BLUE DINER. PLAYS VANQ
Heard of Blue Diner.? This four piece from Meanjin Brisbane creates addictive dreamy shoegaze, and is soon to be loading up the car tetris-style, as they follow the coastline southbound. Their debut album is out, and they’re bringing some friends you probably know and love along with them
Disc 2 is their recently released debut album, which they’ll be playing in full on tour. It’s brought forth a conglomerate of fuzzy shoegaze, hints of jangly guitar that leave you wanting more, a touch of melancholy, percussion-driven melodies and self-proclaimed “good vibes”.
If this sounds like your thing, I hope to see you on May 31st at VanQ. I got to catch up with three quarters of the band, so read on to hear about how tour prep is going, the release of their album, and what you can expect at the show.
via @reasonablynathan / @nathanrathsamdp
WANDERER: How is everyone? And what have you been up to lately?
ROSA CHEN: We’ve been doing pretty good!
TIM JOHNSON: We just did a rehearsal, we've only got one other rehearsal before tour, so just finalising and getting the setlist ready. We're gonna do the album in full…
Does it sound good?
RC: Hhaha, I hope so.
JARREN ABRAHAM: We were a little bit rusty a couple weeks ago. I think we’re getting better. [We’ve been] chilling and grilling!
TJ: What else have we been doing? Oh we got Banh Mi
JA: We did a DJ set a few nights ago, that was fun...
TJ: We had a lot on our plate towards the end of last year—and the start of this year—trying to get an album out, so we’ve just been rehearsing at the moment, not doing so much else. Getting ready to tour.
Can you introduce yourselves and what each of you do in the band?
TJ: I'm Tim, I play drums.
RC: I'm Rosa and I sing and play bass.
JA: My name's Jarren and I sing and play guitar.
TJ: And we're missing Jack [Lestone] who plays guitar as well.
How and why did you guys become a band?
JA: By accident.
RC: I'd say through mutual friends—that's the short answer.
TJ: Yeah, long answer, Jack and I have been in multiple bands together. We went to high school together up in Townsville, and we had a bunch of failed projects that didn't work out. And then we met Jarren through some mutual friends, and Jarren played guitar, so we got him on. And then we needed a singer and Jarren knew Rosa through high school, so we forced her to be in our band.
JA: Forced her?!
TJ: We encouraged her to because at the start she didn't want to play live.
RC: I just didn't want to sing.
TJ: And yeah we got her to sing, because Jack and I can't sing. We also wanted male and female vocals.
It's a good combo.
TJ: She already knew how to play bass. But then she got practising, and got really good. Then we started writing music and playing shows.
A happy accident. For those who might not know you and maybe your music, fill in the blank: If you like _____, you'll love Blue Diner.
JA: If you like… good music? Hahhaha
RC: Like the shoegazy, 90’s genres.
TJ: I mean… Slow Pulp, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive. What other bands? TAGABOW.
JA: If you like rock music?
Your debut album Disc 2 dropped May 1st. It's fuzzy, it's heavily textured, it scratches that itchy part of your brain. Can you tell us a little bit about how it came together and how you feel now it's out in the world?
TJ: I feel like we decided at the start of the year that we wanted to do an album because all our favourite bands just released albums. Originally we were gonna do an EP, but we weren't super happy with it, so we thought, let's hold off on that for now. And then we’ll write a bunch of songs—and take some songs we already have—and try to make it a cohesive project. We just decided we’d go down to Melbourne, record it all in one go.
Yeah. And you did it with Dave [Quested], right?
TJ: Yeah! Local the Neighbour. Without Dave, probably nothing would have happened, so we all want to thank Dave. It feels really good having it all out now because it's a lot off my chest personally. I had a never ending to-do list of album stuff and it was just good to be finally done.
JA: He still does though.
TJ: I still have a lot of things to do... What about you guys?
RC: I feel pretty proud of the album, especially because we didn’t release any music besides one instrumental track last year. It feels good to have something out again. I'm just really happy with it. What about you, Jarren?
JA: Just going with the flow really? Just going with cohesivity. Released some good songs that work together. It was nice.
TJ: Yeah, I also feel like we were going with the flow because about two weeks before we went down to Melbourne to record, we were like, oh, there probably needs to be another song, a more chill song on the album. So we wrote something just before we went down. We took a bit of risk, but it worked out pretty well.
Which one was it that you recorded last minute?
‘Sea Anemone.’
Oh, that's a banger.
TJ:Thank you.
JA: These two [Tim and Rosa] wrote it.
