Interview: Slow Cinema Chat About Their Latest Offering, ‘Pocket Knife’

Mulubinba/Newcastle-based indie-rock band Slow Cinema has shared their energetic new single ‘Pocket Knife‘ – produced and mixed by Jack Nigro (DMA’s, The Terrys, Pacific Avenue, MiddleKids) and mastered by Brian Lucey (The Black Keys, Artic Monkeys, Lime Cordiale, LiamGallagher). We caught up with the band to find out more about the new single.

Congratulations on the release of ‘Pocket Knife’! How does it feel to have it out?

“The Simpsons – Season 7 Episode 4 – 10:45”

The feeling of finally being able to release music again is beyond words!

Since commencing preparations to record this amazing EP at the tail end of 2023, we’ve had many hold-ups. Some were necessary to make this EP as incredible as it is, and some were just major inconveniences that were unfortunately and frustratingly out of our control.

To now be back in the process of having the music we’ve worked so passionately hard to create and having it in the ears of our fans is utterly wild!

We just can’t wait for people to hear this first taste of what we have in store and jump on that stage and do what we do best!

What is the story behind the single?

‘Pocket Knife’ started as a forgotten riff that Sam had recorded on his laptop and decided he’d bring it into rehearsal one day.

Before people get confused as to why the song is called ‘Pocket Knife’, when Sam and Tim write their respective ideas, they tend to give it a working title based on something within the current field of vision. It’s fun to keep these and keep people guessing.

Upon showing the rest of the band this riff at practice and having a play around with it, it shone out to Tyler and he had lyrics for it nearly instantaneously.

Tyler brought these incredible lyrics of heartbreak to perform with such an upbeat catchy riff, so we endeavoured to create dynamics to mimic the emotion in the verses and bring it right back up in the chorus. Of course, no Slow Cinema song is finished without an ‘in your face’ guitar solo…right!?!?

Talk us through how you write together as a band and how you work through the collaboration process.

Our writing process is forever evolving, and I don’t know if we will ever truly perfect it. That being said, when we started Slow Cinema our writing process was a wild back and forth of recordings to each other, with each person adding their elements as we went before getting into the studio and fine-tuning the tracks from there. We ended up with well, with an EP’s worth of songs this way.

These days, we’re still utilising the demo tracks from home technique, but we aren’t writing it all on our own anymore. The idea gets ‘floated’ and if it clicks, we start to move on it. Once the basic lyrical melody has been constructed, we jump into a rehearsal space and work on it together. Sometimes it all falls into place and other times it requires everyone to head home and figure it out on their own to bring back to the next rehearsal.

We understand that each of us has our stylistic influences, and we really love for that to shine in our music! In all our tracks we try our best to give each other space to make sure their style can shine through and create something unique.

For someone who hasn’t heard your music before, what would you describe to them?

We have been told that we have managed to encapsulate the moment of inspiration when Gen X/Millenials discovered their parents’ vinyl collection and merged old flavours with alternative flair.

Personally, I reckon that’s pretty bang on the money as we draw some huge influences from alternative and popular bands from the 60s and 70s, however, we intertwine that with progressive modern-day influences.

How does this release differ from your previous songs?

First of all – THE PRODUCTION!

We wanted to ensure we created a top-quality product with ‘Pocket Knife’ and the entire catalogue we recorded in that session. I’ll quickly credit our producer Jack Nigro of The Grove Studios and mastering engineer Brian Lucey of Magic Garden Mastering for their incredible work!

We have also delved into a slightly poppier aspect of our musical style in this one. We’ve gone for a bit more of a song you’d just love to dance to with this one, while the lyrics may just break your heart.

What can we expect to see in 2024 from Slow Cinema?

2024 will see Slow Cinema releasing even more music with a debut EP due out as well! With these releases, we will be hitting the road and touring as much as we possibly can and gracing as many cities as we can.

It’s looking like a great year to be part of Slow Cinema and we cannot wait for everyone to hear all the music we have up our sleeves!

Pocket Knife is available now, everywhere.