Gyroscope - Spinning Around

One of the nation’s most notable bands have given we, the little people at The Dwarf, the time of day. God bless them. We had to wait a little while, but finally our big questions have been answered. Gyroscope has lovingly responded to our hard-hitting queries.

The kids in the band have triumphantly returned from this years’ Big Day Outs. Having set off with a “Fuck yeah!” and a colossal keenness to put out a tight set, we now have them back to chat with us. How lucky are we? Very.

Before they set off they told us that they were most looking forward to playing with Arcade Fire because “they are a really amazing band and great live too” and Karnivool as “they absolutely dominate in the heavy spectrum of music”. Gyroscope also told us that they were looking forward to playing live as playing ‘Snakeskin’ to an audience “has been awesome and now 1981 is getting a great reaction too.”

However, now that the Big Day Outs are over and done with and the excitement has subdued, Gyroscope have left us with Breed Obsession. A new album full of fresh little ditties. Breed Obsession is the successor to colossal albums Sound Shattering Sound and Are You Involved, so any empathetic, decent human would forgive you if you got a little bit keen. The good boys at Gyroscope tell us we should rush out and purchase said album for a number of reasons…well, one. However, it’s a good reason. Apparently “there has not been such an energetic and diverse rock album been made by an Australian band quite like this in a very long time”. With ‘Snakeskin’ and ‘1981’ going off like rockets up the charts, one supposes that the boys don’t have to force the record upon people.

They did however force Snakeskin from the piano - an interesting change of pace for the boys. Being a relatively heavy rock band, tinkling on the ivories seemed to be quite a queer way to write a typical Gyroscope song. They tell us that they did this to challenge themselves and experiment. Using the piano as a the starting block has proven to be “the best way to inspire fresh ideas and directions.” Who knew? Well, now you do. Of this springboard for creating new songs, the boys say, “sometimes it works – à la Snakeskin” and “sometimes it doesn’t.” They go on to tell us of a song entitled ‘TV TV’ wherein Dan “made up his own language through melody”. Fascinating stuff.

Also fascinating is the fact that the Snakeskin video (filmed in Wiltshire, a hop, skip and a jump away from Stonehenge) - you know, where Gyroscope play in a giant crop circle, strangely akin to the one on the cover of Zeppelin’s Remasters disc - is actually shot on the same farm as the one the Remasters disc. No wonder it seemed familiar. There you go.

The band also recorded Breed Obsession abroad, (in Liverpool) and say that making an album away from home adds a sense of “enormity” to the process. The chaps couldn’t enumerate the exact result that creating an album overseas had on the end product but that they “believe it has a big bearing” on it. “Being in another country with the soul purpose of creating an amazing album really helps you focus.” The best about it though, is the cyclical process of creation that travelling generates: “it creates more life experience which ultimately influences the next batch of songs.” Let’s all hope they had a great time, or a rotten time, whatever churns out better songs.

Despite all of these achievements that we’ve been raving about in the word army above Gyroscope tells us that there career highlight hasn’t included any of the things we’ve mentioned already. Instead they choose to cite “touring South Africa at the end of ‘06” as the toast of their work. The fellows enjoyed it so much because “it’s an amazing country full of contradictions.” They say that they “learned a lot and played some really great shows.”

Before I let the boys of Gyroscope return to their happy world of rock and roll, I had to know why all of them bagged ‘Get Down’ quite so much. Go and have a look on their website, rummage around a little in their individual biographies and you’ll find that most of them aren’t big fans of the song; at all. They explain that it’s “a bit too throwaway” and “almost just too pop and straightforward.” I’m gutted personally; it’s one of my favourites - because of its poppy straightforwardness. Anyways, they suggest what is supposedly an old adage to justify their dislike “the faster it sticks, the quicker it falls.” I’m left mildly confused, but have had my hatred for quality glue sorted out.

Breed Obsession is out now through Warner.

Share this article on Facebook