Azlan Mohamed Noh (lead vocals), Andrew Cowie (guitar), Phil Lovatt (bass), and Cam Pretsel (drums) formed Offbeat Antics in 2004 when they were in high school. They spent the next few years playing around Perth, and have supported established artists such as Gyroscope and Birds of Tokyo. In February 2009, while still studying at university and working part-time, Offbeat Antics released EP No.1 to positive reviews.
Combining Music and Other Commitments
Suite101: How do you juggle practice, gigs, and songwriting with things like work and study?
Azlan: Well, first and foremost our music comes first. Working gets us funds to continue doing this until we don't need to work anymore and uni allows us to have an alternative career just in case. However, schedules clash and we have become better organised people for it.
Cam: Juggling the many commitments is tough, but thanks to flexible casual work, it becomes easier. When uni is on, most of my time is spent doing that, then work, then band. It’s pretty difficult to write songs while uni is on, but I guess you just have to push through it even when you have hardly any time. The good thing is I enjoy uni, so it’s not all a drag.
Financing and Promoting the EP
Suite101: How are you financing the EP?
Azlan: Cam is doing the EP's artwork; the EP panel artwork and the launch promotion artwork. Recording, mixing and mastering takes two months whilst we look for a venue, and then promote with posters, photos and print interviews. We are each putting over $1200 into the process.
Suite101: Cam, have you done all the band's art and posters? How did you get into art and design?
Cam: I've done most of it, whenever we're headlining at least. As for design, I was originally doing a mass communication course with film and television as my major and advertising as my minor. My marks were way better in advertising, and I enjoyed it heaps more than FTV so I decided to go over to advertising to specify my degree and give me a bit more of a direction. I loved to draw as a kid, so it was really natural to go through to a design course, as you can easily fill up 100 pages of sketches and concepts.
Offbeat Antics' "Whale Bird" Logo
Suite101: What does the "whale bird" mean?
Cam: The whale bird is kind of ambiguous. It describes our music as offbeat, as the combination of the two animals is unusual and unexpected. The reason I chose an eagle is that eagle wings commonly connect with soaring rock music, or rock in general. To make it original, and more offbeat, the whale was added. The whale is also slow moving and epic because they are huge, which describes elements of our music. Whales also communicate through wailing and a kind of singing, so there is a connection there between that and our vocal harmonies, which is a key element of our band. But most importantly the combination of the two animals is offbeat yet somewhat natural, which is the main reason why is chose to create it that way.
The Songwriting Process
Suite101: Describe your songwriting process.
Azlan: We just jam, jam, jam. We'll usually start with riffs and chord progressions or occasionally really unique rhythms or drum patterns from those jams. We find a verse, or chorus out of this. We bicker over this. Then I come in with vocals for whatever sections we have while we find other sections that will fit with the ideas we already have. I'm taking more time with my melodies and lyrics now. They mean a lot more that way. After we have rough sections with melodies, we find good places to have backing vocals if needed and we polish it up by practising the song again and again and again. We seek to challenge ourselves all the time because we have a collective instinct with what's becoming stale.
The Perth Music Scene
Suite101: How would you describe the music scene and industry in Perth?
Azlan: Good and supportive. It's easy to get started. However everything can be read a different way and Perth sometimes can be so family like that you forget about the bigger picture and that's the national and international stage. In the end, when going for the bigger picture, you only want to really play at select venues and with select bands to know where you want to go and where you're going to fit. Karnivool, The Silents, Snowman and Jebediah, I'm sure, were all aware of this. It's an industry, what more can I say. You've got to go east and eventually overseas. But Perth is the best city to get started in I reckon. Great place to make friends which is what this is all about too.
Fans are no doubt eagerly anticipating the next installment from the band, whilst others would be encouraged to check them out - either live, or online. Offbeat Antics were in conversation with Suite101.
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