Sextet: Alpine plays Geelong next month.
By Cherie Donnellan
ANY AWARD for Most Original Band Formation would surely go to indie pop sextet Alpine.
Best friends and co-vocalists Lou James and Phoebe Baker had guitarist Christian O’Brien as their singing teacher.
He grew up in Phillip Island with drummer Phil Tucker.
James and Baker met bassist Ryan Lamb at a Melbourne bar when he was a backpacker.
James attended university with keyboardist Tim Royall.
Baker told the Independent the eclectic group had become a “family”.
Baker admitted the band comprised “a bunch of dags” with a love of whiskey and “treats like cakes”.
“We’re like brothers and sisters now,” she observed.
“We even make playlists for each other to play during car trips.”
Baker described the band’s debut album, A is for Alpine, as a “chocolate box”.
“We’ve got songs that are quite upbeat dance tunes and then much more mellow ones.”
The lyrics denoted “an exploration through our 20-something emotions”, she said.
“There are a few songs that touch on anxiety, then some about love and lust and some even about the things we’ve experience while travelling.”
The band was excited to play at Geelong’s Bended Elbow as part of its first headline tour this September.
Baker said Alpine had worked hard to develop its live sound while supporting major acts like The Jezabels, Matt Corby, Kimbra and Sia.
“We’ve been developing our live show through those shows and now we’re so excited we can tour for our album.
“It’s our music, so it’s really special.”
Baker said the band revelled in working with directors who created quirky video clips to accompany Alpine’s music.
“It takes strong image to please us and it’s fun to see how directors interpret our music.”
Baker reminisced shooting second single Villages at a “haunted mansion”.
“We travelled to Campbelltown, two hours south of Sydney, to this quiet suburban town and in the middle of it was this beautiful mansion,” she remembered.
“We arrived at four in the morning and this Irish caretaker with bushy eyebrows greeted us.
“Then he told us he lived with two little children who were ghosts.”
“It was an awesome shoot,” Baker laughed.
