NEW TV

Words: Keeley Thompson

Images: New TV

From her place on the floor, a fur-trimmed turquoise coat gives her a warm hug as he awakens a sonic dream with an astral melody. The dream pirouettes, dancing through a selection of keyboards, tapestries and trinkets and rests amongst the adolescent ideas that idle above the duo. A careful selection of lighting provides the space with the warmth of a peachy, summer afternoon sunset as gentle laughs and quiet conversation add sugary depth to the metaphorical horizon.

This is the home of Meanjin (Brisbane) and Sunshine Coast locals, New TV.

With an ever-changing definition of their sound, New TV can elegantly float through different sonic spaces without compromising their musical identity. Despite their shifting sound, New TV provides a reliable dream to rest in while their music navigates the subtleties of relationships with self, others, life, and lovers.

New TV is the dream-pop-lo fi-synth-electronica-ambient creation of Claudia Vogel (aka Fiddle) and Brad Durrant. The result of two friends collaborating to create music from a place of passion and authenticity, New TV is a versatile dream that you won’t want to wake up from.

KEELEY: Talk me through your music creation process.

FIDDLE: Because we don’t live together, Brad will usually send an idea to me. Usually, the instruments are already written and I’ll write lyrics after. I send a little clip back to him to see what he thinks and then eventually we’ll get together and perform it. It kind of grows from there really.

BRAD: Yeah absolutely!

FIDDLE: It’s funny listening to the original mixes and how much they change. Even just simple additions like a guitar in the background or bells on the synth can breathe so much life into the songs.

BRAD: Totally. It’s so nice listening to the old tracks and remembering how hyped you get when you add something to it and how it just keeps building from there.

KEELEY: Where does your inspiration lyrically and instrumentally come from?

FIDDLE: I’m not someone that grew up writing music, so I’ve never had much music writing experience.

But inspiration from the lyrics comes from a lot of places. It really depends on the overall vibe of the song when he sends it to me. Honestly, there is such a mood that Brad creates with the instruments and the way he chooses to set them out. I think we really bounce off each other.

There’s been times when I’ve been completely stumped, but other times the ideas come easily - almost out of nowhere. I do have a couple of things from previous projects and ideas that I’ve referred back to occasionally too.

BRAD: The notes app gets wild hey!

I looove 80’s pop and stuff like that so instrumentally, a lot of my inspiration comes from a single note or synth bass line. I just try to read the energy the first instrument gives. Sometimes I build from the random titles we give the demos before they’re officially named. Like one of the songs Up All Night was probably just because I was literally up till 4am fucking around.

FIDDLE: Actually yeah! Sometimes he sends the track with a name, and I just try and work from that. Our song Artificial Lake is based around an artificial lake of love, and I don't think I ever would have used that metaphor had he not named the song that in the first place.

Brad is such a production wizard and is a massive motivator.

KEELEY: How do you manage not being in the same city? Obviously you can’t just pop around for a jam.

BRAD: I think driving in the car is a big part of it for Fiddle. I often get a voice memo from her that’s been recorded in the car.

FIDDLE: Yeah a lot of the lyrics have been written while I’ve been driving. It’s funny how when you sit down with a plan to write, the only thing that comes out is writer's block - I second guess my writing too much! But when I’m driving, I can’t question what comes out because I’m focussing on driving so it’s a lot more unfiltered.

BRAD: We always make sure we have something to work on when we do meet up and will organise the studio time in advance to give ourselves time to flesh out ideas (and make sure we’ve got work off!)

FIDDLE: We’re going at our own pace with this all too, which I’m glad about. Because we don’t feel pressured to release music, we’ve been able to produce tracks that we’re really proud of and add things that we probably wouldn't have thought of if we didn’t give ourselves that time.

KEELEY: I think that operating under the pressure to release music quickly (or on a certain schedule) can be the demise of a lot of musicians. Creativity doesn’t always come on demand!

BRAD: I definitely have fought over that a bit! Often the music that comes out of that pressure doesn’t feel as organic or fulfilling. Sometimes they can be diamonds, but it’s a balancing act.

KEELEY: How did you both get into music (as individuals)?

BRAD: Oooh shit. I think my parents had me playing violin when I was seven or something.

FIDDLE: Hahahah the classic!

KEELEY: Hahaha same! Violin and saxophone here!

BRAD: I did sax too! I didn’t really love violin - it was when I started saxophone that I really started to get into music. I used to play with orchestras but it kind of faded out.

I got back into music with an electric guitar when I was 13 or 14. Around 18 I got into a couple of cover bands playing at pubs. Those days were so fun - when you could burn the candle at both ends because it was all so exciting. I was a breakfast chef so I’d start at 6am but would be up till 4am playing gigs.

FIDDLE: I was similar. I chose to play violin at school and took a bit of a natural shine to it and just loved it! Coming from a classical background, my first contemporary band experience and playing in front of friends for the first time really changed my view and goals with music.

KEELEY: And how did New TV come about?

FIDDLE: We started writing music together for fun really and it grew from there.

BRAD: About two years ago, I think?

FIDDLE: Yeah! A year ago we thought “why don’t we work on them and release them?”. And the rest is history!

KEELEY: Do you have any songs that you remember really changing your outlook on music (both as a listener and as a creator)?

BRAD: I was super into metal as a kid (I was an emo kid for sure). But I got into Neil Young and that’s when I started playing guitar in a more melodic way. That was when I kind of realised not everything needs to be thick and heavily distorted.

FIDDLE: One of my biggest stray aways from the music I was used to listening to was probably Mac Miller! I’ve never been huge on rap, so I surprised myself when I liked it.

Also ‘Hotel California’ by The Eagles. That was life changing for me.

KEELEY: Three desert island albums?

FIDDLE: Daft Punk'S Discovery

BRAD: You’re a cheeky one... That was gonna be one of mine!

FIDDLE: You can still pick it! The others would be Swimming by Mac Miller and Salad Days by Mac Demarco

BRAD: I’d say Daft Punk's Homework, And Justice for All by Metallica and Lonerism by Tame Impala.

KEELEY: What would be your dream rider?

FIDDLE: Anything pink gin. Also the Gold Medal Snacks pork crackle chips.

BRAD: A bottle of Jamieson and a pack of Tim Tams. That’d be sick. And probably a cheeky pack of Champion Ruby or something.

KEELEY: What’s your proudest moment as a band so far?

BRAD: I’d say when we first put ‘Searching’ out.

FIDDLE: Yeah! And when ‘Change your Mind’ hit 10K listens. We’ve been really stoked that people are listening! I wasn’t expecting our songs to even hit 1,000 so it’s been such a great experience.

BRAD: Even more so because we haven’t even played live! In the previous bands we’ve been in it’s been gigs first and recording second so to get that kind of engagement and following without gigging has been so cool.

KEELEY: And finally! What’s next for New TV?

FIDDLE: Well, we’ve got an EP coming out on the 12th of October! You can expect everything you’ve already heard from us… and more. Oh, and maybe potentially a live show?!

PRESAVE THEIR NEW EP HERE

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