MT. NADIR

Words/Interview: Aysha Swanson

Images: Isabella Rae-Argo (issyrfilm)

Above: (left to right) Frankie Rosbrook, Arjun Singh, Magnus Hooper, Conor Harris and Jake Mallet

The air is warm, humming with the soft electricity of late night closeness. A group of friends gathers in the living room, dimly lit—lamplight, maybe, or fairy lights sagging from the ceiling fan. The room feels like an exhale. A kind of belonging that hums beneath the skin.

Laughter comes sometimes, soft and sudden, like wind catching a curtain. A thumb brushes a cheekbone. A head rests against a shoulder. Eyes close—not from exhaustion, but from comfort. Someone’s rolled a cigarette and forgotten it behind their ear. The ashtray is overflowing, pushed around between sips of flat ginger beer and warm cider. Someone’s playing a record that’s skipping, but the skip has rhythm now, so it stays.

He's halfway through a story no one really believes, about a stranger on the night bus who handed him a perfectly peeled orange and said nothing. He’s got this way of telling things like he’s remembering them and making them up at the same time, and everyone’s too lazy to call bullshit. She’s upside down on the couch, feet over the back, sipping tea from a mug that says “World’s Best Mum” - she’s not a mum, just someone who hoards mugs from op shops. Time loops instead of passing.

Maybe that’s why no one’s rushing to speak. The night is in that perfect phase where every gesture feels like it means something. A knee pressed against a thigh. Fingers tangled in someone’s hair. Touches don't ask anything, just saying I’m here. So are you.

And outside, the sun slips lower, shy behind the jacarandas.

This is Mt. Nadir - music to kiss your friends to. An alternative outfit from Meanjin/Brisbane, Mt. Nadir is composed of Frankie (Vox), Arjun (Guitar), Conor (Drums), Magnus (Guitar) and Jake (Bass). Their newest single ‘HEROWORSHIP’ is a study in familial devotion—tender, fierce, and unwavering.

AYSHA: Hey guys thanks so much for chatting with me today! Let’s start with how you all met and formed Mt. Nadir?

MAGNUS: This is interesting I actually don't know this story.

JAKE: Me and Connor tried to jam, we both moved down to Brisbane at the same time so then we met had a jam, trying to do a two-piece. We were like this isn't going to work out, we got to bring in more people. So, I posted on the Brisbane music scene page that I was like looking for guitarist to join a band and Frankie messaged. Then me, Frankie and Connor linked up. The vibe was good it didn't feel too awkward for very long, then we had Ben join, he was playing alongside with us.

FRANKIE: So, Ben was lovely and great but after like a couple of months we thought okay we want to do the serious band thing. Whereas Ben was like okay let's experiment and switch instruments.

JAKE: We did that for maybe for like a month and then Jaina had put up a post looking for a band, so I messaged her.

FRANKIE: It was us five for a bit and then Ben eventually was like 'actually no, probably not'.

JAKE: We met Arjun when played a gig at It's Still a Secret.

FRANKIE: Sadly, closing now, sadly closing down.

JAKE: Through this gig we became friends with Arjun and we were looking for a new rhythm guitarist cause Frankie’s hands get too sore.

[All laugh]

FRANKIE: I couldn't play rhythm guitar. The basic chords and the structures of the song they worked for the first EP. But then we tried to write more music, and we just couldn't. We needed a more skilled rhythm guitarist, and I was sick of rhythm guitar. I didn't want to learn to get better so we thought 'who can we call on?' We all just loved Arjun, we all had these seperate little relationships with him, it was the obvious choice.

JAKE: We rocked with Arjun for a year and then Jaina departed doing her thing over in New York, shout out Jaina. So we were looking for a new lead guitarist and had a couple jams with Magnus. He is a mentally good lead guitar player.

MAGNUS: Yeah we all knew each other already. I think it made it easy to just sort of fit right in. Didn't feel like there wasn't that awkward stage of ‘oh it's a new person’. It felt very organic, so it was nice.

AYSHA: So, you just released a brand new single 'HEROWORSHIP'. I guess the first thing I was immediately curious about was what the symbolism of the cover art and title name is, before we delve into the sound and lyrics.

FRANKIE: So, the cover art we have our good friend Sarah Logie. She does all our designs, and she's brilliant. In the past cover art, we'd just done film photos. We wanted to do proper cover art this time.

