'We aim to be bigger'- Winterbourne Interview

MIA: I find you through your song, Velvet honey and wine. What was the inspiration for that song?

WINTERBOURNE: Well we sat down to write an ABBA song. We are huge fans and have always wanted to somehow reproduce the incredible energy of their rhythm sections, so we put down that drum beat and the first thing we played was the bass line. It ended up going more towards Doobie Brothers meets ABBA, which we are absolutely not complaining about. The vocal melodies all came very quickly and it immediately sounded like a romance of some kind, so the lyrics came pretty easily too. It fits in with these two characters who we talk about a fair bit throughout the album. 

M: Winterbourne is such an interesting name, where did it originate from?

W: It’s the surname of my Auntie and my three cousins. I had to ask for permission. 

M: Whenever I interview people who make music together, I always want to know - how is it working together? What's your dynamic like?

W: We were friends in high school before we made music together, although those two things were linked closely, so I guess dynamic is like two friends making music together except for some reason people pay attention. Mostly everything is a joke but then 5% of the time we actually create stuff. 

M: You've been making music officially for over ten years. What would you say has changed the most in that time for you music wise?

W: It feels like a lot has changed in that time when it comes to music but also nothing. One of our main aims when we make something is to imagine what the response of 15-year-old James and Jordan would be. That way we never lose sight of what we have always found interesting and magical in music, and don’t get caught up in trends or genre changes or whatever. We’ve got a lot better at it technically speaking, and we’re pulling from a bigger source of influences, but everything still goes through the same filter. 

M: Being Australian, do you find that you've been most successful over there, or internationally?

W: We have a strong fan base in Australia for a band of our size and it’s definitely where we’ve had most success. That’s almost entirely because it’s where all our energy goes since it’s expensive and difficult to do it around the world. Our music definitely seems to resonate internationally though and we are going to put more energy into building a live fan base around the world too. 

M: When going into this together, did you assume you'd reach where you are now, the numbers, the stats, etc?

W: I think we actually assumed we’d reach further, and we’re determined to do so. 

M: You're touring this year! What's your favourite bit about it that you're excited about experiencing this year?

W: The energy of the crowd. Every show is so different and it’s exciting walking out non stage and finding out what kind of night it’s going to be. Sometimes you have to work hard and sometimes it’s the easiest thing in the world, but it’s always fun. 

M: As an indie rock duo, I assume you've got some awesome inspiration. Who did you guys look up to music wise?

W: Well when we first started making music together we were essentially an ACDC cover band, with the occasionally sprinkle of Green Day and The Living End. Eventually we started listening to Simon & Garfunkel and playing more acoustic music. Which meant we were obsessed with Mumford and Sons who were essentially a combination of those genres. We got into Dylan and The Beatles after that. We loved The Kooks and Arctic Monkeys when left school and our favourite band of all time since the age of about 15 is Stereophonics. I’m British and Jordan is essentially British by nature so our music taste always tended that way. 

M: You have such creative videos; how do you come up with those ideas and how do you execute them?

W: We usually only make music videos if an idea comes to us while listening to the song. We try to stay away from videos that are too contrived or try too hard to tell their own story. We do as much as we can ourselves these days but usually work with a DOP or have someone on hand to help out. And then we don’t stop filming until it’s done basically. 

M: I like to end on a fun one! If your name was summermeans (Bourne antonym haha), what kind of music do you think you'd be making instead?

W: Well the boring answer is that the music would be exactly the same. But the less boring answer is that Summermeans would definitely make Ukulele-based Psych Electro Swing music with a hint of indie pop.