And your tour kicks off next week. How excited are you?
TJ: Very excited. We wanted to do really DIY, small, cosy venues for the tour because it feels nice giving back to the community. So we're playing Sunny Coast just at a small venue called Boiling Pot, and then we'd have a secret house show in Brisbane, and then a Triffid Beer Garden. And then Sydney: Lazy Thinking, which we always wanted to go back to, that's one of our favourite venues we've played. Then we’re playing The Lass in Newcastle, which is free entry. It’s a big band lineup, which would be fun. Then VanQ, which is the Wollongong one and there's no booking fee [for us], you just have to bring some clothes to donate, that's how you pay the venue. It’s so nice, they’re such champions of music and community.
I'm so excited. I love that it's on a Sunday too.
TJ: Yeah! We're taking some really cool bands with us too. We’ve got Local Tough Guy joining us for the whole tour. We've been friends with them since we first went down to Sydney for one of our first interstate shows. And then in Queensland we got EJ Wood, who's a friend of ours and produces all of our music, and then we got Horse, Half Request. Oh, and then a couple bands from Newcastle joining us at the Lass, so a really cool lineup.
Yeah, that is gonna be huge! That's a massive Friends Fest as well. I'm actually getting really excited. Wollongong is the last stop on this tour. Is that because you're saving the best until last?
RC: 100%
TJ: Yeah. 100%. It's not because it's the south-most destination.
Yeah! What should we expect at a Blue Diner show?
RC: Good vibes.
JA: Friendly people, especially the fans, they’re so nice. For us, it’s time to relax, but it's also kind of tense because we want to play our best every time. We psych each other up, but also just relax at the same time. So expect that, a blend of that.
TJ: Yeah, good vibes.
You're playing VanQ, which is one of our personal favourite DIY venues. Also a secondhand clothing store, as we already spoke about. What's important to you guys about hitting venues likeVanQ?
TJ: I think it's really important because a lot of these venues are where like smaller artists start out, and so they give so much to these up-and-coming artists, so we feel like we owe them something, and playing small venues is super fun because you can play for like 30 people and it feels like packed.
RC: Yeah, it's less pressure for us, and it's just nice and cozy, especially in an Op Shop—it's just so unexpected for that to be a gig spot.
TJ: And we're all just hanging out, having fun. It's almost like a house show...
You can do some shopping while you're there, that’s good for the venue too. What do you guys want to do after the show—should we all go to Dicey’s?
TJ: I reckon we should go for a swim at night.
RC: I am not swimming. It's gonna be too cold. And scary.
JT: Well you guys can show us around Wollongong…
you can grab tickets to Blue Diner.’s Wollongong show here!
WANDERER: How is everyone? And what have you been up to lately?
ROSA CHEN: We’ve been doing pretty good!
TIM JOHNSON: We just did a rehearsal, we've only got one other rehearsal before tour, so just finalising and getting the setlist ready. We're gonna do the album in full…
Does it sound good?
RC: Hhaha, I hope so.
JARREN ABRAHAM: We were a little bit rusty a couple weeks ago. I think we’re getting better. [We’ve been] chilling and grilling!
TJ: What else have we been doing? Oh we got Banh Mi
JA: We did a DJ set a few nights ago, that was fun...
TJ: We had a lot on our plate towards the end of last year—and the start of this year—trying to get an album out, so we’ve just been rehearsing at the moment, not doing so much else. Getting ready to tour.
Can you introduce yourselves and what each of you do in the band?
TJ: I'm Tim, I play drums.
RC: I'm Rosa and I sing and play bass.
JA: My name's Jarren and I sing and play guitar.
TJ: And we're missing Jack [Lestone] who plays guitar as well.
How and why did you guys become a band?
JA: By accident.
RC: I'd say through mutual friends—that's the short answer.
TJ: Yeah, long answer, Jack and I have been in multiple bands together. We went to high school together up in Townsville, and we had a bunch of failed projects that didn't work out. And then we met Jarren through some mutual friends, and Jarren played guitar, so we got him on. And then we needed a singer and Jarren knew Rosa through high school, so we forced her to be in our band.
JA: Forced her?!
TJ: We encouraged her to because at the start she didn't want to play live.
RC: I just didn't want to sing.
TJ: And yeah we got her to sing, because Jack and I can't sing. We also wanted male and female vocals.
It's a good combo.
TJ: She already knew how to play bass. But then she got practising, and got really good. Then we started writing music and playing shows.
A happy accident. For those who might not know you and maybe your music, fill in the blank: If you like _____, you'll love Blue Diner.
