Plant-like animals: Zoophyte plays Geelong next week.
By Cherie Donnellan
ZOOPHYTE’S first film clip depicts the members washing up on a beach but the band is far from washed up.
After recently finishing a successful tour with INXS, Zoophyte will hit Geelong’s shores next week during a regional tour.
Lead singer Cam Lee spoke to the Independent about the video for Let You Go and how a line-up change for the Melbourne band was “a blessing in disguise”.
“My brother, Andy, and I came up with the beach concept for Let You Go,” Lee said.
“The song reflects a sort of wash-yourself-clean vibe, kind of like how the band is starting afresh. It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek.”
Lee recalled struggling to swim fully-clothed, guitar in hand, for the clip.
“It was cold and the surf was huge. It was, well, slightly harder than I anticipated,” he laughed.
Despite the shoot costing several guitars and cymbals lost in the surf, Lee thought the band “nailed” the shoot.
“Now we’re tossing around a few ideas for the next single.”
Lee described soon-to-be-released album Somewhere Elsewhere as Zoophyte’s “most cohesive” recording yet through the band’s various reformations.
“I think this album’s quite different to anything we’ve done in the past, mainly due to the line-up change. I mean, the band used to be quite eclectic but our music has a lot stronger direction now.”
Lee reminisced about his pact with bassist Andrew Gilpin to “jam weekly” after the departure of two of Zoophyte’s original members.
“It was quite disappointing when everything fell apart. We’d been so successful touring with (2007 album) Another Point of View.
“But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because Gilpin and I could just meet up, write and record whatever we wanted.”
Lee said the pair had “no preconceived ideas” about releasing another Zoophyte album at the time.
But when Aljus and guitarist Rob Muinos joined, the foursome made a “new dynamic that worked”.
“We spent time on vocals and harmonies, something we hadn’t previously done.
“We’d always rehearsed the musical side of things but didn’t explore tones in our voices, so we spent a lot of time in the studio harmonising for this album.”
Lee described Zoophyte’s new sound as a “guitar-driven, big rock sound”.
“We’ve got the delayed guitars, the hooky vocals and, of course, a lot of harmonies.”
Zoophyte plays Geelong’s Bended Elbow on July 20.
