Interview: Melaleuca Chat About Their Latest offering, ‘Point Of Normal’

Meanjin/Brisbane-based indie four-piece Melaleuca have just unveiled their earnest new single ‘Point Of Normal’ – produced by frontman Andy Francis and mixed by Brock Weston (Bugs, Beddy Rays). We caught up with the band to find out more about the single, music creation and future shows.

Congratulations on releasing ‘Point Of Normal’! What inspired you to write it?

Thank you! When I started writing the song, I had a family member diagnosed with ADHD, which made me start reflecting on myself and some difficulties I’ve had with my executive functioning and general life skills. It can be a bit frustrating, especially when you have high expectations of yourself and just want to do well by others. As a kid, I was always referred to as a bit of a daydreamer, which is kind of where I got the idea of being “stuck inside my head” from.

How did you guys start creating and performing music together?

Matt (Drummer) and I had just clocked ten years of playing together when I was 20, and he was 15 going on 16. I remember we played a few shows early on where he had to leave the venue straight after we played, and his parents would drive him to band practice. Jane and I met at University in 2019, and she had never been in a band before. I think she could probably have counted on one hand how many people had heard her sing. Somehow I convinced her to want to join a new project I had been working on with Matt and our old Bassist, Chris. Isaac and I previously studied an undergrad in Music, and he offered to fill in when Chris moved to Sydney. We very quickly got him to stick around permanently!

Who/what are the biggest influences for you, sonically or otherwise?

It’s a very extensive and sometimes eclectic list. I would say a big part of our sound comes from power-pop and pop punk from the ’90s and 00’s; Blink 182, Green Day, Teenage Fanclub, and Weezer. Essentially, the music would have featured on the soundtrack of any “coming of age” teen movie in that era. So we have tried really hard to be able to evoke that time period when someone listens to our music.

Is there any artist that you guys would love to collaborate with?

We are fortunate enough to be playing BIGSOUND in September, and we heard that Rebecca Black will be there, sooooo……hit us up

What can audiences expect from Melaleuca at your upcoming shows?

We recently played with Teen Jesus and The Jean Teasers in Brisbane. I wore an Adidas track jacket on stage and committed to wearing it the whole set despite the fact that I was sweating furiously. I looked at a picture from the show, and unfortunately, it looked REALLY cool, so you can probably expect that I will wear a track jacket again on stage. You can also expect to hear us road test a few newer songs we have been writing, depending on how long our set times are. We might experiment with some more theatrics in our set, too…kind of like Dracula’s.