JA: If you like… good music? Hahhaha
RC: Like the shoegazy, 90’s genres.
TJ: I mean… Slow Pulp, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive. What other bands? TAGABOW.
JA: If you like rock music?
via @3heads2tails
Your debut album Disc 2 dropped May 1st. It's fuzzy, it's heavily textured, it scratches that itchy part of your brain. Can you tell us a little bit about how it came together and how you feel now it's out in the world?
TJ: I feel like we decided at the start of the year that we wanted to do an album because all our favourite bands just released albums. Originally we were gonna do an EP, but we weren't super happy with it, so we thought, let's hold off on that for now. And then [we figured] we’ll write a bunch of songs—and take some songs we already have—and try to make it a cohesive project. We just decided we’d go down to Melbourne, record it all in one go.
Yeah. And you did it with Dave [Quested], right?
TJ: Yeah! Local the Neighbour. Without Dave, probably nothing would have happened, so we all want to thank Dave. It feels really good having it all out now because it's a lot off my chest personally. I had a never ending to-do list of album stuff and it was just good to be finally done.
JA: He still does though.
TJ: I still have a lot of things to do... What about you guys?
RC: I feel pretty proud of the album, especially because we didn’t release any music besides one instrumental track last year. It feels good to have something out again. I'm just really happy with it. What about you, Jarren?
JA: Just going with the flow really? Just going with cohesivity. Released some good songs that work together. It was nice.
TJ: Yeah, I also feel like we were going with the flow because about two weeks before we went down to Melbourne to record, we were like, oh, there probably needs to be another song, a more chill song on the album. So we wrote something just before we went down. We took a bit of risk, but it worked out pretty well.
Which one was it that you recorded last minute?
‘Sea Anemone.’
Oh, that's a banger.
TJ:Thank you.
JA: These two [Tim and Rosa] wrote it.
And your tour kicks off next week. How excited are you?
TJ: Very excited. We wanted to do really DIY, small, cosy venues for the tour because it feels nice giving back to the community. So we're playing Sunny Coast just at a small venue called Boiling Pot, and then we'd have a secret house show in Brisbane, and then a Triffid Beer Garden. And then Sydney: Lazy Thinking, which we always wanted to go back to, that's one of our favourite venues we've played. Then we’re playing The Lass in Newcastle, which is free entry. It’s a big band lineup, which would be fun. Then VanQ, which is the Wollongong one and there's no booking fee [for us], you just have to bring some clothes to donate, that's how you pay the venue. It’s so nice, they’re such champions of music and community.
I'm so excited. I love that it's on a Sunday too.
TJ: Yeah! We're taking some really cool bands with us too. We’ve got Local Tough Guy joining us for the whole tour. We've been friends with them since we first went down to Sydney for one of our first interstate shows. And then in Queensland we got EJ Wood, who's a friend of ours and produces all of our music, and then we got Horse, Half Request. Oh, and then a couple bands from Newcastle joining us at the Lass, so a really cool lineup.
Yeah, that is gonna be huge! That's a massive Friends Fest as well. I'm actually getting really excited. Wollongong is the last stop on this tour. Is that because you're saving the best until last?
RC: 100%
TJ: Yeah. 100%. It's not because it's the south-most destination.
Yeah! What should we expect at a Blue Diner show?
RC: Good vibes.
JA: Friendly people, especially the fans, they’re so nice. For us, it’s time to relax, but it's also kind of tense because we want to play our best every time. We psych each other up, but also just relax at the same time. So expect that, a blend of that.
TJ: Yeah, good vibes.
You're playing VanQ, which is one of our personal favourite DIY venues. Also a secondhand clothing store, as we already spoke about. What's important to you guys about hitting venues likeVanQ?
TJ: I think it's really important because a lot of these venues are where like smaller artists start out, and so they give so much to these up-and-coming artists, so we feel like we owe them something, and playing small venues is super fun because you can play for like 30 people and it feels like packed.
RC: Yeah, it's less pressure for us, and it's just nice and cozy, especially in an Op Shop—it's just so unexpected for that to be a gig spot.
TJ: And we're all just hanging out, having fun. It's almost like a house show...
You can do some shopping while you're there, that’s good for the venue too. What do you guys want to do after the show—should we all go to Dicey’s?
TJ: I reckon we should go for a swim at night.
RC: I am not swimming. It's gonna be too cold. And scary.
JT: Well you guys can show us around Wollongong…
you can grab tickets for blue diner.’s wollongong show here