Today, Melbourne indie four piece Mount Defiance release their new EP in Yankee Flat, seven tracks of fresh heat from the pop lads who are continuing to push on through and add vibrancy to each composition their name is attached to. Their sophomore release, Yankee Flat was recorded up in Mount Helen at Homestead Studios and is an easy listen, ready to be immersed in from the get go.
As Ed Tripodi takes us through the making of these songs, we get a better idea of where Mount Defiance comes from and where they’re heading, too. Read on below!
INSTANT COFFEE
This lil gem is the oldest song on the EP, and one of the first songs we ever threw together as a band! It’s about getting ready to go overseas for a while at the same time trying to convince an international mate that it was worth staying in Melbourne with me. It didn’t make the cut on our first EP because we thought it’d be too heavy to try and record ourselves in a beach house. Got a spot this time around.
TEAMWORK
The line ‘teamwork makes the dream work’ was something an old American work mate of mine named Colin used to say when we’d make coffee together a few years ago. First time he said it I cacked myself laughing, I think it was the combination of his earnestness and his accent that tickled me something fierce. Anyhow, I swore to myself that one day I’d weave it into a song.
A few years later, I was making coffee with the girl I was sweet on and I thought the phrase found itself pretty at home now that I was making coffee with someone again. Either that or I guess it’s a romantic ballad about Colin. Nice.
JIB
By far the dumbest named song on the EP. At the end of the first verse I sing the line “I still remember that cut of your jeans.” For months the other lads in the band thought I was saying “that cut of your jib”. I kind of assumed it’d get named properly eventually, but hey here we are.
SIBLINGS
Pros of track Number 4 on Mount Defiance’s EP Yankee Flat called “Siblings”: I like the way Sean dances to it when we play it live.
Cons of track Number 4 on Mount Defiance’s EP Yankee Flat called “Siblings”: One of the lines kind of makes me visualize french kissing my brother.
115 CLICKS
The unavoidable break-up track. This song’s about going to a music festival to dodge being at home for a while. While I maintain this is a great tactic to avoid running into whoever you’re avoiding, it is a terrible tactic to keep up ties on social media and see that they had more fun than you while you were away.
We toyed with the idea of recording this song as just me and an acoustic guitar for a while, but I think I wouldn’t be able to do the story the justice that all four of us can. Plus Sean’s guitar solo is truly good and who am I to stop the world from hearing it.
SHAPES
For what sounds like maybe the most aggressive song we’ve played as a band, it’s about a bloody good night out we all had for Sean’s birthday. Turning 23 never sounded so grumpy.
My beautiful big brother (who I do NOT french kiss – re: track four) spent a few months developing theories on what this track was about. They got so farfetched that I think the true meaning is buried somewhere among his ideas. If you want I can give you his number and he can lay down some serious x-files deconstruction of the tune.
RUPERT AND HASTINGS
We agreed that this would be a nice way to round out the EP. It’s one of the more downbeat songs we’ve ever played as a unit but it’s a smokey for one of my favourite songs we play.
The song started out being about a person named Rupert Hastings, but eventually made more sense to shift that to a location, the corner of Rupert and Hastings. Locations can be moved out of, people linger and are less easy to move away from.
Keep up to date with Mount Defiance here!
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