JAKE: We would just find things that we think are cool. And then later on, find these cool meanings within the art that kind of went back to the song. Rather than being like, this is exactly what the song is all about. Which I think is a really cool thing. Like even with the band name, we kind of just thought it sounded cool, but then the whole ‘mountain’ ‘nadir’ juxtaposition. It was a cool meaning.

FRANKIE: There wasn't any clear thing of like, ‘we want a boy and an axe and a snake’. We had some Pinterest photos we sent to her and she heard the song as well. It was a lot of her own work. She really just captured what she heard and saw in a really special way. I love it.

I do think something about that boy with the snake around the neck, for me, it felt like being a kid and just strangled by expectations that are hard to know what to do with. Claustrophobic. And the nakedness of him as well, there's something about that. Like, you're in a very vulnerable position and feeling strangled. And the type of music we make, I think, relates to that.

JAKE: Even the song, I think just a lot of people have this inner child. The older you get, the more you get strangled. You just kind of come into society. Those kind of expectations of playing this stereotypical masculine or feminine role. I think you have this inner child that kind of just wants to be who they are, but you get trapped in all these expectations of who people think you are.

AYSHA: And similar with the title, would you say?

FRANKIE: So this song is about this person who was really mean to someone I love and how it brought up strong feelings of anger and loyalty in me. Which were welcome feelings. I don't feel them much. Hero worship was part of what this person was doing to this person I love – fostering hero worship. Getting lots of people on his side. He was garnering hero worship around himself to ostracise the person I loved.

Above: 'HEROWORSHIP' Cover Art by Sarah Logie (@sarahlogiedesign)

AYSHA: I definitely noticed a shift in your usual song style with this release, especially Frankie your singing in a completely different way, I was just wondering what the inspiration was behind the style of the song?

JAKE: I don't think there was any, but this is probably what we were all kind of into at the time –

FAN: Sorry to interrupt, but I love the new song. So good, so good. I was listening to it today, you know? I was like yeah that's great. I see you guys walk up the stairs. I'm like, I gotta say something. I worship you!

FRANKIE: Oh thank you so much!

AYSHA: That was an awesome moment that’s making the interview.

[All laugh]

FRANKIE: I think it was also Arjun and what he played. It was the first song he played with us. I think it was Arjun's influence that gave it this different, is it a psyche or an edge?

MAGNUS: I've definitely noticed the sonic shift just from, as a listener, obviously coming into it from the outside. Listening to all your old stuff I could definitely notice there's a shift in the sound. I like it. Now that I've met Arjun as well, I can see where it's coming from. The different influences coming together.

FRANKIE: In terms of the voice, I'm not sure. This is a song where the instrumentation came first, and I found the vocal line to match it. It feels like, in the past, I've sung at a higher range. I think that's to do with, not to get too deep here, but I speculate that it was a time when I was experimenting with gender a lot as well and seeing in the higher vocal range made me feel in alignment with my femininity. As I've settled into a more comfortable version of myself gender-wise, I'm able to more comfortably explore different vocal ranges and feel comfortable in that and feel powerful in that. Not to have anything to do with masculine or feminine, but just being whatever it is and sounding however it sounds.

AYSHA: Going into the lyrics, my personal favourite was “one more question about the lines around your face, where did they go can they come back and can they stay”. And I was just wondering what that meant to you specifically, because I just thought it was really beautiful.

FRANKIE: Thank you, I'm so glad you like those ones. I like those ones too. So this person who I loved went through a really hard time and during that really hard time we got closer because they softened in a way I've never seen them soften before. As time went on, and that period ended, they got better, and we grew more distant again.

So I'm kind of asking about the lines around this person's face – the lines representing stress or sadness – I'm saying what happened to the lines around your face? Can they come back, and can they stay? because the closeness we built during that time of distress was so meaningful. I think it taps into just my love of painful things and how beautiful things can come from deep hurtful or gut-wrenching feelings.

AYSHA: You guys have had quite a few member changes recently, does that change your writing process? Does your sound evolve with each member and what they bring to the band?

JAKE: I think if you were to remove any band member at the time of writing the song, the song would be completely different. When Arjun came in, he gave such a different angle to our sound. Magnus brings such a different sound as well. I think the band isn't necessarily driven by one sound or one member, but each member kind of brings their own unique touch.

