In the Chair is a regular feature on Eventalaide, highlighting artists from across Australia and occasionally overseas. Everyone gets the same questions. It is just meant to be a bit of fun so please treat it as such.
Questions by Geoff Jenke
Top photo credit Nigel Kippers
Named for the Luritja Nation word for “moon’ following the group forming during university, Pirra have continually turned heads with their striking and danceable indie pop. Working over the years with the likes of producer Roy Kerr, who has worked with London Grammar and AURORA, Konstantin Kersting, the producer behind the Tones & I hit Dance Monkey, Davide Rossi, who masterminded the string arrangements for Coldplay and The Verve, PNAU’s Sam Littlemore, and Greg Calbi of Tame Impala and Arcade Fire fame, Pirra have become one of Australia’s most exciting acts, with their breakout 2019 hit Under The Skyline also nabbing sync placement on Netflix’s Terrace House. With previous high-profile festival appearances at Surry Hills, Sydney Festival, Newtown Festival and Australian Music Week, Pirra’s live show is also now the stuff of legends, with the group’s impending live performances set to feature, as Jess perfectly puts it: “Irresistible beats and energetic performances delivering soaring songs that will hypnotise you into letting your hair down”.
Name: Jess Beck
Band: Pirra
In less than 50 words
describe your music, your band and yourself.
Pirra
are a quartet based out of Wollongong making strikingly danceable indie pop.
Their live show is a mix of live instrumentation combined with washes of synth
and programmed sounds to make a rich, catchy and seductive blend of modern
pop.
_________________________________________________________________________________
What was the first record
you bought with your own money and where from?
‘Tragic
Kingdom’ by ‘No Doubt’ was the first album I bought from a record store in
Adelaide, SA. I was 12 years old and in Adelaide helping my older sister move
into her new place. These were the days when you obsessed over the cover art
and liner notes. I couldn’t get enough of Gwen Stefani with her bleached blonde
hair, iconic red lips and pencil-thin eyebrows. I’m embarrassed to say that I
ended up plucking my eyebrows the same way. Thank goodness they grew back! What
an album though, I still pop it on from time to time.
80’s or 90’s Music:
Definitely
the 90’s! The 90’s gave us No Doubt, The Cranberries, The Spice Girls, The
Chicks (FKA The Dixie Chicks). I also had a soft spot for The Offspring, Blink
182, Pearl Jam – too many to name.
What music are you
currently listening to?
I
REALLY love going down the rabbit hole on Spotify as I love to discover new
music & add tracks to my liked playlist list. My anthems of late have been
‘Follow the Sun’ by ‘SUPER-HI’ & ‘Neeka’ and also been getting into some
liquid drum and bass. I didn’t know much about the liquid drum and bass genre,
but was shown by my hairdresser (therapist) at my last appointment. Check out
‘Hybrid Minds’.
The Best live artist/band
you’ve seen:
Gosh
this is always a tough one. But I think the most taken aback I’ve been was
seeing ‘Sufjan Stevens (Sydney Festival 2011)’ at the Sydney Opera House. I was
working as an usher on the show & I think I really only knew the song
‘Chicago’ from the movie ‘Little Miss Sunshine’. It was colourful, there was
choreography, a 10-piece ensemble – it was an audio and visual masterpiece.
Your “In the mood for
love” song:
Hold
– Vera Blue
Your favourite Saturday
night party record?
I
would chuck on anything by PNAU to get the party going on a Saturday night.
Your favourite Sunday
morning chill out record?
Any
John Mayer record does the trick!
Which song do you wish you
had written?
I’d
say Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. I sang this at a gig in the snow last week and
one of the ladies in the audience started to cry. It was a magical moment and
made me realize just how powerful that song is.
Roger Daltry once said
“Rock N Roll has no future”. Do you agree with him?
Life is rock
and roll, of course it has a future!
Vinyl, CD or Streaming?
I’d
like to say vinyl as it’s way more romantic and there’s something special about
an old crackly record, but I don’t have access to a working record player. I
like how instant streaming is. Because any song you can think of, you have
access to within seconds.
If you could record or
play live with any artist (dead or alive), who would it be?
