This (above) is Au Dre. These two lovelies from Melbourne have cut their teeth as part of many outfits over the years, but they’ve decided to brand out on their ownsome and captivate the pop world with their own special sound which, we’ve been told by their publicists, is a mix of “disco, boogie, funk, pop and soul”.
So who are they? And what’s their caper? Join us as we Get To Know Au Dre.
1. Band name : Au Dré.
2. Where are you based? Melbourne.
3. How did you choose your band name? It chose us. Like a wand in Harry Potter.
4. Who are your members? Audrey and James. Audrey writes most of the music and James produces it. If you have ever watched that movie ‘Music and Lyrics; with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore, it’s basically the same as that.
5. How was the band formed? We’ve been friends for a long time – we actually met when studying at the VCA when we were super serious jazz enthusiasts. We got together for one song and it worked out really well and was a pretty easy and satisfying collaboration for us both so we decided to work on more music.
6. In what ways has the band changed from when it was formed to today? We just recently did our first duo show, with Auds on vocals/trumpet with live effects stuff and James playing keys and doing laptop stuff. It was previously a four piece with a drummer and another keys player, but with everyone being so busy we tried to find a way to do shows that was more streamlined, as saying no to stuff because one person wasn’t free was becoming a drag. We will still be pulling out the four piece for some shows though, don’t worry!
7. Tell us a little bit about your sound. I’d like to think it’s pretty bold music. I prefer using bright, sparkly sounds and working with tones and instruments that are somewhat overlooked – often using cheaper digital synths and drum sounds rather than big, warm analogue stuff. Big warm analogue stuff is great, too, though. I do that as well. Our music is basically a many headed beast of all our influences, desperately trying to bite its own heads off.
8. What are your members’ favourite songs of all time? ‘Rosanna’ by Toto.
9. Tell us about your latest release. ‘Climax’ is sort of about the lament of a relationship that could never work out. Musically I think it’s kind of a hybrid of pop writing with a kind of UK bass music influence, with some spicy harmony thrown in for good measure.
10. What do your future plans involve? Making as much music as possible, and hopefully getting better and better at doing it. We’re gonna put out an EP next year, and hopefully work on putting out some other cheeky little releases like live videos or covers.
11. Where can our audience catch you live? December 23rd at Section 8 with Dx Heaven.
BANDCAMP : https://au-dre.bandcamp.com
FACEBOOK : https://www.facebook.com/audremusic
TWITTER : https://twitter.com/audremusic
INSTAGRAM : https://www.instagram.com/audre.music/
SOUNDCLOUD : https://soundcloud.com/au-dre/