For those who aren't aware, New Zealand has a flourishing independent music scene, with Auckland in particular punching well above its weight in terms of the number and calibre of acts who are writing and producing music that competes with the best from so called 'cultural capitals' around the world. One band primed for great things in 2013 are Auckland-based 3-piece, Popstrangers, a trio made up of singer/guitarist Joel Flyger, bassist Adam Page and drummer Dave Larson. First making waves locally with their eponymous debut EP in 2009, the band transitioned smoothly into more mature territory a year later with follow up, Happy Accidents. In the two years since, the band has embarked on a global touring schedule and signed to (and subsequently dropped) cult NZ label Flying Nun. Most recently, Popstrangers have wrapped up recording their debut full-length album, Antipodes and signed to Carpark records, joining several of the most exciting acts of the moment. With the imminent release of Antipodes just around the corner, we caught up with the band for a chat about the new record and the way things are looking. 

 

POST NEW: Tell us about how the band came together and some of your influences.

Popstrangers: Popstrangers came together when Adam and I [Joel] moved to Auckland a few years ago. We had both met in Hamilton and both wanted to start a band in Auckland. Adam knew David from his old band The Vacants, and I met him at a party I was having one afternoon at my house and he had just returned from Canada. We got chatting and the next week we were playing in the same band. I'm influenced by a lot of different stuff, but its more ideas and themes within music than a certain band or sound, and it always seems to be changing.

 

PN: How would you say Popstrangers' sound has progressed since your last record?

PS: I think Antipodes is a lot warmer sounding than the quite post punk guitar sound I used in other releases. I basically wanted to make something that could be listened to in more ways than just hearing the first song and knowing what the whole album would sound like.

 

PN: Naming this album Antipodes suggests, both geographically and symbolically, where you are currently and perhaps where you'd like to be, (the complete opposite). What do the Antipodes symbolize for you?

PS: Yeah, Antipodes became a default name for the album, and we weren't sure what the album was going to be called while we were recording it. For me it suits the songs on the album as there are a themes of isolation and wanting to be somewhere else in the album. I think of the album as documenting what we were doing this time last year and where we were, so I think Antipodes; being home is a suitable title.

 

PN: Would you say the album is a product of its environment? 
It's pretty melancholic. Musically/culturally, are there feelings of isolation?

PS: Yeah totally. For the last couple of years I haven't felt completely happy with my surroundings. I've been doing the exact same thing and I know I want to do something else - I just don't know what it is. It wasn't intentional for the album to have a certain theme to it but in hindsight the songs that did make it on the album do relate to each other.

 

PN: Can you draw comparisons between the Auckland music scene and other places you have visited?

PS: Yes, it seems to be mostly the same in terms of having different venues having different bands and genres of music being played at them.

 

PN: Would you say your local scene is more or less accommodating to your sound compared to your international audience?

PS: I think its more about showing your music to new people. Auckland has been very accommodating to us and it's still fun playing shows here. I just think its about other countries having bigger music scenes that make them more accommodating.

 

PN: You were signed to Flying Nun - a label inherently linked with NZ, until leaving and shortly after signing with Carpark - a much more internationally-minded label. Does this correspond with the creative direction your music is taking? An expansion of ideas?

PS: The direction of our music is always going to be changing, and hopefully expanding in ideas. I don't feel that it has anything to do with the label releasing it. I would get sick of playing similar songs whether we had a label or didn't. I guess what will change is moving overseas and I am curious as to whether or not it is going to have a big effect on writing music. So signing to an overseas label has affected where we are based as a band more than anything.

 

PN: Where will 2013 take you upon releasing Antipodes?

PS: We are playing our album release shows in New Zealand this month, then in March we are doing a short tour of Australia before heading to London in April to tour from there and record our new album.

 

Antipodes is out this Friday, 22 February.

 

 

 

Jack Smylie

Photographer - Frances Carter / Lilly Ansible