Last year Sydney musician Jonti stunned audiences at local festival OutsideIn with his ensemble tribute performance of The Avalanches' seminal record 'Since I Left You.' Heralded as one of the highlights of the event, it was enough to catch the eyes and ears of the Vivid Live curators who are bringing Jonti and the tribute to the iconic Sydney Opera House stage this month. As the festival fast approaches, Jonti caught up with Pulse Radio to explain exactly where the tribute came from, recording with the band themselves and what audiences can expect from the bigger than ever ensemble.
Pulse: The Avalanches are truly an iconic Australian band and their contribution to the electronic music is almost indescribable, what does the band and 'Since I Left You' mean to you? Jonti: They mean so, so much to me. They’ve been there through almost every milestone of my life and they’ve saved me like ten times. When the album came out is when I moved to Australia from South Africa so it was the first thing that made me think, yeah Australia’s pretty cool, I could live here. And from then it made me want to figure out how this was done and how this was made, it opened up this whole new world that intrigued me. Besides being a massive influence it’s always just had this weird role, it’s like the album that keeps giving.
When I was in L.A. they [The Avalanches] asked me to help out with their album and it was this amazing thing and I did and I wanted to show my appreciation, so I did this tribute. It actually came about because I was doing the Gotye tour at the time, I was supporting on fifty shows around the states and Europe, at these massive venues and it was so scary. It was just me opening, with my little table and my little sample and that was it, in front of all these families and people. It was incredibly nerve wracking and the only way that I could get over the nerves, which I only discovered 5-10 shows in, was in the hour or so that I had in my dressing room before the show started I would put on the album 'Since I Left You' and just dance like a maniac. Almost every time, I’d say 49 out of the 50 shows, I was walked in on by someone midway through [laughs]. By the time I’d finished dancing like a maniac and listening to the record back to front in this marathon of joy that the album is, I’d be ready to perform and I could have more fun. It just has this power.
How was that experience working in the studio with them? That was incredible! They’ve always been very appreciative of the tribute. That was actually the first time I’d met them in person and we just got on so awesomely, and had the best time recording. Just seeing my name on the console and listening back to the stuff was incredible. I learnt so much more about the tracks and what’s actually going on, which we’ve been able to put into the show this time. It was just a really mindblowing experience, hopefully I get to hang out with them more.
When did you first get the idea to do the tribute and how did it the process of putting it together unfold? Last year when I was stuck musically and I wasn’t even sure it was the thing I was going to keep pursuing, one day all of a sudden my brother was like, do you want to do the show?. It formed as kind of a basic plan at first. I was just so determined to see it through, I just remember thinking there’s no turning back - we had to make this happen one way or another. I had three months to get it ready and we just made it. It was so inspiring. I met all these amazing musicians and learnt so much and now this, now I’m playing at the Opera House all because of this one album.
You first played the tribute last year at the music festival OutsideIn run by Sydney collective Astral People. Can you remember what it was like when you performed it for the first time ever? Yeah, definitely. It was all a bit crazy, I remember the very last hours of the very last rehearsal was the only time we actually performed the album back to front as a group, we really only just made it. I definitely didn’t anticipate how strong the group would be together, and how everyone being so friendly and fun with each other on stage would play so strongly into the show. We had this dynamic where all the members was interacting really well with each other and it became this line of the ten of us, all of equal importance and it was just really cool.
Like you say, there’s a whole lot of people up on stage with you performing as well. How did you meet everyone and get them on board? It was a mixed bag. Rainbow Chan has been a friend of mine for many years and then I saw the Polographia guys live, I’d only met them very briefly but I thought they’d be perfect. The drummer Moses has been my best friend since I emigrated and then the rest were just Facebook. So many ‘Hey we’re looking for a violinist’ or ‘Hey we’re looking for a turtablist’ and I met so many people that way too! Facebook helped out a lot. I’m just going to do that willy nilly now, just ask ‘Does anyone know how to make pancakes?’ and hopefully I’ll be able to meet a lot of pancake fans or something [laughs].
This year is going to see that tribute take on a much bigger stage at the Opera House. Have you made any changes to the show from last year? There was a lot of stuff we just couldn’t do last time. Little things like having to shorten the songs last time because we had a time limit at the festival and we weren’t able to get some parts of the songs like the rapping on some of the songs. Last time we only had two violinists, this time we have a full string section which is incredible and yeah, we just get to go a bit deeper in trying to recreate it. There’s definitely quite a few changes!
Vivid’s not too far away now, how are the rehearsals going in the new space? It’s going really well. It’s a little more challenging this time because we have more people, but less time to get the people in the one room [laughs]. It was hard enough last time to get everyone in the same room for rehearsal. It was literally a few hours every Sunday that we could all do. So this time it was even harder! I’ve just had to anticipate that every rehearsal there will be one or two people who won’t be able to make it and how we can still have a productive rehearsal without those people there. Yesterday (7/5) was actually the very first rehearsal we’ve had where we were all in the same room!
That’s so exciting! For everyone keen to head along, how is it sounding? It sounded incredible. I was worried about how tricky it would be but last night it sounded great, especially with all the new strings and everyone had heaps of fun. It was great and I was actually pretty blown away by it. You just never know how these things will go as well, it was great! [laughs]
The Sydney Opera House is not only an iconic landmark to Australia, but it’s also this dynamic and diverse musical space. Did you ever think that it would be a place you’d be able to play at? I definitely never anticipated I would be able to play it, ever! I remember when I first moved to Australia I was really against it and I made this big artwork which was just me looking really upset in front of the opera house, it’s so funny. Then, you know, 15 years later here I am doing a photo shoot for some magazine out the front because somehow I get to now play inside.
Were you smiling this time around? Oh, of course, yes! [laughs]. I still can’t believe I get to do something there, it’s really cool.
Have there been any other albums that have made you want to do a similar tribute type performance? Well I always listen to albums and am like, I should do this one next. I don’t know, I think it should be something that is challenging or has never been performed in a certain way before. J Dilla’s 'Donuts' was one, with chopped up samples and stuff. It’s been performed before though, but I guess not with orchestras. Maybe a Beck album or something [laughs]. To me, this one just felt natural.
This is a tricky one but I thought I’d throw it in anyway - do you have a favourite track off 'Since I Left You'? It changes all the time. I really like the song 'Electricity' in the middle of the album. I just really love it because it starts with this opera singer and it’s so heartbreaking and beautiful and then it’ll just shift into what is actually audio taken from this X-rated porno funk song called 'Blowfly’s Rapp', it’s the crudest song [laughs]. Anyway it’s like these two worlds clashing in awesomeness and it just seems like whenever we perform it the combination of that emotional weight, and x rated funk is really cool and the most fun. That’s my pick for this week at least, it’ll be different next week!
[Jonti & The Astral Kids perform Since I Left You - A Celebration Of The Avalanches on Saturday May 24. You can purchase tickets here.]
Listen to Jonti on Pulse Radio
This content was originally posted here: http://pulseradio.net/articles/2014/05/jonti-since-i-left-you-a-tribute-of-the-highest-order