As the ringleader of sunny Brisbane indie-pop six-piece Ball Park Music, you could be forgiven for thinking Sam Cromack’s taste in music would align with the band’s rosy exterior. As well as penning tongue-in-cheek lyrical gems like ``I fucking love you, I think you’re pretty’’ and "I haven't had a friend in years, I only have sex with myself" the vocalist/guitarist put his friend’s arse on the cover of their debut album,
Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs. Learning about Sam’s affection for gloomy music was the first of many surprises during our expansive chat. Clearly, there’s more to the band than meets the eye.
Jack Pilven: I’ve been listening to your debut album Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs the last week or so and I find it a really joyous listen. Did you always set out to make such an optimistic sounding album?
Sam Cromack: I think the answer to that is no. Every time I read reviews or peoples’ responses I get a little bit of a shock, I suppose. I never knew that I would end up in such a happy band. I certainly listen to a lot of gloomy music. But I guess when it comes to writing and playing and performing I just don’t have it in me to be miserable.
JP: When you say gloomy music, what bands are talking about?
SC: I’ve always loved Radiohead and bands with a similar style. I love Elliot Smith and I love Jeff Buckley and I love the Beatles, except I always prefer their gloomy, sad songs (laughs). Yeah, I love sad music.
JP: Having included the singles from your EPs on Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs, how did you go about writing the rest of the album given that you already had these songs?
SC: When you’re developing as a young band, you give a lot of thought to what will be your singles because, even though they’re called singles, they’re kind of what you invest all your effort in. You go one song at a time prior to having an album. We worked on those a lot through playing and rehearsing and they were all recorded first because a lot of those were released before the album, obviously. Once we got to the point where we had released a good amount of singles and had plenty to go on the record, that was when we got to flesh it out with some more album style songs which were always lying around. As a band, we feel that these songs are just as much a part of us as the singles, and that’s why we’re happy the album is out: everyone gets the opportunity to hear our other songs.
JP: I’m really enjoying `It’s Nice To Be Alive’ at the moment, which has got to be one of the happiest songs I’ve heard about rejecting God…
SC: (laughs)
JP: I’ve also read Richard Dawkins’ book The God Delusion, so I was just wondering if you’ve copped any flack from fans or critics for giving props to Dawkins?
SC: Um, not really. But I’m sure there are some people who secretly think that. I mean, he’s a really hated guy and I still personally think that he doesn’t deserve the hate that he gets. I know he seems like a bit of a snob but I think that ultimately that guy has the good of humanity in his heart and I think that everyone’s very eager to hate him. But his book is very enlightening. He is a really intelligent man who I think, personally, has a very good outlook on life. I mean, it all sounds a bit naff talking about it now and how he inspired a pop song, but he did. I read that book and at the end of it I really felt the message of that song.
JP: Everyone loves the chorus to `iFly’, ``I fucking love you, I think you’re pretty’’. When you were writing it, did that profanity just slip in there or was it something you included to shock people?
SC: To be honest, I put it in there deliberately. I was trying to write a single because I’d written a few, which I thought the band could use as singles, and they sort of flopped. I was just like, ``god dam it, I just want the band to get up on its feet’’ and you need a song to break through. So I deliberately wrote that song as an obvious pop song and it worked, thank god. And it seems a bit cheesy to some people but I don’t care, I still like it.
JP: So you sat down and said to yourself, ``I really want to write something that’s going to get stuck in peoples’ heads’’?
SC: Yeah, pretty much. I’m sure a lot of people hear that and think, ``oh, what a sell out’’, or whatever, but I learned a lot from doing that and it really changed the way I wrote full stop. It gave me a great new appreciation of just how to write an engaging song. Even though I wrote that as a single it changed the way I wrote other songs as well. Even now when I write songs that are not going to be pushed as a single I’m still trying to focus on making them really engaging.
JP: Given that your profile has risen with the release of the album, do you think that from now on you won’t have that pressure to write something that’s always so catchy, and you’ll have the chance to experiment?
SC: It’s an interesting position to be in because there’s a bit of pressure both ways. Now that more people are aware of who we are, we’re kind of in a position where we can do a little bit more of what we want because people will take notice now that we’ve established ourselves. But by the same token, you get in a position where people expect a certain thing. I think it’s a good challenge. People want to hear more of the same style, but you also want to grow as an artist. So I think it’s about taking baby steps with your fans and with yourself to get to where you want to go.
