On the Record with Steph Crase From Summer Flake

I was five years old and I wanted to be a cowboy. I’ve still got the tape, haven’t played it for about 25 years though.

2. The Last Record I Bought

I have been avoiding the record shops to manage my money for a bit – it’s really hard! I got Wireheads’ Big Issues at their Tote gig recently, which is thoroughly enjoyable. I loved Sharon van Etten’s Tramp, so I bought Are We There a little while back, but I haven’t been able to latch on yet – it’s pretty epic.

3. The First Thing I Recorded

I played guitar and some drums on No Through Road’s Too Much Or Not Enough album in 2005. We live-tracked drums, bass, guide vocals and guide guitars in a small studio to get the feel, then overdubbed guitars and vocals at home and Matt Banham mixed it all on his computer. It was a good overview of different recording methods, and I think it’s still a pretty good album! Fond memories.

4. The Last Thing I Recorded

The new EP Time Goes By was basically all written and recorded in August 2015! It’s the quickest I’ve ever worked – we just grabbed a deadline and went with it. Restrictions really get things going. We recorded the drums one evening at [James] Mannix’s house, and I played guide guitar and had a vocal mic so I could feed him some directions over headphones. Mannix is a great intuitive drummer. Then I did vocals, guitar and bass at Geoff O’Connor’s granny flat studio in Thornbury, and he mixed it. Geoff’s the most patient, efficient, talented, easy-going, problem-solving guy. He saved the day a million times. We performed one of the EP songs, ‘The Sun Won’t Shine’, for the first time at the Small World Festival in Sydney. The front-of-house PA blew and there was some weird siren going off throughout… a very memorable experience.

5. The Record That Changed My Life

Live Through This by Hole was a revelation. I first got a copy of it when I was 13 and I listen to it all the time still. It is eternally powerful.