Ball Park Music

Good news! Ball Park Music are returning to Adelaide as part of the monster line up that has been announced for Spin Off. It is always a good time when Sam, Jennifer, Paul, Dean and Daniel are here. Sam Cromack answers some questions for Hi Fi Way: The Pop Chronicles about their love of Adelaide, playing Spin Off and new music which is just around the corner.

There’s always been plenty of love for Ball Park Music in Adelaide, it must be a huge buzz being added to Spin Off which is a huge festival for our city?
Absolutely. Cannot wait. We always enjoy coming to Adelaide and this is the biggest lineup we’ve been a part of in SA.

Do you think you’ll find something extra special for when you play at Spin Off?
Oh yeah. We have an extra weird/unusual situation for this gig. I can’t share it right now, but it’ll be interesting.

Being a festival do you think there will be any crazy rider requests?
Well.. not from us. Haha. We like to keep it pretty easy-going and respectful. We are more than happy with a bit of food and some beers and wine.

Who else are you looking forward to having a closer look at Spin Off?Obviously Childish Gambino is a huge ticket. I really do love a lot of his music so I’m excited to see his show. But I also love Wolf Alice. They have some amazing songs; one of those artists I’m always hearing and being like, ‘who’s this?’.

What’s your favourite place to go while you are here in Adelaide?
We like having a few late night drinks and maybe a wobbly game of pool at the Grace Emily. And food! There’s so many good spots to eat in Adelaide these days! I love going for a stroll to hunt for some Yiros. Last time we visited, Dean, Paul and myself also took a drive out into the hills and did an amazing hike.

Once the run of tour dates are done what’s the plan for Ball Park Music?
I think we’ll be back thinking about new music. The fire is still burning and there’s already a whole stack of exciting ideas kicking around. We all have a range of personal and other work commitments to keep us busy through until later in the year, but yeah, we’ll be back in 100 recording mode before ya know it.

Are there thoughts about making new music?
Haha. Yeah, there’s lots of thoughts. I’m actually really buzzed on the new stuff kicking around. I’m not entirely sure how to describe it. Some of it will feel familiar, but it’s just a bit more whack. It’s getting cheekier, if that’s possible. Also, there’s just no cohesion and I’m beyond giving a shit. There’s a bit of everything. Some stuff is really wild and at odds with a lot of our material. Really big-beat, bassy songs with heavy vocal processing and moody chords. Yeah, it’s exciting. We’ll whip it up into something good hopefully!

Were you pleased with how fans embraced Good Mood (I love that album!)?
Big time. We are still super proud of Good Mood. It was so well received and it’s kinda just boosted everything. Really kept the wind in our sails. It was fun to make, we felt confident and just really happy y’know!? Hopefully that energy flows over into whatever is next. I’m so pleased that Good Mood is actually becoming one of our reference records, you know, if a fan is introducing us to someone new they’re pointing to Good Mood.

Is there any territory BPM want to explore musically?
For sure. For us, we still don’t feel like we’ve ever fully slotted into our groove, ‘our sound’, as such. We just like so many styles and muck around playing so much different, disconnected shit. Sometimes it freaks us out, but now we’re trying to embrace it as a strength. I would like to get off the beaten track a little on the next record, create some uncomfortable stuff for the fans (and us).

For any band now is it getting frustrating how short the life span is for an album now?
Yeah absolutely, but you’ve got to be patient. It’s a blessing and a curse. It’s cool that artists can release more prolifically, because that suits a lot of us. Being creative is a real way of life, so it can be gratifying to feel like you don’t have to stagnate on a small body of work for too long. But yeah, the flip-side is that it feels like the world’s attention span is just diminishing so rapidly and it can feel like none of it is getting through, getting absorbed in the way it once did. Like I said, got to be patient. I think good music can really endure.

What do you see as being the next challenge for Ball Park Music?
The same challenge we had on day one: trying to make mind-blowing music that people will give a shit about.

Interview By Rob Lyon

Catch Ball Park Music at Spin Off on this amazing line up which is now Sold Out… keep an eye out if more tickets get released.