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The Van She Party is about to roll into town! In fact, it’s about to roll out across the entire country in a non-stop, party machine manner. And just like a relentless weekend that refuses to die, it promises one magnificent hang over.
But for now, on the cusp of its onslaught, Mikey Di Francesco – Van She’s keyboardist, is enjoying the seeming quietude. He has polished off a massive plate of cannelloni after having spent the morning working on a remix of Changes, one of the 12 hotter than hot songs which appear on Van She’s long awaited debut, V. So far, confessed Di Francesco, it’s been a very productive day.
V is the album that took Van She three years to make since 2005’s self-titled debut EP which contained the now iconic single, Kelly. So, is this album something people will fall in love with? ‘There aren’t many lovemaking moments on the album,’ quipped Di Francesco, ‘but there are definitely falling in love moments.
‘There’s one song in particular – Talkin’ – which makes you feel like you’re driving across the Glebe Island Bridge in a convertible, with the wind blowing in your hair and you feel like you could just drive forever. Everything’s just right, everything’s just perfect. And even when you get out of the car and your hair’s been blowing around in the wind, you still feel perfect.’
Such perfection, however, is sometimes created through almost synchronistic accidents. Take for example the dreamy romanticism that is The Sea, a seductive lullaby of power pop and delicate textures. ‘That song came about through a degree of miscommunication between two members in the band. They misinterpreted what the other person said and played two entirely different things and then The Sea happened before our very eyes. That’s one that actually came together really quickly.’
And if the breakdown on the song sounds as though it’s come from outer space… well, that’s because it has. ‘While we were recording it in London with the producer, Jim Abissis, they wired up this thing where they’d senda signal from recording the drums up into space, via iChat, and then back down to another computer. They’d mic’ up the output of that computer, so the sound was going up to space and back. This technique gave it a Lance Armstrong appeal. Throughout the recording process we would often joke that it was one small step for mankind but a giant step for Van She!’
It adds a whole new twist to the fact that Van She consider their music to be star-gaze rather than the commonly dubbed shoe-gaze label it’s been tagged with. ‘I suppose there is that shoe gaze kind of thing,’ confessed Di Francesco, ‘but we like to call it more kind of star gaze party music. We don’t look at our shoes and we’re not a melancholy band, as individuals or even musically. I think that shoe gaze thing applies to the textures and that wall of sound layering. We tend to look more toward the stars though.’
But what of the influences which drive Van She? There’s a clear esotericism to their debut album, but Di Francesco added that while movie soundtracks, The Cars, Beat Boys and Daft Punk are obvious influences, it’s ultimately the sway of their parents who have shaped the sound of Van She. ‘As children growing up we were all victims of our parent’s record collection. From my experience my father used to wake me up with Rage every Saturday and Sunday morning. So I suppose you’re at the mercy of your parent’s musical taste to the point where you start to discover things yourself.’
And you yourself can discover the Van She Party experience – which includes their DJ aspect Van She Tech – when it hits Perth firstly at the beginning of September for the official album launches, firstly at The Capital (Sept. 6) then Fly by Night Club (Sept. 7). Then, after several bog-laps around the country, they return to play Perth Parklife on September 29. However, V – which debuted at number 10 in the ARIA in its first week of release – is available now from Modular, and is the perfect album to carry a party from the start to the heady middle to the soft crash of its close.
