Mikey Young Special
The state of Eddy Current and the thrilling search for new music
Noah catches up with Mikey Young about the state of things for Eddy Current Suppression Ring (ECSR) and how creating things with people he loves keeps him sane.
Do you guys (ECSR) still get together regularly to make music or just catch up for a beer?
We jam pretty much every week and make new tunes. If we don’t, regular hanging out falls by the wayside and months can go by without seeing each other. It’s probably the best think about scheduled jams. It forces me to make time for my friends as I can be pretty slack with that otherwise.
You played a secret show last Saturday to a wild audience (the footage on social’s looked epic). How did that feel and does it give you all the hunger to get out there more often?
Not sure yet. It had a real nice nervous energy, playing new tunes and seeing what the response was to that. That new band feeling. People seemed to dig it.
I like the idea of more shows like that in small interesting locations. Not be difficult or exclusive, just to get used to playing again and playing new songs. They are also the shows we like to play the most.
I don’t think any of us are ready to jump into ‘real’ shows for a while.
Do you feel a sense of expectation surrounding the band’s future output if you do decide to release another album?
Not really. All we can do is try and capture how we sound and feel when we play at that time and leave it at that. I do my best (thought not always successfully) to not overthink it all. It’s occasionally necessary to check ourselves and realise it’s not really that important anyway. Just some lads with some simple jams. I feel grateful that anyone cares about anything we’ve ever done. We have been treated kindly.
You are a very busy man about town with your many bands and mastering duties, how do you balance it all and stay sane?
I think the multiple bands help. They are all very different so mentally they don’t really overlap and they are often not all active at the same time. My day job mixing and mastering is mostly solitary so having those outlets after hours to hang out and create things with people I love is part of what keeps me sane. I don’t have kids and my partner and I make music together so that no doubt helps. Usually if I feel I'm losing it, I just walk to the post office and try and get some sun and things seem manageable again.
Outside of music what are the things that you put your energy into?
Hmmmm, there really isn’t much outside of music. I put a lot of energy into making the compilations that I do. Just finished a new one last week that should be out later this year.
The search for music that is new to me is still as thrilling as ever.
There are things I love outside of music….books and film mainly but not really anything I personally put energy into.
Finally, who are your favourite local Melbourne bands at the moment or who would you like to see interviewed for Tempo?
I’m pretty terrible at getting out and seeing enough new bands that don’t have my friends in them so my answers a little narrow and biased, I get so much joy watching Sleeper and Snake play, likewise Alex MacFarlane solo shows. Romansy are extremely entertaining. Last Jess Ribeiro show I saw was gorgeous. I haven’t seen them yet but the demo recordings of the band Who Cares? I heard on YouTube sounded wonderful and by all reports, the live show is as well.