WHAT DOES RVG REALLY STAND FOR?

In my research, I’ve read a lot of your interviews and have found that they are very serious, so I’m curious about what fun things you do outside of music that maybe informs or helps to develop your creative process.

Hmmm. I don’t really know. Music’s a big part of my life. I write, I draw, I do lots of other things. Yeah, I don’t know.

How’re you spending your days?

I mostly just hang out, play with my cat.

What’s your cat’s name?

Susan.

Love it. How old is Susan?

She’s about two years old. We found her under a bin. Under a what?

A bin? She’s feral.

Is a bin a trash can?

Like one of those big garbage cans. Dumpsters, got it.

Yeah, we found her under a dumpster and she is now very spoiled. Sometimes she annoys me. Right now she’s very annoying because we’ve just moved house and she wants to go outside but we don’t want to let her out yet because feral cats are a big problem in Australia and we don’t want her to kill heaps of birds and possums. We need some netting or something. Does cat time help you to separate from the seriousness of making music? Do you think that music is 100% of your life?

At the moment, yeah, just because the albums come out and it’s been quite busy. It’s hard to relax.

How do you feel about it’s reception?

Pretty good, honestly. I think that there will be people who really love it and people who don’t understand it. Making simple rock songs in this day and age is a confusing thing but I’m very proud of the record. I set out to make a record like that and it is what I would consid- er my perfect version of that. I said what I wanted to say and it leaves me a lot of space to move on. We’ve made three of these records and I think we can really make something different now. When you say that this is the perfect version of what you wanted to make, does that mean that there are controversial choices on the album? Or perhaps just things that you included specifically and only for you?

Oh, yeah, we don’t really think about labels at all and we’ve been lucky to have labels that follow along with what we want to do. I don’t want to be in a state where I think about other people too much. I have a very niche view of what I like and it’s much more entertaining to do that and make ourselves happy than try to make everyone else happy or try to live up to the expectations of other people. There will always be people who like you for one specific aspect of what we do, and another group likes another thing we do - if we had to think about other people and pleasing everyone, it’d really hurt my brain.

In an age where everyone wants a TikTok hit, it’s refreshing and I think a necessity to try and make art that is more meaningful. I was talking to (I think?) the Yeah Yeah Yeahs about whether their art belongs to them or the user. What do you think about that?

I don’t know. Especially with a band like YYY’s everyone’s going to be pissed off no matter what you do. With us, I don’t really care. I do care a bit, but with this album, I wanted to make things a bit bright and poppy and more accessible. A lot of the songs can be cryptic, but they’re very much for me, and require some unraveling for everyone else.

Is there anything that you looked to for inspiration or as an example?

There’s a few people. My favourite band ever is the Sisters of Mercy. They have very cryptic lyrics. Very vague, like impressionistic painting. That’s the style that I’ve always liked. Sometimes lyrics can be very heady, but with this album I was trying to pull back and have things be more flowery.

If that were the metaphor that we were using, you’re making paintings with very primary colors. Yeah, that’s perfect.

Sisters of Mercy is an unexpected reference, especially on this new album.

Yeah, I know, but it’s there. It’s a very hidden influence. I think that this band is secretly a goth band. It’s melodramatic. With these tracks, some people will be like ‘this is a happy sunshine song,’ while others say,’ this is a very heavy, sad song,’ but it’s the same song. It’s always interesting to hear people’s reactions and interpretations. I don’t understand how that works. What do you seek to do or accomplish when translating your music to a live performance?

I think the intensity comes out more. In Australia, we have a very dedicated group of people who will even cry at some songs, which is really bizarre. There’s a kind of triumphant feeling to it. The record is one thing, but the live performance has a lot more to pull from. Squid is turned into a much bigger song live than on the album. I love the audience, I love the energy that they give to us, and I think that we are a better live band than an album band.

Do you feel any pressure or responsibility for the fans who respond so intensely and emotionally to your art?

Yeah, it’s strange. It’s good. I like it more than I hate it. Obviously, to get a reaction out of people is a scary thing. Sometimes I want people to just have fun, but at the same time, I feel very lucky to get those strong reactions out of people.

Words by Naz Kawakami

Intro