The debut full length from Infinite Void is out now via Poison City Records, and the band have been busy launching it on the live stage. In the coming weeks they’ll hit up Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne to show off the album. To find out more about it, we got the band to answer our On The Record questions. Expand this post to take a read, and check upcoming tour dates. You can pick it up now on CD or LP [Here].
Tell us about the release title.
Our new LP is self-titled. We considered calling it ‘Creeping Symmetry’ for a second, but ended up deciding the release was better summed up by the band’s name. It’s our first proper release, and an album that I think accurately captures our sound.
Tell us about the artwork.
The art is an incredible original ink on paper drawing by Snotrag, featuring an intricate gothic cathedral with some evil birds and bugs around for good measure. There were a few preliminary directions from us in terms of ideas, but I had no idea what to expect until the end-drawing arrived and blew my mind. I can’t explain how much I like it, and how many lines there are! Subtly inverted crosses are always good fun, and the spiraling mirrored patterns characteristic of Snotty’s style and signature attention to detail.
What format/s will it be released on and how will it be packaged?
There are eleven tracks, to be released on vinyl and on CD for those without a record player/for the car stez etc.
Who will it be released through, and when?
Poison City Records have released the album on both LP and CD. I’m pretty stoked on that alone, but also cos the first 100 records on transparent electric blue vinyl!
Tell us about the studio and why you chose to record there?
We had already decided to record with Steven Smith (of Scul Hazzards) based on his mixing at live gigs, but required a studio. Crosstown Studios (which is our local rehearsal space) seemed ideal. The people that run it are really relaxed and nice, so we approached them about setting up a room for recording over one weekend and Steven brought in all his recording contraptions from home.
Tell us about the producer / engineer and why you chose to record with them?
Just as we had begun to accumulate enough songs to start wondering who to record with, Steven mixed us for a live show and we were all really impressed. Our live vocals can be pretty jumpy in terms of volume/intensity for Infinite (and those variations are complicated again by the fact that we have 3 people singing) and Steven managed to find the right sound for us, and well before the end of our 20 minute set. He also managed to tease some clarity out of our reverb/chorus mess of guitars. If that wasn’t enough to sway the decision, I’d also seen him play in Scul Hazzards and appreciated both his pedal setup and overall sound. We started chatting about the sorts of recording influences we had in mind, and Steven said he was pretty sure he could get the sound we wanted. He kept to his word and the end result is something I’m really happy with.
Did you go into the writing process with a clear direction in mind?
Sort of I suppose. We knew who we were influenced by, and how we wanted our instruments to sound but things usually take a walk in their own direction and we were open to seeing where they might lead. I ended up recording a lot of my vocals much softer than on the demo, and found I was able to layer them more easily as a result. Steven being so flexible with time allowed us to write lots of extra vocal layers too, which was fun.
Were you listening to anything in particular during the writing / recording process that influenced the songs at all?
Obviously I can’t speak for everyone but I was listening to a lot of early Creation Records releases and comps, plenty of Cure and Electrelane, a little Smiths, some instrumental surf and after the album had been recorded, I started getting heavily into For Against’s Echelons album.
Were there any albums you were referencing to aim for a certain type of sound production wise?
Again, I can’t speak for all of us, but regarding guitar tones I told Steven I wanted something between Ride’s Nowhere and the Cure’s Pornography album. Pretty sure Scotty mentioned Jesus and Mary Chain Barbed Wire Kisses with reference to drums, and I reckon all of us generally were influenced by Joy Division and the Estranged Subliminal Man album. General influences also included My Bloody Valentine Isn’t Anything and You made me realize.
How long did it take to record?
The music took a weekend to record, and then there we did overdubs and vocals over a series of 4 or 5 sessions at Steven’s place, followed by mixing and mastering.
Tell us a little about the recording process the band used?
We recorded digitally, using pro-tools or something similar from what I understand. We were pretty willing for Steven to do whatever he wanted to do with recording, and trusted him to do whatever he thought was right, and he did. We recorded the album live, as its been mentioned to us before that its more likely that the recordings with come out with more energy as opposed to clinically separating every track/ parts. Some of the lyrics came a little later in the recording as we were doing them at a later date, which we found gave us opportunity to try things on the spot, and because of Steven’s patience with us and willingness to experiment also.
Was this any different to previous processes you have used?
I’m probably the wrong band member for the techy gear questions, but I know Steven used some new room mic that he placed up near the ceiling, he also put microphones the top and bottom of the snare, and the amps were pointed away from the drums as there was no available baffling but the separation of the guitars was perfect. Other processes involved endless supply of chips and junk food. Necessary.
Any guests involved? if so, who.. and what did they do?
Scotty (drums) played extra guitar parts to make the whole thing well dense and we all had a go making different types of feedback and noise through various pedal combinations and guitar amps- even Steven! He created all the noise on the LP from a mixture of those noise tracks so I’m not even sure which layers were used and which ones aren’t in there. I like how it sounds though.
Any particular equipment outside your usual live gear used in the process?
We tried to stay pretty true to the live setup but scotty did use sleigh bells (courtesy of Crosstown), which he slapped with his bloody and blistered hands (from recording drums) just below the room mic as an overdub in Distant Light.
Any memorable studio moments?
The whole experience was actually a lot of fun and involved the usual junk and inebriants. When we were recording vocals at Steven’s there was a bit of medicinal whiskey (for the throat of course) floating about, and you could hear me unscrewing the lid and having a little swig at the beginning of the vocal track for Pay for what it’s worth originally. I’ll also never forget the look on everyone’s faces when Scott started doing his vocals. He wrote his parts on the day, so we didn’t really have any idea what to expect. But when he started we were simultaneously incredibly impressed by how well he could sing, and suddenly aware, from seeing all Steven’s machinery maxing-out to red immediately how much louder he sings than me and Alicia!
Any additional tracks recorded that didn’t make the cut but may see the light of day sometime?
Drawn In from our demo was recorded, but we thought it didn’t quite hold its own amongst the other tracks. It might come out one day if anyone’s interested.
What track/s are you most looking forward to playing live?
At the moment, I’m really looking forward to playing These Days live, which we haven’t done as yet. It has a lot going on vocally and required some fine-tuning.
How would you compare the final product to previous releases?
Well we only have the demo aside from this recording. So I’d say we’ve come a long way even though I still like that demo, and it was recorded by Scotty so it reflected our sound at the time too.
Anything else you want to say or tell us about the release?
Have a listen to it? We have a song streaming for free on bandcamp which can be found here: http://infinitevoid.bandcamp.com
Everything else you need to know about the release can be found here: http://poisoncityrecords.com on Poison City’s website.
If you’re interested in seeing Infinite Void play live, or for bookings and inquiries check out our bookface page: http://www.facebook.com/InfiniteVoid
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Catch Infinite Void live at
Black Wire Records, Sydney on Saturday 26th May
Hollywood Hotel, Surry Hills on Sunday 27th May
The Hotel Metro, Adelaide on Friday 1st June
Fat Louie’s, Brisbane on Saturday 16th June
The Waiting Room, Brisbane on Sunday 17th June
Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood on Saturday 23rd June
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