If you were a fan of indie rock in the ’90s, chances are you’ll have one or two of Screamfeeder’s early albums – and now, thanks to the good folk at Poison City Records, a new generation of music lovers can revel in the splendour of bassist Kellie Lloyd and lead guitarist Tim Steward’s dual vocal play, with the re-release of their much-loved back catalogue on vinyl.

“There’s nothing like listening to your favourite band on a record,” says LIoyd. “I’ve never stopped collecting them. Tim and I were just in a record store, a place on the Gold Coast called Rare Groove Records. I was going through their indie Australian collection, and it was just like the collection I had when I was about 20 – only I had to sell a lot of it when I was at university to buy two-minute noodles for dinner,” she laughs. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s The Crystal Set and The Dubrovniks!’ and they had some other really old Australian acts that probably no-one has ever heard of, that I had in my record collection. I thought, ‘Wow, this guy must have bought my record collection way back then.’”

The Brisbane indie rockers are known for being down-to-earth, and they ooze charm during their witty onstage banter. Lloyd, Steward and long-time drummer Dean Shwereb are friends first and a band second – and their undeniable chemistry shines through in the music. “We love being on the road together – we always have so much fun,” Lloyd says.

Adding to the excitement of their current east coast tour is the presence of a fourth member, guitarist Darek Mudge. “He often plays with us at shows and he’s going to do the whole tour with us,” Lloyd explains. “In fact, Darek helped record our new single ‘Alone In A Crowd’, along with Bryce [Moorhead], and he also played some of the guitar on it.”

This hotly anticipated release is Screamfeeder’s first new recording in ten years. Lloyd says the inspiration for the lyrics came out of a conversation she had with Steward after they’d played a gig together on the outskirts of Brisbane.

“Tim and I sometimes play shows just as a duo. So we were spending a bit of time together and having big, meaningful conversations. One night after a show, at a place just out of town called Sandgate, we got to chatting and Tim said, ‘Wow, you know everyone, everywhere we go,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, and you’re always surrounded by people wherever you go.’ Later I was thinking about that and I realised that it doesn’t really matter if you’re surrounded by people or if you know everybody, you can still feel isolated and alone. Whether it’s our online existence or getting older and having circumstances change, I think a lot of people feel the same way.”

Also included on the single is ‘Rules Of Attraction’, a low-fi, shoegazey treat, and the short but sweet pop-rock gem, ‘I’m Fighting’. All three tracks have a distinctly different feel, but their common thread lies in the effortless harmonising of Lloyd and Steward.

Encouraged by the positive reaction to the single, Lloyd admits Screamfeeder are working on an LP as we speak. “We’re in the process of songwriting. So far, all the songs have been written in a space underneath my house, so I’m sure that will play a part in setting the tone of the record.

“In terms of concept, there are no grand plans as yet,” she continues. “We just haven’t thought that far ahead. But the songs are happening quite quickly – I don’t want to use the word ‘organically’ but that’s the best way to describe it at the moment.”

While their creative juices are obviously well and truly flowing, Lloyd says they’re trying a new approach to songwriting this time around. “Instead of just saying, ‘I’ll write when I feel like it,’ we’re allocating time. Tim will call and put me on the spot, saying, ‘You’ve got to give me a couple of hours – stop what you’re doing and go and write for a bit,’ and we’re actually coming up with some good stuff. We never worked like that before.”

Lloyd explains that, to her surprise, despite the time constraints of being on tour and promoting their new single, she and Steward managed to write a whole song only a few hours before our interview. “Tim came over early this morning to pick me up because we had to do an interview on the Gold Coast, and we spent a couple of hours in that little room I mentioned and we bashed out another song!”

However, despite so many years in the industry as part of Screamfeeder and as a solo artist, Lloyd is realistic about the timeline for their next release. “We probably won’t be recording anything again until early next year, so I don’t expect that [the album] will be out until mid-year – it depends on lots of different factors, really.

“Right now we really need to focus on writing. Once we’ve written the songs, we’ve got to bash them out live and loud and try to beat them into shape. It’s time-consuming and we’re all really busy with Christmas, so before you know it, it’ll be February.”

Until then, it’s nice to know these Australian indie legends have their priorities in order. “We can’t wait to be playing down in Sydney and Melbourne – it’s going to be great. But right now we’re trying to hunt down a pair of second-hand trunks so that Tim can go for a swim – it’s about a million degrees here today!”

[Screamfeeder photo by Stephen Booth]

Screamfeeder take to the Frankie’s Pizza stageonThursday December 3.

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