The Preatures
Following an incredibly successful debut album, Blue Planet Eyes, The Preatures had some unexpected obstacles thrown in their path ahead of the release of their latest record, Girlhood. Rather than let that hinder their creative process they saw it as an opportunity to further develop their craft.
The two major obstacles the band had to overcome were the departure of Gideon Bensen and an injury to Luke Davison which meant he would be out of action for an extended period of time. This however allowed the remaining members of the band, Thomas Champion, Isabella Manfredi and Jack Moffitt to slow the writing process down and revise a method they had used as teenagers.
“Being two members down, one was coming back and one wasn’t, it was still kind of worrying because our fate hung in the balance but it wasn’t really in our control so we devoted that idle time to getting good material down. We could sit down, take our time and work things out to give the songs and ideas room to breath.” reflected Tom.
By being allowed to develop this record over a longer period of time it allowed the group to take in outside influences from other creative mediums and incorporate those into music. On such example is highlighted on lead single Yanada which was influenced by the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Kate Granville’s novel The Secret River.
“After seeing The Secret River Izzy started writing a song with the indigenous Dharug language in it,” explained Jack, “Izzy took that journey mostly on her own because she knew exactly what she wanted to find but couldn’t find the best way to express that or which resources to draw upon but that eventually led to us working with Jacinta Tobin.”
The Preatures certainly understand how lucky they have been to be given the opportunity to work with both Jacinta and the Dharug language and would love to continue to do more so in the future having now had their “eyes opened.”
From even their earliest releases The Preatures have always written about their reality and what is happening around them so it comes as no surprise that this latest record often delves into what it means to be a woman in the modern Australian music industry. As both Tom and Jack explained it was easy to foster that vision for the record.
“It’s Izzy’s reality being a woman in the music industry but it’s also our reality as well being in a band with a woman.” said Tom before Jack added, “Especially now during the writing of the record she [Izzy] found herself in the position of front woman without sharing that with anyone, especially a man.”
Sep 2. Enmore Theatre, 118-132 Enmore Rd, Newtown. $49. Tickets & Info: www.thepreatures.com
Sep 30-Oct 1. Yours & Owls Festival, Stuart Park, Wollongong. $105-$280+b.f.
Sep 30. Yours & Owls Under 18’s Festival, Waves, 170 Pioneer Road, Towradgi. $49+b.f.
Tickets & Info: www.yoursandowlsfestival.com.au
