Local indie outfit Danni and the Lapels released their debut EP Everyword last month and OUTinPerth spoke to front woman Danni Ammon just as the new recording was released.
‘I love it to be honest,’ she said of the new EP, ‘because they are all songs that I’ve written.’
Everyword is the stand-out release on the EP; the more upbeat tempo, or ‘crazy drum beat’ as Ammon puts it, is a shift from their more mellow repertoire.
Danni and the Lapels is a recent creation; the band played its first live gig in March, although this eclectic duo does have a history. Ammon has been gigging locally since 2008 when she played guitar for The Blue Finish, a Perth indie-pop band. Late last year, Ammon teamed up with the Blue Finish’s drummer Salv Di Criscito to form the Lapels and the two-piece has been working on Ammon’s own songs ever since.
Ammon and Di Criscito spent a solid week laying down the EP which marked the third time in the studio for Ammon.
‘I was a little bit nervous [but] it just felt really good,’ she said.
She credited Di Criscito as a big influence to the sound and make-up of the band since their split from The Blue Finish.
‘He is an amazing musician; he’ll feel the song and find something that will fit it.’
Crowded House, Dashboard Confessional and the Shins are just some of Ammon’s influences; subtle qualities from them resonate within her own music. Her writing style carries the same unconventional structures as Death Cab for Cutie, another influence.
‘I’d like to write more music the normal way,’ she said, ‘the majority of my songs is written the quirky way.’
‘I think to get anywhere these days you have to stay true [to yourself], you don’t want to change your music for the people.’
Ammon is pragmatic though about the music industry; she is no bleeding heart when it comes to the reality of showbiz. She relents that musicians do have to consider the ‘marketing side of it’.
‘I’m putting everything into it to get the most out of it.’
Benn Dorrington
***
