Perth, Australia four-piece Spacey Jane are no longer coming over for Live At Leeds, The Great Escape and what have you (obvs), but they’re battling on through lockdown to release their debut album ‘Sunlight’, due 12th June via AWAL. “We’re so incredibly excited to finally be putting out our first ever album – it’s been a long time in the making,” they say. The guitar-poppers are also performing at Homeschool this May – perfect time for an introduction, then.
Hey Spacey Jane, how’s it going? Are you all coping ok during this virus business?
Caleb: Hey, pretty good all things considered! Yeah, I think we’ve all adapted pretty well. Having to cancel and postpone 6 months of touring was pretty devastating, but we’re looking forward to getting back on the road.
How has the lockdown impacted you guys so far?
C: We’re lucky that WA hasn’t been too heavily affected, so life has maintained some normality. You can still go and get a takeaway coffee or go to the beach as long as you maintain social distancing. In saying that I’ve had quite a few frustrating days, it can be easy to despair about how long it’s going to last etc.
Kieran: I’m just really, really bored a lot of the time. It’s not that bad, though.
What are you up to, day to day? Do you have lots to be getting on with?
C: I’ve been writing heaps which is a nice change as the process is usually quite slow for me. I’ve been *trying* to exercise with minimal results, and Kieran and Ashton have been playing a LOT of Mario Kart.
K: There’s still little bits of work to do, album release prep and all that good stuff – it’s also kind of nice to not feel particularly stressed by the work at all. Nothing is pressing/urgent, so I’m just feeling very relaxed, which is nice! And yes, Mario Kart.
Have you learnt any new skills during the lockdown period?
K: I’ve gotten a bit less pathetic at cooking and am trying to learn a bit of guitar, I’m not expecting to come out of this with a great deal of expertise. Also been trying yoga with my housemate and it hurts. I initially thought I hated all of the above things, but I’ve definitely come around, so I guess I’m learning to keep more of an open mind?
Do you have any podcast or book recommendations to help fill the time? What entertainment are you into?
Peppa: For podcasts, I’m into Bobo & Flex and The Moth at the moment.
Ashton: Chris D’elia podcast is good.
K: Ohh again, Mario Kart is huge. I’ve also been watching heaps of cooking videos on Youtube (also Julie & Julia on Netflix).
It must be weird releasing an album during all of this, did you consider putting it back?
C: It is a little strange for sure. We talked about it as we noticed other acts postponing their releases, but we agreed there isn’t much for us to gain by pushing things back. Hopefully, it’s a nice distraction from everything that’s been going on, it definitely will be for us.
Do any of the themes on the record feel more pertinent given ‘current events’?
C: Haha, I don’t think so. Although I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on my past self in iso and I think some of the themes are more poignant because of that, maybe people will feel the same.
Are you worried about not being able to tour the album til who knows when?
K: We’re definitely bummed about it but not really worried, per se. Our top priority is just getting it out there to as many folks as possible. Eventually, we’ll get to tour it, we know that, but I think we’d be pretty sad to push it back and make everyone wait even longer
Have you started working towards your next record yet?
C: Yep, thanks to iso, I’ve been able to make a start! We’ll have it mostly written before this thing is over which is really exciting. We weren’t really sure when we’d fit in time to write and record for the rest of the year, so there’s a silver lining there.
What’ll the next few months look like for Spacey Jane, do you think?
C: Mostly staying sane and safe for now, but once some of the social distancing rules are relaxed here in WA, we’ll get stuck into workshopping and recording the new songs. We also have a lot of rehearsing and pre-production to do for the album run so we’ll look at that when we have a better idea of when touring and shows will start back up again.
K: The day it’s safe to gather in groups again we’re all going out together and getting amongst the local bar/live music scene, here again, that’s non-negotiable.
Spacey Jane are taking part in new online festival Homeschool, which runs from 8th-10th May – visit homeschoolfest.com for details.
