It’s game, set and match this Friday morning as we Get To Know American Doubles, a fresh new act out of Melbourne.
They’ve just released their debut single ‘The Swell’ and have dropped a truly incredible debut music video, which was shot predominantly underwater.
So check out their answers below as we get to know them a little more.
01. Band name : American Doubles.
02. Where are you based? Melbourne, Victoria.
03. How did you choose your band name? Instead of creating a new word or phrase we took something that was part of the vernacular. ‘American Doubles’ is an informal form of tennis played between three people where players rotate court position after each game.
Justin and I play different instruments, and would rotate our positions during recording sessions so, in this way, the name kind of fitted. It’s also a fairly short name, easy to read and spell, and something we thought people would remember.
04. Who are your members? The duo consists of lead vocalist Rob Smith who usually plays bass and synths, and Justin Hamilton who also provides vocals and mostly plays guitar and synths.
05. How was the band formed? Justin and I already knew each other and had worked together in a couple of bands over the years, though nothing like American Doubles. I asked Justin if he would be interested in collaborating in an electronic project and we started getting together and developing ideas at my home studio, which was at that time in St Kilda.
06. In what ways has the band changed from when it was formed to today? In the beginning we really didn’t know what the music would ultimately sound like other than it was going to be a combination of electronic and live components. Over the time we’ve been working together, we’ve been honing our craft and our sound has been evolving.
We are honoured to be working with renown Producer Jimi Maroudas. I reached out to Jimi after meeting him at a mix breakdown he was doing on High Street in Northcote. I sent him some of our tracks and a little while later he got in touch and we organised a meeting at my home studio, in Thornbury.
Working with Jimi has been fantastic. He has a wealth of experience, a broad knowledge and an immense passion for music. It’s been a real pleasure to work with him, and we’ve learnt so much throughout the process.
We’ve also had the pleasure of meeting and recording with some awesome people that will be joining us on stage for our live shows.
07. Tell us a little bit about your sound. Our sound could be described as sun-drenched synthpop. We produce it using a blend of live instrumentation and electronic elements. We’re a bit ’80s and we also draw inspiration from music of today. It’s melodic pop, that’s a little bit dreamy at times and which has dance sensibilities.
08. What are your members’ favourite songs of all time? SMITH: ‘God Only Knows’ by The Beach Boys, ‘I Was Made To Love Her’ by Stevie Wonder, ‘Off The Wall’ by Michael Jackson and ‘Let’s Dance’ by David Bowie.
HAMILTON: ‘Blame It On The Boogie’ by The Jacksons, ‘Fade To Grey’ by Visage, ‘One Step Ahead’ by Split Enz and ‘Kiss’ by Prince.
We couldn’t decide who was going to say ‘Around The World’ by Daft Punk.
09. Tell us about your latest release. ‘The Swell’ is our debut single release. The song was inspired by reflections of my childhood, spending summer holidays at my family’s beach house in Cape Paterson. At the time I was writing it, I used to walk to St Kilda Pier and along the foreshore which brought back some of those early memories.
One thing I used to love to do was swim out with a friend past the breakers and lie in the swell, floating on our backs. After a while we’d take a deep breath and dive down and try and touch the ocean floor. I wanted to attempt to capture some of that sense of freedom that can come with being in the present, letting go and having fun.
Accompanying the single is a crazy video created by the AMAZING team at LateNite Films and was shot almost entirely underwater using a cast of freedivers and a submerged set. The song and video recently premiered online and the response has been staggering.
10. What do your future plans involve? We’ve been working on our debut EP, which will be coming out this year and we plan to do a few shows in Melbourne. We’d also like to do some support shows and possibly get on a tour.
11. Where can our audience catch you live? We haven’t locked in any dates at this stage but we’ll be announcing some shows in Melbourne soon.
FACEBOOK : https://www.facebook.com/americandoubles/
TWITTER : https://twitter.com/americandoubles
INSTAGRAM : https://www.instagram.com/americandoubles/
SOUNDCLOUD : https://soundcloud.com/americandoubles/
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