Grouplove

All the while she was working on Big Mess, Grouplove’s third LP set for release this September, Hooper was also busy with another fairly significant project – her first-born child, Willa. Hooper recorded the entire album while pregnant, and is now looking down the barrel of both playing in a touring band and being a young mother. Not that it’s fazed her – she and partner Christian Zucconi, who fronts the band, are adamant about not only finding the right balance between work and family, but also letting them intersect.

“I really feel as though Willa has brought us all together in a lot of ways,” says Hooper from her home in Los Angeles ahead of the Big Mess tour. “We really feel like a unit, and I didn’t know it was possible to feel more like that than we already did. “There’s such a wonderful vibe when we have her backstage – she already loves everyone else in the band so much. The schedule ahead is definitely quite daunting, and it’s really going to pick up once the album is out. I think, though, that if we keep going about it in the way that we have, I just know that it’s going to be great.”

Grouplove began writing for Big Mess not too long after finishing an extensive run of dates in support of their previous album, 2013’s Spreading Rumours. That record took them all across the world, including a slot on what ended up being the last-ever Big Day Out festival here in Australia – and yet, for all the frequent flyer points the band picked up along the way, nothing could prepare Hooper and Zucconi for what was brewing at home. Before picking up their instruments again, the Grouplove lovebirds had to come to terms with the life they’d left behind in their native California.

“We toured pretty heavily – it took up the better part of six years,” Hooper says. “Christian and I opened the door to our house out in East LA, and within 24 hours we realised that we had completely lost touch. We had lost touch with our families, we had lost touch with our closest friends and our house looked like we were hoarders. We’re reading the news, we’re seeing bombs going off and all this hatred … We said to ourselves, ‘Fuck, everything is a big mess right now.’ Somehow, through all of that, rather than reimmersing ourselves in society, we started writing again almost immediately. There was this immediate need to start working – we’d been playing the songs from our first two albums for so long, I think there was a real urge to make something new. By the time we had finished writing, we had 40 songs.”

The early sketches for what would become Big Mess were completed with assistance from the rest of the band – guitarist Andrew Wessen, bassist Daniel Gleason and drummer Ryan Rabin, who also co-produced the album. The prolific nature of Hooper and Zucconi’s writing style meant there was a lot for the quintet to work through, but it never even approached being a daunting construct. That’s the thing you learn about a band like Grouplove: they are the living embodiment of ‘que sera sera’, knowing when to let go and when to hold on.

“There were times that we’d been so excited about a song, we immediately sent it to the rest of the band at like three in the morning,” confesses Hooper with a laugh. “We’d wake up the next day, listen back and think to ourselves perhaps that wasn’t the best idea. At the same time, we’d take songs into the rehearsal room and the rest of the band would just make it sound so much bigger and better than we could have imagined. The band were really able to help us separate what was simply just a good idea on paper and what was a great song.”

As much as the creative side of Grouplove is centred on Hooper and Zucconi, Hooper herself is quick to sing the praises of everyone in the band. She loves Wessen’s guitar playing (“His guitar solos are amazing!”) and she admires Rabin’s work ethic (“He’s a beast in the studio – if he’s not drumming, he’s producing, and he doesn’t stop.”) Hooper is also incredibly excited that Gleason, who replaced original bass player Sean Gadd at the end of 2013, has completely settled into his role within the band. Big Mess marks the first time he has played on a Grouplove record, and Hooper remains considerably impressed with his abilities.

“I actually didn’t even think about it until after the fact,” she says of his studio debut. “He’s been with us for over two years, so he’s very much a part of what we do now. He’s written with us on the road, he knows all the songs, he’s been completely exposed to the vulnerability of everyone in this band. It was so natural to work with him – and that can be a really rare thing, so we count ourselves as incredibly lucky.”

Grouplove’s tour in support of Big Mess begins roughly a month before the album drops, and Australia will be among the first countries to hear songs from the album live across a quick run of sold-out club shows.

“It’s going to be so exciting to have all of this new material to work with,” Hooper says. “Of course, there are always songs that are going to be a part of our set. ‘Tongue Tied’, ‘Ways To Go’, ‘Colours’, ‘Itchin’ On A Photograph’ – those are songs that are with this band for life. I feel like it’s important to play the songs that helped us become the band that we are today. Having the ability to switch it up and not stick to one setlist is going to be so much fun.”

As well as sounding good, Hooper has also been working on looking good for Grouplove shows – her fashion style has been synonymous with the band’s image since its inception, and it’s even led to her own clothing line, Lady Grouplove, being distributed through Volcom. It’s something she’s passionate about, and something she loves having as a part of Grouplove’s identity.

“The onesies are so comfortable – and they capture all the moisture, too, so no-one can really see how much I’m sweating,” she says, again with that unmistakable laugh. “Lately I’ve been drawing all over them. It’s an interesting way to incorporate my fine art with my wardrobe. It’s been making me feel like a superhero onstage. I think being an artist is about constantly pushing yourself and being original. There are times when I walk out onstage thinking, ‘What the fuck am I wearing?’ That goes away, though, when I realise how amazing I look and how amazing it makes me feel. No-one else will ever be wearing this!”