Inspired by Regurgitator’s Band In A Bubble experiment, Perth Pop-Rock wunderkids Hand Stands For Ants spent the best part of October literally existing within an interactive multimedia installation in the Enex 100 building in Perth City, as their cross between ‘recording studio’ and living space made for an intimate venue for the exhibition of human behaviour and musical creation.

Featuring round-the-clock performances, insights into the writing and recording process of their second record and live collaborations with the cream of the perthonality crop, WA music lovers were invited to bring their headphones to plug in and listen, as the talented trio presented audiences with an audio-visual souvenir like no other.

On the eve of their last day under the microscope, Jennifer Peterson-Ward caught up with drummer James Treacy to discuss what has shaped up to be one of the most innovative – and entertaining – Australian music projects of the year.

Firstly, what was your inspiration to go ‘under the microscope’?

Basically we thought to ourselves: “why should we simply play gigs when we could take on an interesting, unusual project like this?” We initially had this unusual idea we wanted to pursue and then thought it might be a great way to get our name out there and encourage people to get into our music. This project really showed what our band is all about – we’re exhibitionists like that.

How have your 13 days under the microscope been so far?

Pretty good, the first couple of days were pretty average but after we overcame some of the initial technical problems we were able to really pick things up and get on a roll.

What were the technical issues?

They were mainly related to the gear we were using. We have been sponsored and given free equipment to use so were we still getting used to using that new gear as well as getting used to the space and the sounds produced in the space which are obviously different to the sounds that come off a live stage or jamming at home. 

Did you manage to produce the entire album?

So far we’ve produced 9 full-length tracks and 8 other musical pieces. We’ll still need to go into the studio to finish cutting, mixing and laying the tracks and we’ll decide what make the grade at that point, but we’re confident there will be enough material to produce a full-length album.

At the beginning of the project you planned to collaborate with local visual artists and musicians – who did you manage to get into the space?

Unfortunately the thing with the visual artists fell through pretty early on, but we did manage to get some great, really talented,local musicians to come in and jam with us. The first artist we had in was Jake [Webb] from Sugar Puss who produced some wicked sprawling guitars for one track. Then we had the amazing Mei Swan from You Pretty Things (and she’s also from Sex Panther) who helped us craft this really amazing, jazzy piece which has elements of flamenco in it. Then Tomas Ford came in to work on a disco track with us – and we even got a noise complaint during his time with us, so that was good fun. Lastly, we had Lyndon Blue from SEAMS and Brow Horn Orchestra who leant a hand with writing lyrics and adding some interesting instrumental elements to the pieces. 

What did these musicians bring to the project?

Obviously each musician bought their individual talents and skills with various instruments and musical styles, but, more importantly, they made everything much more exciting for us. Knowing we were going to be able to be working with these artists really gave us the drive to come in everyday and made us keep pushing through with what might have otherwise turned out to be a very repetitive, mundane process. In the end, I think it was really all a learning process for us - we learnt so much from all of the artists and that’s ultimately one of the major things we wanted to take from this whole experience.

 How did the nature of the space you were confined within influence the music you produced?

Well there’s a really loud air-conditioner in the room, so you can hear that chugging along in the background of nearly every song. And the shopping centre has Kenny G blaring on pretty much all the time, so if you listen hard you can pick that up too in some of the recordings.

You have experimented with a lot of different sounds, instruments and textures during your time under the microscope – how will the music you produced translate into your live shows?

To be honest, it’s unlikely we’re going to be able to play most, if any, of the songs we’ve written over these last two weeks in future live shows. This is primarily because we were layering 10, 20, 30 and 40 different instruments and sounds on each track and we’re just three guys when we’re up on stage. So unless we bring some of the collaborators on stage with us (which is certainly something we’d possibly like to explore at some point in the future), our shows are still only going to be based around the guitar, bass and drums for now.

Do the new recordings follow up to your debut EP (the well-recieved This is How To Do Hand Stands For Ants, released earlier this year) in terms of sound/genre (etc)?  

There’s certainly a different flavor to the recordings, which just generally comes from the new direction we are taking as a band. Although the new songs are still very much Hand Stands For Ants songs, the EP was more rock heavy and we’re getting away from that to a certain extent – although we’re hoping fans will like it all the same. 

What reception have you received from everyday people passing by?

We have had varying receptions to the project. A lot of people passing by have slowed down and stopped to watch us perform, which is kinda like being in a very strange zoo, and the majority of feedback from these people has been overwhelmingly positive. But then there’s also the suits who just look at us and shake their heads and are pretty obviously thinking ‘why don’t you get a real job you hippies?’ Luckily, we couldn’t care less what they think.   

In your opinion, what was the best aspect of the experience?

I think the best aspect has been the fact that we have been able to spend an extended period of time working on our tunes. Having the rented space available and the whole two week period dedicated to spending writing music has been an amazing experience and really beneficial to the band. 

And what was the worst aspect?

I can’t say there’s been any major negative aspects to the whole experience, but if I had to say anything it would be that we literally haven’t seen sunlight for 14 days and so I think that now we’re near the end we’re certainly more edgy and a short with each other than usual, but luckily we’re all good friends or else it probably would be so much worse. Also the money aspect wasn’t fantastic – we basically spent the whole Hand Stands For Ants kitty on this project, paying to rent the space and for insurance, so we’re pretty much broke at the moment. But it was totally worth it and we don’t regret it for a minute.

Would you ever take on another project like this again?

Yes we would, but we’d definitely make a few changes the next time around. For starters, we’d make sure we were more organised – this time we only had about two weeks to organise ourselves and it just wasn’t enough time. I mean we got here and we managed to produce music – which was the main thing, of course – but we didn’t get to promote the whole project as much as we would have liked. 

On the whole, are you happy with the overall result?

Most definitely – we were very happy with how the whole project went. It was an unusual experience and we’ve done things as a band that really changed and shaped our sound for the better.

Keep your eyes and ears on Hand Stands For Ants at:
http://www.myspace.com/handstandsforants