The Delta Riggs

You have just released your new EP Talupo Mountain Music Vol II.  Why is this the greatest thing you have released so far?
I’m not sure I would say it’s the greatest thing we have released, all 3 of our EP’s are unique and differ from the other. The new one sure is fantastic though. It’s exciting for us in the fact that Triple J have picked up 2 of the tracks off the EP and given them a high rotation. So in that regards people will be more familiar with a couple of tunes on there. For mine though, the track Mary is probably the best song we have ever recorded. From the way it sounds to the overall performance on the track. It’s a real winner.

In terms of song writing, what do you consider to be the most important elements that feature in a The Delta Riggs, song?
Melody and strong hooks are what we focus on lately. We are a very musically minded band and like to do everything in a live sense, so when writing we always have that in mind. We all play our parts for the good of the song as opposed to just throwing in something that sounds technical just for the hell of it.

When you think back to the writing and recording sessions for the album, what are the immediate thoughts and memories that pop into your head?
Well a lot of both Talupo Ep’s were written in a big old farm house we lived in for the duration of 2010 (The house features as the cover image for both volumes). So memories from that place always come to mind. We were set up in the lounge room of the house and not a day went by without us all jamming, writing or just playing music in general. It was quite a laborious and arduous living arrangement at times and it was tumultuous at the best of times but it shaped the band we are today and also the songs that you hear on those records.

We have picked out 2 songs from the EP and we want you to tell us all about them:
Counter Revolution – I love this song. It has that punk rock attitude that we all grew up on. It was written in a time that was quite indicative of the songs subject matter without purposely having that in mind, so to me it shows that we are on the right page in general. I edited the clip that’s online and it just fits so well with all the images of despair, righteousness and destruction.

Billy Black – When we lived in that old far house in Peats Ridge, the proprietor used to pop by all the time just to  hang out. He was an older Italian gentleman. He told us the story of the man who actually built the house we were living in over 100 years ago. His name was Billy Black. Elliot loved the story so he penned this song about what we knew of him.

Over the course of the bands evolution, what and/or who have you found inspires and influences your music the most?
I think we inspire one another, we all push each other to perform. in the studio especially, since everything is done live and in one take the pressure is on because you don’t want to let any of the other guys down.

You hail from the rock capital of Australia, Melbourne!  For the benefit of those in galaxies far, far, away…what do you have to say about the rock scene in Melbourne at the moment and The Delta Riggs place within it?
Well we are all based here now, but we all grew up in Southern Qld. We were really drawn to Melbourne after touring down here a fair bit. I find that Melbourne is the soul of Australia. It’s definitely the most musical minded city and more people go out to see live music here than anywhere else. There are so many rad bars around town and there is always a live band playing, you don’t find that anywhere else really.

If you were a person in the crowd at one of your gigs, what five words would you walk away using to describe the performance you just witnessed?
To quote the words of a reviewer a couple weeks back ” What a bunch of talented dickheads”

You have recently come off a bunch of dates with Stonefield, how did these shows go down?
Those shows were awesome. The Stonefield girls are fucking awesome. We all had so much fun on the road together. All the shows were at least 80% full and we all pushed each other to perform well. Thats the best thing about playing with good bands is you actually need to sharpen your game and can’t get too slack.

Now throwing that last question on its head…what do you typically see when you look out into the crowd during a The Delta Riggs gig?
Lights. All iIever see are lights shining in my eyes that it becomes visionless to the crowd. I should really do something about that. Besides that though I love looking out and seeing familiar faces. Whether it be friends or just regular fans it’s always humbling sight to see.

Ok hypothetical question time, so if you could assemble your own ultimate band lineup to form your own supergroup, who would you choose?
This will be objective for all the members of the band, but for the sake of the exercise I will complete it. I actually did this for a friend a couple weeks back so here it is.