nic mckenzie says...

While most artists are looking for ways to make their music more futuristic, Deep Sea Arcade's sound is rooted in the beats of a past time. Often compared to the likes of The Beatles and The Smiths, their sound is soaked in a delicious pop reverb that transports us to a sandy beachside boulevard and props a surfboard under our arms. Friends since primary school, the two founding members Nic McKenzie (vocals) and Nick Weaver (bass) have spent years perfecting their art. I caught Nic McKenzie after a dinner of dumplings and wine in Sydney’s Kings Cross.

Covered: sixties chord progression, cinematic journeys, Nancy Sinatra and heartache-inspired music

Danielle Le Toullec: The name Deep Sea Arcade (DSA) evokes a kind of aquatic fantasy world, what’s the story behind it?

Nic McKenzie: It’s a lyric from a song we don’t play anymore; it’s actually in reference to an album called The White Arcades by Brian Eno and Harold Budd.

DL: You are often put into the genre of 1960s Brit/surf rock music culture; was that a conscious decision when you were developing your sound or did you just fall into it?

NM: I think we’ve just fallen into it; it's also just the music that has been chosen by radio stations to play. We have a lot of different songs, that all come from the same place, some do use a more sixties sounding chord progression and sound production.

DL: What is it about that era of music that DSA is attracted to?

NM: It's definitely a part of our sound, but we also reference nineties bands like The Stone Roses, cinematic scores and take a lot of influence from trip hop and nineties beat culture. That will come through on our forthcoming mini album.

DL: That’s the one coming out in March 2011, right? What’s the name of it?

NM: We don’t have a name for it yet but it’s tentatively titled “If The Devil Won’t Take You”, which is inspired by one of the tracks on it.

DL: I love your track ‘Don’t Be Sorry’, what was it inspired by?

NM: I was listening to loads of Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood: a lot of [Nancy Sinatra's] lyrics were about a guy cheating on her. I really wanted to do a male spin on that and the broken-hearted song. I was going through a bit of heartache and still am in some ways.

DL: Well that’s always the best fuel for artistic creation so it’s not all bad! DSA has been known to kick off shows with a bit of freeform instrumental. Does this help to prepare for the show ahead?

NM: It does in some ways; we also like to build the audience up. Almost like a cinematic journey and that’s the kind of set we’ve tried to construct and that we’re developing more for our headline show that is coming up. It’s actually the intro to another song; it’s interesting how it’s developed. We haven’t pieced it all together yet.

DL: Your debut album is set to be released in March 2011, what have been some highlights from your journey since Crouch End was unearthed by Triple J in 2008?

NM: Definitely being booked for The Great Escape in the UK which will be happening later this year (May 2011). Also, being signed to Winterman & Goldstein for management. That just meant we knew we were in really good hands in terms of our career. Also getting so much airplay, we never expected to get as much as we have. We never expected that our songs were going to get played, I guess because we write them for ourselves so the fact that radio stations want to play them is a big thing for us. We don’t take that for granted. It’s always good when people like our music as much as we like playing it.

DL: I can only imagine how great it feels to hear your songs on the radio or when people are in the crowd singing your lyrics.

NM: Yeah, well I don’t really listen to the radio that much but when people sing lyrics back there is something a bit special about that.

DL: So you’ve just mentioned the Great Escape and I know you guys just played Peats ridge festival over New Years which I was at too! Have you played big festivals like that before?

NM: Yeah, we’ve played Homebake. The Great Escape will be our first overseas festival.

DL: Do you feel that the energy of a festival crowd changes your performance in comparison to an indoor set?

NM: No, not really. I think there is something that is really exciting about a festival crowd though.

DL: You are about to embark on a co-headlining tour with Surf City, do you know the guys from that band well?

NM: We actually haven’t met them, as they are from New Zealand, so we haven’t really seen them around or on tour. We’ve toured a lot nationally so we’ve played with a lot of bands from Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide but we love their music and we’re really excited to play with them.

DL: That will be interesting to be in such close confines with people you don’t know!

NM: That’s true but at the same time, we’ve done it before! We were on tour with The Charletons from the UK and that was a really interesting tour and they were absolutely lovely guys. It's interesting when you have a mutual admiration for someone’s music... I’ve never not got on with a band I’ve toured with, ever.

DL: As Sydneysiders yourselves, you must be pretty excited to be playing a few home gigs.

NM: Yeah, we are. And Brisbane as well. Pretty much all the coastal places. The Mona Vale gig will be rad, a lot of my friends grew up around there. I actually grew up in inner city Sydney. But I am really familiar with that area.

deep sea arcade, nic mckenzie, nick weaver, surf city