Ella
Fitzgerald. How I’d love to down a couple of glasses of red wine (for
confidence) and get a scat lesson off of her.
What is the most useless
talent you have?
Being
able to imitate the voices of Sandra Sully, Bjork, Avril Lavigne, Cher, Desree,
Celine Dion, and Shakira.
Your finest recorded
moment?
It’s
not released yet, but we recorded and filmed a live version of a song I wrote
called ‘Spirals’. James and Curt did a beautiful arrangement of it and we got
in a 4-piece string section and pianist and recorded it at Studio 301 in
Sydney. This will be released when our album ‘Spirals’ comes out on September
30.
Who is your musical hero
and what one question would you ask them?
Gwen
Stefani and No Doubt have always been an inspiration to me. They did the hard
slog, played shows in all kinds of places and released 3 albums before their
commercial success. I would ask Gwen how she found the courage to still play in
the band with the love of her life who broke her heart. I’m asking for a
friend… actually I’m asking for me.
Dying, peacefully on your
death bed, what song would you like to hear?
Enya
– Orinoco Flow (Sail Away) or Adagio in G Minor Giscard Rasquin and Remo
Giazotto
Stuck on a desert island
for a year and can only take three albums. What would they be?
No
Doubt – Tragic Kingdom, Kasey Chambers – The Captain and Rüfüs
Du Sol – Surrender.
Favourite all time movie:
Con
Air, I’ve seen it so many times and I think I can quote most of the movie!
If you drove an ice cream
van, what music would you play?
Well,
that’s easy, I’d play our own song called ‘Cornetto’!
Best show you have ever
played in your career;
We
try to make every gig better than the last. Our most recent
local gig was at a Yours and Owls Sunday at The North Gong Hotel in Wollongong.
Although it was freezing, there was an amazing turn out of locals dancing as
close as they could to the front of the stage, they were so into it. It’s like
a festival there every Sunday!
Any backstage incident
that makes you laugh?
I
have a front stage incident that makes me laugh. Many years ago, we were hired
to play at a very fancy hotel in Sydney on NYE. We decided to smuggle one of
the band members girlfriends in as part of the band. She was to do back up BV’s
and play some tambourine. She drank a bit too much and fell over a few times on
stage, almost bringing the PA speaker down. She was taken off stage by security
and we had some explaining to do!
Neil Young or Paul
McCartney?
Neil
Young because Harvest Moon and Old Man are masterpieces.
Who is the nicest person
in Rock n Roll at the moment?
Hmmm,
not sure sorry.
What do you hope the next
12 months holds for you?
Epic
gigs, travel, fulfilment and love.
New single Out of My Hands showcases Pirra in peak form, with the bubbly ballad fusing the Wollongong quartet’s signature grooves and affable arrangements, with the smooth addition of singer-songwriter Tim Wheatley. Complete with jangly guitars, a bouncy bassline and contrasting vocal interplay between Pirra lead singer Jess Beck’s silk and the raw yet lush stylings of Tim, Out of My Hands also sees Pirra step slightly ajar from the electronic hues seen on the group’s earlier singles, while also completing the track with Tim remotely, as vocalist Jess elaborates, “Out Of My Hands is a slower burn than our last few dancy tracks, so it’s always exciting to see what the people think. It’s always fun when it’s a collab too, and working with Tim has been a great experience. It didn’t matter that Tim was on the other side of the world in London, when we got his vocal stems sent over we just knew he was the perfect fit for this track”.
New single Out of My Hands out now
New album Spirals set for release Friday 30 September
PIRRA
– UPCOMING SHOW DATES:
FRI
23 SEPT | CATANI GARDENS, MELBOURNE
SUN 25 SEPT | HBF ARENA, PERTH
SAT 1 OCT | CENTENNIAL PARK, SYDNEY
SUN 2 OCT | BRISBANE SHOWGROUNDS, BRISBANE
Tickets available from: www.listenout.com.au
RELISH
FESTIVAL BELLINGEN AUSTRALIA
FRI 30 SEPT | BELLINGEN VALLEY, NSW
Tickets available from: www.relishbello.com.au
No Comments