FRANKIE: And I love that. But I think what's really hard when you first started a collaborative band, is relinquishing creative control. Being able to have an idea of what the song is and then let it go in totally different directions. At some points you're like, 'do I even like this song?' Because they're taking it in a different direction, and I don't know what it is anymore. But then learning to love that process. I think at this point I've just let go of needing to totally understand the song. The fun is finding a part that I love for myself within this song for me. A lot of our songs – even ‘HEROWORSHIP’ – I'm like, this isn’t music that I'd usually listen to even, or be drawn to really immediately. But it grows on me because it's so different.

MAGNUS: There's beauty in being able to lean and rely on other people. So sometimes you write something, and you get stuck. Having that external ‘well what about this?’ And it's an avenue you wouldn't have ever considered, but it works. There’s beauty in having that. Everyone's like a different piece of the puzzle. Sometimes you're trying to connect two pieces together that don't fit, and then sometimes it just works.

AYSHA: Now broadening out, you guys have been in the Brisbane music scene for a little while now, I’m curious as to how you think the scene has changed over the years?

JAKE: I think I moved to Brisbane and started 2021. So obviously, COVID hits. We start Mt Nadir and we start jamming, end of 2021, play our first show in March 2022. It's this weird time for live music. I don't know if we've broken out of that yet. At the end of the day, I think the scene is always going to stick together. There are so many good bands in Brisbane at the moment. Everyone still wants to play music. It's definitely dire for a lot of music venues. I'm a firm believer that the music will always win at the end of the day.

FRANKIE: For me, I've been in the scene for what, three years? A band that struck me recently is seeing Worm Girlz. What I'm enjoying seeing is overtly political and feminist bands do their thing. You can see bands coming in that really shake things up and stir things up, because they're really willing to challenge norms that exist.

JAKE: I think in the Brisbane Music scene, women drive a lot of it. A lot of the bands that I think that are making cool music are very driven by women. Shout out to women in the Brisbane Music scene. I think they're killing it.

AYSHA: I know Jordan mentioned this on Sonic Alien to you Frankie, but I am so curious what the ‘Garden’ you refer to is on your Instagram socials, is there anything you can reveal to the public, can we expect some more new music on the horizon this year, is this a tease?

MAGNUS: We've been advised by management not to say anything.

FRANKIE: Our lawyers have heavily advised us to avoid any talk of the ‘G word’.

JAKE: The garden is coming, that's what we'll say first and foremost. Second, follow us on Spotify, because maybe something's going to pop up. If you don't follow us, there's like a high chance of it. You'll miss it.

AYSHA: Is there anything you want our readers to know about, any upcoming shows to promote?

FRANKIE: Well Sonic Alien – Jordan's radio show from Triple Z – has its one-year anniversary in the show on the 19th of April at the Bearded Lady.

JAKE: Bean Magazine headlining, we're coming before them and then we've got Blue Diner, as well and RENO ltd.

AYSHA: My last question is if you had an alter ego band, so completely different name and genre, what would it be?

MAGNUS: I got one, it would be like a punk sort of electric outfit, and it would be called DVD. I'm thinking like a four piece.

[All laugh]

JAKE: I think I'd probably do a psychedelic jazzy project, and I’d call it Nujrah. Only joking, I'd probably go like a very modern post-punk sound, a lot of talking like some early Fontaines D.C. Name? I don't know, I've got a name in my mind. But I think if I ever release a solo project, that's going to be the name. So, I don't want to leak it.

FRANKIE: I would do a hyper pop project, maybe some rap in there? And like I would be singing with a lot of autotune as well. Um, it'd be really sexy. That's the first one. Second option is like pop punk situation.

MAGNUS: I think I always wanted to secretly want to be a DJ, like when I was younger, I was like, yeah, I'm going to produce electronic dance music big time.

JAKE: Little David Guetta number?

MAGNUS: Yeah fully. If you saw my old iPod classic when I was like 12, 13, it was like Deadmau5, Skrillex, Flume. Then it just didn't happen for me.

AYSHA: What would your DJ name be?

MAGNUS: It would be something like really shit, I reckon. Maybe it's the one name, just ‘Magnus’. Or ‘Magnussy’ with like two-dollar signs.

FRANKIE: I have a name for my project. It'd be ‘Getting Back At’, and then someone's name on it, like ‘Getting Back At’ Timothee Chalamet.

JAKE: I had a couple rap names, ‘Swank Boy J’ and ‘MC Mallet’, or ‘Timomallet’ like Timomatic. Shout out Timomatic.

MT. NADIR 

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