By ALANA MITCHELSON
Electro-pop dance band Art Vs Science returns to Geelong next month with new tunes and a colourful live set.
The Off the Edge of the Earth album tour will bring back the ARIA-award-winning act for its first show in the city since 2011.
Guitarist Dan McNamee said fans could now expect a new record annually after waiting four years for the follow-up to the band’s debut release.
“In 2011, we were a bit burnt out, not only after all of the touring but just from growing and changing as people,“ he told the Indy.
“When there’s that much drinking and smoking and being out all the time it can be tough, especially when you play a couple of shows that don’t go well and that does happen.
“We’ve really found our way and we’re back in a good space.
“Our new music has a sort of Gorillaz flavour to it. It’s still dance music but it’s a bit more anchored.”
McNamee tried his hand at directing the band’s music video for latest single Chosen One, with the clip depicting the band’s adventures on tour.
“We do try to get the most out of touring,” he explained.
“I once went on a six-day camping trip with the boys to the Overland Track in Tasmania. One night we were attacked by possums – there were all these little beady little eyes surrounding our tent.
“We were, like, lying head-to-toe in this tiny tent. It was very close quarters for three grown men.
“I’ve also been on some really nice walks. In Perth, I woke up really early one day because I was still jetlagged and walked along the Swan River and watched the sunrise.”
McNamee said he also enjoyed improvising when playing live.
“Sometimes, a few things come out on the fly. They do come very directly out of the sky, you’re just feeling it and you go with it.
“When you’re playing live and use so many effects pedals, something invariably falls out or they’ll be too much smoke on stage and we can’t see hand queues, so you have to be ready to adapt quickly.
“I think it actually makes a live set more fluid and natural.
“I get a lot of my inspiration from this beautiful old organ my uncle gave me. It has this magical old presence about it, in this ’80s-Nintendo-fairytale kind of a way.
“I think that’s reflected in our new music.”
Art Vs Science plays the Barwon Club on 9 March.
Click below to watch Art vs Science’s new music video Chosen One.
