On Cloud Ice 9
Jordan talks to Noah about worthwhile references, staying genre-less, and playing more shows with spooky energy out in the scray
Al from EXEK recommended your music to me and I am glad he did as I have enjoyed hearing your sounds. How do you go about getting your sound out there in the world?
That’s real sweet of Al, he’s a big inspo both musically and as someone who’s been getting it done diy for a long time - there’s not a lot of bands with consistent and quality output over such a solid period - I hope we can be as equally relentless haha.
I guess the common way, no blimps or parades yet but just putting out records and playing shows - those two entities (recorded vs live) are a little different which is somewhat intentional but maybe isn’t the best marketing strategy in regards to “getting our sound out”, but I think we’ve always liked expanding on the Ci9 world as opposed to distilling it. Plus I think our varied sounds has also given us opportunities to play with lots of different kinds of bands and reach different demographics which is really important to us, not to kind of exist in one sphere or “scene”.
I always enjoy trying to figure out the meaning behind a band name. Sometimes it can simply be words put together, which leads me to ask where Cloud Ice 9 came from? My two guesses are it’s a reference to Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle book or being on Cloud 9 with the involvement of a stimulant!
Yeah Vonnegut! He was my gateway into science fiction, which as a genre, has influenced Cloud Ice 9 endlessly. That’s thanks to Joe actually (our sax/synth player) who I’ve known for a long time, he gave me Breakfast Of Champions when we were in our early 20s and I became completely hooked and read almost all his books. I was initially worried about the drug connotation, but then when you meet people who lean in and go “Cat’s Cradle, right?” you really appreciate those moments, and the reference feels worthwhile.
The name is about the human enthusiasm for inciting the end of the world.
To me, there is a bit of mystery surrounding your band with little written information around what you do. I think this adds to the music as you invite listeners to experience without the preamble on what to expect. Was this strategic?
I think it's half strategy, half not really being bothered trying to nail it down, leave it up to interpretation etc. We’ve never liked the idea of being a band that’s got a specific genre stamped to it, we all come from very different musical backgrounds and I think that shows up in the sound. Maybe that’s a good reason to warrant a preamble/explanation haha, but I’ve never really liked that side of it, best to just serve hot no questions asked.
When we started I wore a wig and shades as I was pretty hell-bent on this idea of characters, anonymity, mystery, etc, which I guess it was a bit of a Bowie tip on blending fiction and reality which I got around at the time. However I think eventually that felt like a wall, not a point of connection so, now it’s a lot more earnest which I think serves the music better but yeah, we don’t really try and tell people what it is, mostly because we’re not entirely sure ourselves.
A description of your Hocus Pocus release on lulusmelb.com offers further intrigue about how the music will sound… was this also international?
‘Out of a twisted, subterranean-like labyrinth of confused instrumental honk-gunk, forms an experimental soundtrack to some sci-fi B movie that made so little sense it likely would never have been converted from its VHS prison.’
Haha yeah I wrote that, I can’t go two seconds without saying labyrinth to be honest... that record is heavy on the honk-gunk though to be fair. But yeah I mean that album is a bunch of voice memo recordings of the band improvising at various times over the years, and I think beyond “experimental” or maybe “sounds-that-were-fun-to-make-with-friends-at-that-given-moment-potentially-while-very-stoned” there isn’t really any fair genre or category to describe it as…therefore “wonky oubliette sandwich etc”.
Side note, being your own publicist is soul-crushing and fucking boring but it does provide ample opportunity to present things the way you like.
So I think while yeah there’s this whole intentionally “vague, wacky thing” going on it’s also like, the selling/marketing/serial-categorisation of art is stupid and if I can make the whole experience more fun by calling it “balloon-funk” or something I undoubtedly will.
There is plenty of your music online and, by the looks of it, I assume you have something to do with the Happy Tapes label. Can you let us know what’s next for the band release-wise and a bit about the label itself?
Yeah we have a new full-length record that’s looking to emerge later this year. This one’s predominantly me in the studio but we just bought this mixer thing so there will a lot more band recordings soon, which we’re all really stoked on finally being able to document properly.
Reis (the other guitarist in the band) and myself are Happy Tapes so it’s always made sense to keep it in the family so to speak. The reason we started Happy Tapes was pretty much to do this, you know, create a home for our (and other’s) weird babies, a safe place for them to frolick and run free, to express themselves uncompromisingly and dance naked in the moonlight etc. There’s some other cool releases cooking for Happy Tapes too though I’m excited.
Your next show is a very cool lineup with the amazing Spike Fuck. I really appreciate the crossover between art and music, which I think there should be much more of. Tell us how this show came about?
I appreciate it too, also shows that have interesting eclectic lineups in unique spaces - big, big fan of, when it’s done right at least. It’s all Anthony and Mon who have put it together, Anthony I know runs a cool show on Triple R but yeah I think they were saying its their first big show they’ve put together. It’s already sold out I’ve heard so I’m wary about plugging it too hard, but yeah looking at the bands and artists they’ve put together I think it will be a very cohesive, cool, weird, spooky energy out in the Scray. It will also be cool to see Spike back in action as well don’t think Cloud Ice 9 even existed when they were playing last.
Finally, who are your favourite local Melbourne bands at the moment or who would you like to see interviewed for Tempo?
Tongue Dissolver, YL Hooi, Mercy Please, also that new Who Cares? EP, so good.
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Nocturnal Voidism
Fri 7th Jun - Mamma Chen's
Buy Tickets here