CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS 147: MIAMI HORROR ON NEW ALBUM, WE ALWAYS HAD TOMORROW
Interview by Brooke Gibbs.
FMM: Congratulations on releasing new music! How’s it feeling?
Ben: I’m just so excited to get it out. The label wanted to release five or six songs just to build momentum, so just really excited to have the whole thing out.
FMM: Speaking of momentum, it has been about nine years since you guys released your last album, so what have you been up to during that time? And what’s brought you back?
Ben: In the time, we had released an EP and then we started to make a whole new album probably around 2018, 19. And when Covid hit, I kind of just decided that style and album we were working on wasn't necessarily us and the way to go, so I started over. Then while doing that, I've also been working on this other project which has been going well.
FMM: It sounds like even though you had a break from releasing, you always kept coming back to music?
Ben: Yeah, we were definitely touring a lot and since the last album, not so much during Covid onwards, but it’s been very active.
Yeah, yeah. So it sounds like during your break, even though you had that break, do you always kept coming back to music and. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we were definitely touring a lot and since the last album, not so much during COVID onwards, but, yeah, he's just been very active.
FMM: Well, it's great to see that you guys are still in it and that you’re creating the music that feels more like you, because this album is great! What do you think has changed between your previous works and this work? What are some things you learned about yourself and your future as musicians during this time?
Ben: I think it was a very transitional time for music in general, or at least how it continued. So, obviously streaming since 2015 now has grown quite a bit, and that's been a really beautiful thing for a lot of musicians, in my view. Like, we're able to do whatever sound you want. Essentially, there's like multiple genres and sounds going at the same time, so that's been really cool for us to be able to explore things that we weren't able to explore originally because we felt like we had to kind of succumb to trends more and succumb Australian radio. You had to think about those things a lot. Nowadays, you can just create in your own bubble and there’s always somebody to hear it, so that’s really cool. That’s kind of what we’re carrying forward.
FMM: I hear what you’re saying about the trends. It can be hard because you're here to make music, and you’re here to do what you love, but sometimes it feels like you have to follow the trends just to promote the music.
Ben: Yeah, and I think it’s really important to be making art from your own personal angle. I think I forgot about that for quite a big period. It was more like, okay, how can we make music that kind of also coincides with everything that's happening? And, you know, like I said, now just everything is happening at once, so it's kind of cool. You can explore whatever you want.
FMM: I love the title of the album. Can you tell me more about that and how it reflects the overall message of the album?
Ben: Yeah, so interesting one to discuss because I’ve very mixed reviews with it. Like, when I told people, they would say, is that grammatically correct? We Always Had Tomorrow is obviously from the past, looking forward. So, it's kind of this looking back and forward message at the same time, which is what the album's about. You know, you've probably read in the press release, like, explore childhood, coming of age, the cycle of life, getting older, losing people, and that whole human experience and the nuance in all those stages. I was really proud of that title because it kind of has that message in four or five songs. But then I told a few more people, and they seemed to get it straight away. There's a lot of albums through history that don't make immediate sense, and you figure it out later.
FMM: Speaking of childhood memories and what this album represents, was there a moment that really stood out for you that inspired this album or you wanting to explore the past?
Ben: Yeah, I think it was a combination of getting to that age where we tend to start to look backwards as opposed to forwards. A lot of it, this album is about those periods where we're looking forward with a new sense of hope and a new release on life at each stage. This coincided kind of with the start of COVID lockdowns where we all started thinking about what's more important in life or most important.
I think something that really clicked for me was I was watching the TV show on Netflix called Chef's Table. It's really just about how these 10 chefs became who they are and how they put that into their food. I was so amazed by that. They were bringing childhood influences into their food essentially, and really weird mixed influences. This one guy who's in the Nordic region and he uses earth and plants to dress the food, and he has this amazing restaurant basically in the wilderness that people travel to go to.
Seeing that reminded me of what's important in art and what wasn’t. I became less shy to explore those things that I personally connect with. And yeah, I always have disconnected with those eras of my life quite strongly. I think keeping that sense of wonder you have is important and innocence; being able to explore those things without judgement.
Whereas once you get to your 20s and sitting in with culture that's happening and all that kind of stuff, which is amazing in its own way. you can get filtered down. I just think it's important to express your own personal beliefs. That's kind of what I learned at this period. Your own personal beliefs, even just your personal story provide something to the art that you do that only you can bring.
FMM: You collaborated with a bunch of really cool people for this album. What was that like and how did these collaborations shape the process of the album?
Ben: Yeah, so I think usually people collaborate with and get features and things because of the way that it enhances maybe the exposure of the album. You know, like, a lot of features will be like two big artists because it's going to spread the exposure of that song. But for us, this time around, it was really just whoever I thought was going to compliment the song. I had this vision for the album and the vision for each song and it was just, okay, we need to achieve this. Who could help out with that? Who would improve that? You know, fill in the void that I can't do with that specific sound or that genre or whatever. So, yeah, we just kind of reached out to people that we knew could be helpful in that scenario.
Somebody I worked with on a few little extra pieces on the album that's not really credited at the moment is Alice Ivy. She’s a great producer from Australia and is making very similar influences to me. so that was really cool to work with her. And then there was a friend of mine, J. Hughes as well. He's living in Los Angeles, and he is really cool with ambient textural stuff. We've been hanging out, and it was like we were stuck on a pilot, stuck on a few songs. And I just said, what can we add to this? And we just add like one guitar line or one synth line and things like that. So, yeah, there's been lots of tiny pieces that we were stuck on that these people have helped out with more behind the scenes than necessarily, like a feat, you know, an obvious feature.
FMM: Yeah, amazing, and Alice Ivy is incredible. We’ve talked about this album looking back at the past, but is there anything you’re looking forward to in the future, whether it’s creative projects or upcoming tours?
Ben: The album was actually quite a bit bigger when it started, like more songs and we just didn't really have everything finished in time. So, we decided to just be a bit more cutthroat and choose the most essential songs/ But, we will finish all those other songs and have an expanded version, which I’m excited about because I feel like one or two of those songs are at least just as good as the best singles on the album, if not, better. It does feel like this story will continue into 2025.
As well as that, we’re launching a record label which is more of a dance-focused label, so we’ll be releasing under that with some funk stiff. I didn't really explain too much but mentioned in like 2018 and 19 we were working on another album, and I scrapped it, so a lot of those songs will be coming out and then also kind of more sample house-y, disco-y kind of things are just too dance-y for the Miami Horror record. So, yeah, next year will be crazy. We will probably release like another six or seven, eight songs through these other projects and our record label.
FMM: Congratulations on the record label. That's pretty much all my questions. Did you have anything else you want to add about this album or things you want people to know before listening to it?
Ben: I think it's just gonna be one that you really understand the depth with once you hear the whole thing and the adventure and that discovery phase. I hope that people almost bring a little bit of that back into their life and connect all the dots between childhood and teenage years and just feel that connection and luckiness that we have as humans to even exist. That's pretty special, and our place in the universe is just so rare. I just hope in a way it creates this sense of a resolution to everyone's life, realising that we're part of this thing and that eventually we weren't and that's okay. It’s just a beautiful experience while it lasts.