that cared about what we were trying to create. That’s where The Hello Morning title came from… a kind of new start. Really slowly we picked up another member here and there until we became a 6 piece. We’ve been playing with the current lineup for nearly 3 years I would say.
How would you describe your sound?
I guess it’s rock n roll music with soul and country influences.
Who are your influences?
We love The Band, Neil Young, Springsteen…. We also really get into My Morning Jacket and The Flaming Lips.
You are about to start a tour very soon how are nerves?
No nerves, as long as I’m not driving the van we should be fine… driving’s not my strong suit… We all get along really well… it’s a really eclectic mix of people in this band but somehow it just seems to work…
If you could share a stage with any band in the world who would you choose?
If by share the stage you mean be on stage at the same time… It would have to be The Flaming Lips… they have confetti cannons… they seem to have the most fun while they’re playing out of anyone I’ve ever seen…
What are The Hello Morning’s career highlight so far?
We spent 18 months working on an album. During that time we got to record all sorts of amazing things… at one stage we recorded a gospel choir from Atlanta singing on a couple of the songs… hearing that back was pretty overwhelming.
If a crowd comes to see The Hello Morning perform live what will they go away remembering?
Hopefully the songs….?! We have a lot of people onstage… there are lots of parts in the set that evolve between shows, so it’s always interesting to see what happens from show to show…
You’ve just released a new single. What can people expect to hear when they have a listen?
Lots of guitars… lots of Hammond Organ… lots of percussion…
What was the recording process like?
Joe and I recorded the bulk of the album in rural victoria for 2 months with a mountain of borrowed gear. We kind of became vampires, recording all night, sleeping most of the day. It was totally free… being away from the city was a huge help for us. We came back with most of the album finished and spent the next few months bouncing around Melbourne recording extra bits and pieces… strings, horns, pedal steel etc. The whole album just kept evolving and growing…
Where do you hope The Hello Morning ends up in 2012? What are you short term goals? What are your long term goals?
We’re releasing the album in February so we’ll do another tour then. Then for the rest for the year we’ll play as much as we can and try and begin pre production on another album towards the end of the year.
Do you have a website people can check out?
http://www.youtube.com/thehellomorningtv