Viera Motel Interview: Take Heart

Viera Motel debut their single ‘Take Heart’. Studded with gripping piano riffs and drums, the song explores the sensation of finding optimism in darkness. The group’s track and accompanying retro-style lyric video is just one glimpse into the rest of the world they build as Viera Motel. We chat to lead vocalist Jay about building ‘Take Heart’ and the image of Viera Motel. 

What was the process for ‘Take Heart’?
I wrote it at a quiet day at work… I spent my day writing the song. Straight after that, I put the base together and produced a rough demo and pitched it to the band. When we organised to get it properly recorded with Malcolm Besley, the producer, was when we had to sing bits and mould and move it around. The writing process was straight forward, but the finalising [took longer].

How was working with Malcolm and seeing his working environment and expertise?
It was awesome. It was a massive help and it was good to have a fresh perspective on our demos. We provide him with all our demos. There were about 15 of them and he picked the best ones out of there. Majority of the songs, the way we’d write is that I would smash out the lyrics and some production, then just track it in there and play it live. You build up your set list expecting just to play it live…
When it was pitched to him, he was like ‘no, scrap the bridge there, move that around there’. It was massive to get that perspective and see that [something] doesn’t work, so we should move it here and there. That’s helped us in future song-writing. Now, when I go into song-writing, I’m not just chucking random bridges here and there and thinking of it in detail. The way he does things is incredible. He’s got this natural ear. He completely understands the right tone and right sound.

When he was showing you how to look at music in more detail, how was it to take on his advice, but also keep the process light and true to you?
We did keep the real parts. It was interesting in the studio. A lot of the sounds from the demos were still used, and those sounds were me naturally coming up with the sounds and not overthinking it. A lot of it was kept in the song, but it was being aware of the lazy bits. He just brought awareness to that. An example of that, is that the drums were recorded live, but also, bits and pieces of demo drums were incorporated into the live drums. The strings section was a cheap imitation version of a Microkorg.

Did seeing how much you could do and how you could use sounds to your advantage help as you went along in making music during and after ‘Take Heart’?
We’re very confident that we’ve found our sound and our soul whilst recording ‘Take Heart’. In the past, each demo was consistent with the sound we were [listening to]. When Malcolm went in with fresh ears, [and listened] to one of the piano parts of our demo, he went, ‘you’re into 90’s music, aren’t you?’ I’m a massive Oasis fan and he heard that and picked up on it straight away, and said, ‘let’s use that to your advantage’.
That moulds our songs now because each song has that kind of vibe. Certain sounds, like the drum and piano now bring that consistency, and when we’re writing, we have that in the back of our heads. It gives us more motivation to write, knowing that we don’t have to keep looking for a certain sound and we’re on the right track.

Do you think that what you listen to inspires you more sonically or with lyrics?
Lyrically, things haven’t really changed. I’ve never heard a song and gone, ‘I want to write lyrics similar to that’. If that was the case, it would be inconsistent… If I was to write a song like Oasis, it would be gibberish, and then for the next song, decide to write a song like The Killers, they would be a lot more cinematic. The lyrics have always stayed the same. Certain words will capture the vibe of the song and then, you incorporate the sound to carry the lyrics.

‘Take Heart’ is a song that touches on inner turmoils, whilst also directing attention to regaining control.

Can you talk about the story you wanted to build there?
I wrote a bunch of demos, based on personal experience, trying to come up with a concept album. It’s a bit ambitious, but I was big into concept albums. The concept was a first relationship. A first relationship is the one that has new experiences and is up and down completely. You learn so many different things and go through so many emotions.
The start was blaming the person, halfway through was blaming yourself, and the end was saying, ‘you know what? It’s all good’. That concept was sitting around for a long time. A lot of the songs were quite grim, and I never wanted to take the step and make something positive. I thought it would ruin the vibe… but I wanted to be true to myself and get [all of that] out there…

How do you all trust each band member to do the song and one another justice? How has the dynamic been as you continue to refine your skills?
Matt Ferguson (guitar/keys) and I have been mates for eight or nine years and met each other through playing guitar in high school. We’ve always had that trust there and grown together musically for many years now. We go into the home studio and sit there late at night and with some wine whilst I try a drum beat, he has a riff on and we bounce off each other very easily.
Throughout our demos, over time, Matt Colvin (drums) and Dane Sorensen (bass) have gotten more confidence and we trust everyone a lot more to incorporate different things. The other day we were rehearsing, and our drummer was warming up with a random drum beat, and we said, ‘let’s put that in a song’. Now, he enjoys playing that because he knows he incorporated something into the song. Dane’s a music teacher. We’re not all musically trained properly, but he’s the one that goes ‘I like your key change, but we might want to actually do it the correct musical way because it’s not in the right scale or key’. We really trust him there.

In line with the power of ‘Take Heart’, the group curates a lyric video for the song.

Can you talk about building the theme of the lyric video?
We changed our band name over two months ago. We were called ‘La Tanika’. We just threw that name on to get gigs. We really were struggling with our identity, because it was just a name… As soon as we sat down [to change it], we decided Viera Motel. We really wanted ‘motel’ in the name because the first thing that comes to mind is seedy, neon lights and stories. Originally, the image we were trying to get across was more 90’s. The 90’s though, didn’t really have a solid identity.
We tried a few things to get 90’s across, but it kept coming back to 80’s. We had this idea to make a massive cut out heart. Our original idea was to walk around the street with a giant heart and get people’s reactions. It didn’t work, so we started filming it and turned it into a late-night hotline lyric video. It doesn’t help the story of the song so much… It’s that point of difference [though]… It helps with the band’s image and sort of the story of the song a little.

How important is it for you guys to use the image factor to help your growth?
Image is massive in music. It’s one of those integral things [too]… I skim through a bunch of artists, and if I see a solid name with a solid concept, that grabs me straight away. I’m a massive Alex Cameron fan. As soon as you see the image of him, you get the idea, and the music presents that as well. It’s something engaging and a point of difference. You can be creative and be a different character, which is exciting. Even though I do look like someone from the 80’s, the option is always there to not be tied down and be whoever you want… We aim to not be too over the top with it and not be in everyone’s faces. The theme ‘motel’, is the lights flashing on the road, but you need to go inside to see what the go is. Our whole concept is about being a part of the motel and being part of us.

What else is next for you guys now?
It has been a journey to get ‘Take Heart’ going. Now that it’s done, our next step will be recording our next single. I’m proud of ‘Take Heart’, but since we’ve written it, we’ve found other direction and our songs have gone to the next level… I can see so much more potential to go further and take the next step.

Be sure to listen to Viera Motel’s ‘Take Heart’ and get your tickets to the group’s single launch.

Friday 5th July 2019 – YahYah’s Fitzroy https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/viera-motel-debut-single-launch-tickets-63371271178