Loiter

Introducing Loiter, five best mates who have come together from their hometowns of Brisbane, Newcastle, and the UK to craft bold and infectious alternative punk rock. The quintet are stoked to reveal their hard-hitting new single In This Town, signalling an exciting new direction for the rock newcomers following their debut three-track EP release late last year.

Three fuzzy guitars, two vibrant vocalists and one hard hitting rhythm section – these are the elements Brisbane band ‘Loiter’ keep tightly fastened to their toolbelt. It’s hard to believe their sound wasn’t meticulously crafted by scientists in lab-coats trying to find the perfect blend of modern Alternative Rock and Pop-Punk. Originally birthed from a decade long friendship between Mitch Chen (Lead Guitar) and Tim Ricketts (Drums), they eventually met up with Daryn Yeats (Bass Guitar/Lead Vocals) through an online post in a local musicians Facebook group. Daryn, recently moving to Australia from his home in the UK, immediately gelled with the two long term friends and they started cementing the foundation for what would soon become Loiter. The band answer a few questions about the single.

How has the build up to your new single In This Town been?
It has honestly felt like forever. Darren wrote this originally twelve years ago for a previous band back when he was in the UK. When he wanted to play music in Brisbane it was one of the first songs he showed us back in 2017. About a year went by where we would jam on it for hours, tweaking parts, rewriting sections but the vocal melody always stayed the same and always got stuck in your head. In hindsight it showed clear signs of a single, but it wasn’t until 2019 that we were all keen on recording this as our new single. It feels like this song has been on an adventure starting in England, migrated to Australia, survived a pandemic and only now in 2020 does it get to be released to the world.

Can you tell us a little bit about the track’s recording process?
It was tricky and a long time to record this single as Amber lives in Newcastle and when we booked time to record at Bedlam Studios, Brandon was in Thailand for a month. We started with the drums, bass and guitars at Bedlam over a weekend in late August last year with the intention of doing vocals at home. To save Amber driving twice up to Queensland we had planned to record vocals in the same week for when we played Greaser’s Halloween Frat Party. Unfortunately for us Amber got sick and we weren’t able to get her vocals recorded. We waited another month where Amber had to come up for a family event so we were able to squeeze her in to record. We enlisted Matthew Cochran (Walken/ Pandamic) to mix the single and from first drafts we weren’t completely satisfied with the guitar sound. It wasn’t until March this year that we were able to have Brandon and I re-record guitars with Matt to give it that thick guitar sound that we love. Crazy to think it took seven months to have it all recorded.

Sonically, how would you describe the music of Loiter?
We’d like to think we have lots of instruments that entice romance through being the lovechild of British punk rock and mellow surfy Australian vibes. I’d reference Ball Park Music, The Wombats, Blink 182, The Pixies, The Futureheads

Who would you consider to be the biggest influence on your music and why?
My good friend Matthew Cochran. We have been friends for about ten years and in that time he taught me how to write songs, how to record songs and how to really think of outside the box approaches when you get writer’s block. Matt has this ability to really bring out the best of a song and add a flavour that’s missing that you just don’t think of. Every song we have released we have had Matt produce and it’s a friendship that’s truly valued.

Tell us a fun fact about each member of the band?
So I cannot stand the texture of milk chocolate especially bars of chocolate but enjoy chocolate flavoured food and drinks. Love Chocolate Oak milk. Tim despite being the most accident-prone person I’ve ever known has never broken a bone. Brandon didn’t say his first words until he was four years old. Amber had a crazy obsession with crocodiles as a little kid. Darren couldn’t think of a fun fact so a band fun fact is that we have a thirteen year age gap between our youngest member, Brandon at twenty two and our oldest member Darren at thirty five. As such band banter occasionally does have a generation gap feeling.

What are some of your favourite tracks at the moment?
Tim has been really into his metal/punk lately giving Mindreader by A Day To Remember and Supremacy by FEVER 333 a lot of attention. Brandon has been loving Idles’ latest album release Ultra Mono and has been raving about The Strokes’ latest album The New Abnormal. Darren has been showing me this garage rock band called Ash that’s a lot of fun and is obsessed with the latest Deftones’ single Ohms always playing. Amber and I have been playing the latest Dave the band album which is just a really well written album. Amber being in Newcastle was lucky enough to see their album release show.

Interview By Rob Lyon

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