Gold Tango: None More Black

A pop heart beats beneath the dark gothy textures of Melbourne’s Gold Tango. TIM SCOTT reports.

Goth is the new black. Goth is the old black. Actually goth has always been black. Whatever. There seems to be a resurgence in goth-infused music of late with bands such as Crystal Stilts, Blank Dogs and Cold Cave from the US, as well as local acts Repairs and Naked on the Vague exploring some dark, synth-heavy tones.

But while new Melbourne three-piece Gold Tango take in elements of goth and experimental music, they do so with a slightly poppier twist. Featuring members of Flesh vs Venom, Useless Children and Baryshnikov, the band recently emerged from Melbourne’s Head Gap Studio's with a debut self-titled EP.

Stina Tester, Cinta Masters and Kody Abrams form a tight trio of organ, drums and guitar combined with twin harmonised vocals equally inspired by 1970s and ’80s goth, post-punk, electro-pop and artists as varied as Delta 5, Bauhaus, Depeche Mode and DEVO.

Do you mind if I use the word “goth” in the interview.
Kody: I’m a proud goth from way back.

Are there any bands in Australia that you can see as contemporaries?
Kody: No.

Not even a band like Repairs or Naked on the Vague?
Kody: No. Ours is not noise driven by any stretch. Our sound relies very much on melodies.

So what is your answer to the invariable question: “What do you sound like?”
Cinta: I heard a good one, “Depeche Mode, but not gay.”

Kody: Well, there is really only one song that is Depeche Mode-ish and even then it doesn’t really sound like Depeche Mode. But after hearing it you kind of want to go and listen to Violator.

Cinta: When we first started we sounded like a cross between Screeching Weasel and Los Crudos. But then we got Stina in. With her organ we have built-in percussion, so it sounds like a drum machine.

"If we ever play some warehouse party we want to wear some oversized hip-hop gear like shorts and shirts."

So you have now found your sound as a three-piece?
Kody: We’re still working out the dynamic.

Stina: Yeah, every song we write we are like, “Oh wow, we are going in this direction now.”

Kody: When we got together we were like, “Ah, does anyone have anything?” The first song we wrote had like 40 parts to it.

Stina: We all come from different musical backgrounds. I would think that Kody’s guitar sound would have that proper goth sound of Bahaus and he obviously grew up listening to that kind of sound, whereas I played piano and so I have a more classical background.

Cinta: But we are all good friends. [Laughs]

Stina: Apparently when Cinta and I hang out too much together people get really freaked out.

Cinta: We can’t stop laughing.

How do you handle vocal duties? Stina: Cinta and I share singing. When we started out we actually tried to get a singer because I didn’t think I could sing and play at the same time. We had someone in mind. She came along to one practice but it didn’t really work out.

Cinta: I feel really bad, she was lovely.

Stina: No it’s OK. We were actually getting pretty tight as a band.

Kody: Yeah, it was almost like we didn’t need any more gang members.

Cinta: But I remember having practice here at the East [East Brunswick Club] band room and she was having dinner in the front bar. That was awkward. It was awful.

Kody: But now the vocals work really well together. A lot of people say they can’t distinguish the two vocals. It’s like one voice. A weird effect that you can’t get off any pedals.

Speaking of gang members I heard you guys have alter ego names.
Stina: Yeah my boyfriend really likes Wu Tang so we kind of got called G-Tang. We also decided to shorten our names: Cinta became Lil’ Cin, I became Queen L’Stina and Kody became Dakoda D’Killa. If we ever play some warehouse party we want to wear some oversized hip-hop gear like shorts and shirts, but I don’t think that would work for Kody – he’s too scrawny and skinny.

Are there any plans for touring?
Kody: Useless Children [Cinta’s band] are going to the States next year, and Mel and I who run EXO records want to head over too to hang out. So maybe if we can get Stina over we can set up a mini-tour. And Stina has never been overseas.

Stina: Well not with a band. I went to Tokyo as part of a film festival. I make little animation films and was invited to go over to present a film. I remember breaking down in tears when arriving at Tokyo and nobody was there to meet me.

What about plans for a band video?
Stina: I don’t know I think it may be too much. I made one for Flesh vs Venom that I think is going to appear on a DVD.

What is the main song on the record?
Kody: It’s really hard. When we first started we got a lot of response from one song we put up on MySpace called ‘Telescope’. We love that song, but the three songs on the record are so different from each other. One is long and droney noise thing, ‘Telescope’ is Brian Eno-like and the other is like a Cure pop song.

Do you have a favourite song?
Kody: Cinta and I have the same favourite song. It’s one we wrote recently. I think we called it ‘At Sea’. It’s not on the record. It’s pretty sad and depressing but really nice.

Stina: It’s actually really nice to play. It’s probably the most relaxing. We feel really comfortable playing it as it doesn’t have 10 different parts and we don’t have to think, “Quick change here.”

Kody: But there’s so much room to move in it. You can do lot’s of little pieces in it. What’s it about again? Friendship and moving on from friendship?

Stina: Well I don’t know even know if it’s about that. It’s more about being on a boat.

Stina, I’ve heard your organ can be temperamental.
Cinta: Her organ sucks arse. It can die at any moment. A key just stopped working.

Stina: But that’s why I love it. It’s nerve-wracking and we can’t really find a replacement [because] the beats are on it. I have a piano but I couldn’t really take it to practice so I found this on eBay and it was like $30.

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Gold Tango will launch their debut self-titled EP at Melbourne’s Empress tonight (October 16) with Bachelor of Arts, Breaker Morant and Caught Ship. Doors: 7.30pm.