Diamond In The Rough

Emerging from Melbourne’s scuzzy hardcore scene, The Diamond Sea are beginning to make waves with their melodic brand of punk rock. Singer Jacquie tells TIM SCOTT why they ditched the distortion in favour of a catchier sound.

Terror Firma. Schifosi. Masstrauma. Majorca. Unless you’ve been involved in the Melbourne hardcore punk scene in the last few years, these names probably don’t mean a lot to you. The Diamond Sea may be a little more familiar, or maybe not. The point is: they should be.

Made up of members of the aforementioned bands, the four-piece – Steph, Jacquie, Alicia and Scott – have taken the same energy of hardcore only to turn down the speed and volume and up the melody.

Slow Signal, their debut EP on Yellow Ghost Records, takes its cues from the early Olympia/Kill Rock Stars scene but adds the band’s distinct take on scrappy melodic punk.

Fresh off a weekly residency at the Birmingham Hotel in November, where they shared the stage with acts such as Ninety Nine, Straightjacket Nation and Useless Children, the band is building momentum with a fiery live show that exudes a strong basement party type vibe.

Was the change in sound and speed a conscious decision?

I suppose most people have broad parameters in mind with regard to influence. I don’t think The Diamond Sea is actually that musically different to some of the earlier bands I’ve (personally) been part of – there are still lots of two-string cheese metal chords, just with less distortion.

Sleater Kinney comparisons were probably going to be made - and they have been - is that something that you were expecting?

Probably not to this extent - it has been mentioned in almost every review and interview. Sleater Kinney are one of my favourite bands and, I suppose, a very obvious point of reference, but I assume the comparisons are fairly gender-related, and perhaps just reflect a desire to describe sound somehow. It’s very flattering, but probably a misleading comparison in terms of what we actually sound like.

Some of the songs bring to mind early Washington DC punk band Ashes who, like a lot of bands at that time, mixed the personal and political. Would you say that you play a more “personal” style now as opposed to the more hardcore punk of Schifosi and Mass Trauma?

I’ve never really listened to heaps of those early DC bands, although my first punk band used to cover Battery, which had some of the same members as Ashes I think. So perhaps it’s an unconscious influence. Musically I’d say we’re directly influenced by bands like the Wipers, The Cure, Wire, Joy Division, Gang of Four and Television.

By “personal style”, do you mean that the lyrics for The Diamond Sea seem less of a “political/punk” persuasion?

I didn’t write words for Schifosi, and I wasn’t in Masstrauma so I can’t really speak on behalf of the people who wrote the words, but the last band I did vocals in was probably a little more overt in terms of subject matter. I don’t think the types of things I write about have changed hugely. It’s probably more to do with me becoming shyer and more introverted over the past few years. I feel less inclined to wear my ideas on my sleeve these days I suppose.

You have a spearmint colored shirt. Does that make you emo circa 2001?

Like Panic at the Disco-- or was that before their time? [Laughs] “Emo” seems to mean so many different things nowadays. I’m not really sure how to clarify this one. But the shirts look pretty good I think. The design is by Steph [from Love is Sci Fi/Dick Diver], whose art never ceases to impress me.

“I generally have a 20-minute attention span when watching bands I’m not familiar with … I still prefer to finish up well before people get sick of watching us.”

Melbourne is very lucky to have such a great music scene at the moment. But if you were to travel back in time, what scene would you like to have been a part of?

I’ve never actually imagined an ideal intersection of time and place. Perhaps after hours at some kind of vegan donut shop with free-flowing booze and treats for all attendees? Oh, and maybe a jumping castle.

We don’t really seem to fit in any particular scene here, but it hasn’t really posed any great problems. Melbourne has been pretty good to us to the extent that we are never short of places to play, and we can get away with some pretty mixed bills. I’d love to travel, but I suppose we need to wait until a good opportunity arises to justify the expense of going overseas.

‘Heavy Skies’ which first appeared on your demo seems to be a crowd fave. Could you explain how this song comes about?

I wasn’t particularly happy when I wrote that one. I was couch-surfing, having just escaped a rotten hovel of a share house that literally had maggots dropping from the ceiling. I’d just been dumped and was on the dole. The words are a bit creepy and pessimistic, but when we started jamming the music, it turned out to be very upbeat. It actually makes me feel happy when we play it now. Maybe that’s weird.

You have been known to drop God’s ‘My Pal’ in your set. Would you agree that it one of the greatest songs to come out of Australia?

It’s a pretty good song. My friend Zac recently bought me a copy of the reissued 7” and I was pretty stoked. People have definitely come up after we’ve played and told me they thought it was our best song, only to be informed that it is a cover. We tend to just play it at parties occasionally now.

Your recent residency at the Birmingham had some killer line-ups. Your iPhones contacts list must be pretty good.

It will be a long time before I can afford an iPhone, let alone operate one. But I’m really happy with the residency show line-ups. We pretty much just made a list of all the bands we thought might be fun to have playing, sent an email asking all of them, then let them sort out who was free on what date. That’s why some of the gigs were perhaps a little musically mismatched, but I like varied line-ups so I wasn’t particularly bothered.

You are releasing a vinyl version of the CD. When is that due?

Well, it was originally due to be released around the same time as the CD, but there were issues at pressing. We really hope it will be out before the end of the year, but I’m starting to look like a barefaced liar saying it will be out soon. Sorry.

How about the split with Love or Perish? How did you hook up them?

It is an EXO records creation. The bands don’t know each other personally but I think it will make for a sweet split 7”. Aside from hearing their tracks and deciding a split release would be fun on that basis, all I really know of them is that they are from NYC, they tour lots and have ex-members of Peechees and Bratmobile.

I guess a lot of reviews describe your music as urgent. I’m not sure if this has to do with the vocal style.

I can see why people might describe it as such. We have some sad sounding melodies, and tend to speed up live. I’m also still finding my feet a bit in terms of singing for this band, and find it easier to shout sometimes. But it could also just be put down to listening to too much Cure and Siouxsie. Some (not-so) secret goth appreciation?

I believe your name comes from the Sonic Youth song. That song goes for 19 minutes which is sometimes longer than your sets.

This is true. I generally have a 20-minute attention span when watching bands I’m not familiar with (and sometimes even for those I am). Maybe it’s something we have imported from playing in faster bands, but I still prefer to finish up well before people get sick of watching us. But yes, the name did come from the Sonic Youth song, but I don’t think we’re particularly influenced by them musically. The name just seemed to suit what we were writing at the time.

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