JP: Do you feel like the band is warmed up and ready to hit the road?
SC: Yeah, I hope so. We’ve had a very busy couple of months in the lead up to the album’s release but I think we’ve all been trying to saviour a bit of downtime in Brisbane. We’ve had nearly two months off touring which has been nice, but of course we love touring, although it is exhausting. So it’s been nice for all of us to stay in our homes, sleep in our own beds, catch up with our partners and do a bit of work and earn a bit of money, stuff like that. But I’m keen to get back out on the road and I hope everyone’s ready for the shows.
JP: During your downtime, what kind of hobbies do you get up to? Are you still in song writing mode or do you have other things you like to indulge in?
SC: I guess we’re all just normal people who do normal people things. Most of us have jobs that we do to earn a bit of money. But it’s nice to just relax really. I’ve also been writing and recording in my spare time. I’m working on another solo album, which I’ve nearly finished.
JP: And how’s that going?
SC: Very good. I’m not sure if you’re aware but I have another little project that is basically me and it’s called My Own Pet Radio. I like to record in my spare time and I’ve got nearly another album finished.
JP: Do you approach writing for My Own Pet Radio differently to Ball Park Music?
SC: The songs to begin with are not always so different. It sort of just gets sent through a different filter. For instance, I’ll come up with a song and if I take it to Ball Park Music it’s going to be played by a full band with six musicians. It’s going to have that really raw energy of people playing those instruments and it’s going to have a pop rock edge to it because that’s what we do. Whereas, my solo stuff tends to just be me at home, by myself, tinkering on the computer. So it sounds a bit more production heavy as there’s more digital instrumentals.
JP: Getting back to the touring side of things, with six members in the band, how do you all get along? Is it one big happy family?
SC: Yeah, more or less. We’ve never had any massive dramas. You do become a little bit like family, which means you’ve got the capacity to really love one another and also despise one another. But I don’t think we dislike one another or have any tensions, however, every now and then you naturally get a bit road-worn when you’re on tour and you need some time by yourself. I think we’ve done a pretty good job. We’ve done a lot of touring this year and it’s been fun for the most part.
JP: Do you have any favourite stories or tour memories you can share with us?
SC: There’s so many, yet I’ve learnt that my memory is not so good at recalling them. Since some of my band mates have become aware of my bad memory they’ve told me a few that I have to tell if I get asked this question. I normally go, ``Um, I can’t remember any?’’
But yeah, I think the best one ever was when we stayed in Perth on New Year’s Eve at the end of last year and we were playing the Southbound festival the next day. We were in this little caravan park and some random guy broke into our apartment in the middle of the night. Some of us heard him but we weren’t really sure what was going on in the middle of the night so we just ignored it. This guy got into our bathroom and passed out in the nude on the toilet. In the morning we found him in there and we tried to get him to leave but he was stubborn and really aggressive and he locked himself in there. Eventually he left and walked awkwardly through our apartment. Later we found he left a massive shit in the bath (both laugh).
JP: The joys of rock n’ roll…
SC: yeah… (laughs)
JP: Moving on… I know you blokes are from Brisbane. What’s the live music scene like up there?
SC: It’s really good in Brisbane and I think most of the country agrees. Even though people like to bag out Brisbane as being a big county town that is perhaps not as cool as the other cities, I think the live music scene here is definitely very strong. From the very beginning we’ve been embraced by it and we’ve done an absolute shitload of gigs in Brisbane. There’s plenty of other great bands and plenty of opportunities to play if you’re hard working.
JP: And just quickly, who’s the cheeky bugger on the cover of Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs?
SC: (laughs) Everyone loves this question! It’s a guy who I went to school with. That’s a real photo of him in Nepal. He has travelled a lot. He’s taken his clothes off on the mountain and I spotted that photo in his travel photos on Facebook and just thought it was such an incredible image so I saved it. I quickly whipped up a mock album cover later using the photo and sent it to everyone, and everyone was like, ``Yes! That’s a great image’’. So yeah, we’ve had that for quite a long time and he was more than happy to put his bum on the front cover.
Interview: Jack Pilven