When Dorsal Fins burst onto the scene back in 2015 withMind Renovation, their debut album, they made an immediate impression. Their music seemed to function effortlessly, making all nine of their voices sound as one.
Helmed by Liam McGorry of Melbourne’s Eagle and The Worm and Saskwatch, what started out as an exchange of demos between him and songwriters Ella Thompson and Jarrad Brown evolved to become a well-oiled machine.
Now, Dorsal Fins are comfortable drawing on the eclecticism in their individual musical backgrounds and characters, and it’s no surprise they’ve evolved considerably from the ideas McGorry started out with.
“When we started it was just to create something new,” says McGorry. “[It was] a whole heap of friends, people I looked up to musically. We kept it going, became a band – it’s pretty involved, like you say. It’s definitely not how we expected [it to turn out]. It’s turned into this snowball thing that’s really fun and has been more and more fun as we’ve gone on – more shows, more recording.”
The momentum behind Dorsal Fins carried them through to the release of their second album, Digital Zodiac, late last year. The new record is a more laid-back affair than its predecessor, and McGorry explains why. “I guess the only real difference is that we came into it being a band as opposed to not having any provisions. We tried to keep [the songwriting process] the same as the first one – Jarrad and Ella would write vocals over the instrumentals and we kinda threw everything against the wall and to see what sticks in the studio. It’s a bit more considered than the first album in terms of trying to make it more cohesive rather than just throwing ten songs together.
“I guess the album is pretty much this: we try to write songs about being,” McGorry adds. “Obviously it’s a digital world and it’s hard to find meaning in it – that’s the basic premise. The way we work is really more in collaboration, and we have a lot of starting points with instrumentals which spring into ideas that can go anywhere. That’s the beauty of this project.”
Dorsal Fins’ collaborative and free approach to creation has reaped them great rewards. Their single ‘High Low’, in particular, works in some terrific harmonies with very distinct and different textures, and the result is a strange and captivating kind of gospel. It’s as if the music is constantly pulling in different directions, yet Dorsal Fins have a not-so-secret ingredient to bring it all together.
“I think it’s Ella’s singing,” says McGorry. “It’s largely down to her performance that marries the two sections in the song.”
Meanwhile, a song like ‘Sedated’ places more weight on rhythm and structure, resulting in an equally catchy yet contrasting number to ‘High Low’. “It’s about having different options and voices,” explains McGorry. “Jarrad helms that one – we didn’t expect to put the phone call in the middle! There’s a lot of percussion as well with Lachlan [O’Kane] and it’s great to get a lot of new sounds out of him as well.
“It’s hard. To play that sort of music in a big ensemble, you automatically have that [big] sound. It’s a pretty organic thing though, and it is beautiful to have so many people contribute, putting ideas out there.”
At times, Dorsal Fins must find it difficult to direct their individual energies into a common goal, but McGorry believes it almost happens subconsciously. “I wish I knew the answer,” he says. “We’re all just friends who have naturally worked in these environments over a long period of time. It’s an organic sort of thing. No one in the band hates each other, so that’s important too – everyone is willing to contribute together.”
The Melburnians have set out on tour this month with music from both their full-length releases, and they arrive in Sydney this week. Being such a vast ensemble, it’ll be interesting to see how the band manages to translate the newer studio material to the live stage without losing any of the eclectic magic of the recordings.
“I guess in terms of the relaying from the record, most of the songs on this album were recorded pretty much live,” McGorry says. “But you’re right, sometimes there is a degree of difficulty in putting it across live.
“When there’s nine people onstage, it’s just a bizarre energy, but it’s really just so much fun.”
Digital Zodiac is out now through Dot Dash/Remote Control. Dorsal Fins playNewtown Social Club on Friday March 24.
