The Preatures Are Back To Celebrate The Tenth Anniversary Of ‘Blue Planet Eyes’

Iconic Sydney band The Preatures reunite for a fifteen-date tour to celebrate the tenth anniversary of their ground-breaking debut album, Blue Planet Eyes. The band will perform the album in its entirety, along with a collection of their much-loved hits, across major capital cities and regional centres throughout Australia on their Blue Planet Eyes tenth Anniversary Tour.

Late last year, beloved rock band The Preatures reunited on stage for the first time in five years for a very special intimate show at Sydney’s The Lansdowne to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of their breakthrough album Blue Planet Eyes. Fans were treated to an electric and emotional experience as the band revisited the songs that helped define an era of Australian music. Proving the enduring love for the band, the show sold out in six minutes, leaving fans around the country begging for them to take their Blue Planet Eyes anniversary show on tour.

Released in 2014, Blue Planet Eyes introduced The Preatures to the world with its infectious blend of 60s R&B and country-inflected pop-rock. The album garnered widespread critical acclaim, and a devoted global following crossing genres and generations, thanks to its irresistible hooks, timeless sound and standout tracks like Is This How You Feel?, Better Than It Ever Could Be and Somebody’s Talking. Debuting at #4 on the ARIA charts, Blue Planet Eyes also earned four ARIA nominations and a J Award nomination, with a further two songs placing in triple j’s Hottest 100 in the year of their release (Is This How You Feel #9 in 2013 and Somebody’s Talking #29 in 2014).

With their songs ringing out around the world, it was clear The Preatures had found ‘it’s an inexplicable but totally identifiable thing. Suddenly, they had gone from playing clubs for hundreds of people to performing in front of tens of thousands. Their quick rise to fame as one of Australia’s most exciting acts had earned them a reputation for their boundary pushing song writing and magnetic live shows which saw them play countless shows, including a fifty-date regional tour of Australia, two shows at Sydney Opera House, triple j’s Beat The Drum concert, Splendour In The Grass and Falls Festival, as well as huge international spots on Jimmy Kimmel Live, mainstage Coachella, SXSW, Bonnaroo and Glastonbury.

However, having reached dizzying heights that most artists could only ever dream of, the five friends from Sydney also found themselves facing mounting pressures. Non-stop touring, financial troubles, personal relationships and the pandemic took a toll on the band and much to fan’s disappointment, they decided to call it quits. Now The Preatures are back and front woman Isabella Manfredi talks to Hi Fi Way about the tenth anniversary of Blue Planet Eyes and what it all means.

Congratulations on ten years of your debut album Blue Planet Eyes. It must be a really exciting time for the band?
Yeah, it really does. Thank you for saying that. There’s just this great swell of momentum, which is, I think, when you’ve been in this business long enough you recognise that when it comes around you’ve got to really grab it by the horns, appreciate it and surrender to the moment.

It feels like a full circle moment for me, because I still remember your first show at The Gov. There’s something very satisfying about being able to follow the band through from the beginning, through the challenges right through to now and it’s a privilege to watch the band evolve.
Absolutely, as a human, but also as an artist, or as a songwriter, as a musician we get to make bodies of work. Hopefully, if you’re if you’re lucky and also you’re good and you’re smart, you get to progress. It’s crazy thinking that was the first record that we were making. We were learning so much about, not just about what we wanted to do, what our musical vision was, but also how to make a record, how to be a touring band, how to be a functional unit and just all of these things that in some ways we didn’t realise the potential that other people had set for us, or had picked us out for but who knows? Maybe there’s another chance for us to absolutely to see and keep evolving.

Was that a tough decision to get the band back together? It could have been quite easy to commemorate the occasion with the vinyl release and let it be like that.
There was a clear financial reason why we we needed to regroup, and we wanted to regroup and I’ve been talking about this in any in every interview, and it never gets less awkward for me. But I’ve been on a little bit of an honesty run on this promo trail, because I want fans to understand that sometimes it’s like it’s not really about even about the personalities or the the relationships or the music. It’s sometimes a contract and a deal and the financial reality of running a business with other people. that means that as an artist, or a group, or a songwriter stops working for a period of time. But having said that, I think it was good for us to take that time away. I think that it was necessary. Looking back, we were pretty burnt out, and we’ve been working very hard, but that had plateaued in terms of exactly what we’re just talking about in terms of our ability to evolve. Going away and being forced to do different things with our lives, like have kids and start businesses, and for me, I got to do a solo record, and I still have a solo career which is really fulfilling for me and kind of necessary. It’s a necessary outlet for me as a songwriter that has allowed me to appreciate what I have with the band so much more, and see it clearly for what it for what it is. So yeah, it was a hard decision, a necessary decision, and also a natural and easy decision. At the same time, it’s been very complex this process and it’s been hard to put my finger on anyone motivation, but here we are.

Absolutely, and we’re we’re really happy, I guess not too many people have that level of insight or reflection to better take all these sort of things on board. Does that come with being a bit older, bit wiser, and having other lived experiences like you mentioned before?
Exactly, and no regrets, we couldn’t have gotten here without all the giant cluster fuck of the past. We didn’t set out to heal, the original intention of the tour was pretty pragmatic because we had to be. We’ve had debts to pay. It was like, all right, let’s rock ‘n roll, let’s get on the road, but then the deeper aspects of it have been playing, getting to sit in a room together, playing coming back to what we love about and appreciate about each other and that camaraderie. That’s what’s special about being in a band.

When you started the rehearsals and jamming in the room was that magic there straight away?
Instant. Magic. Yeah, it was very cool to see how, even with all the stuff, and all the time that had passed that that connection was so strong. We worked to create that connection. We worked for years to make that a thing and it’s really sacred when you have something like that. That’s something that just can’t be broken, you know.

Are you stoked with the response to the shows so far?
Yeah, we did a lot of regionals which we just love. We always love touring regionally. It can be a bit risky. You got to put yourself out there, and a lot of the shows don’t sell initially well, people will buy tickets on the door a lot with with regional shows. But the response has been amazing. Adelaide’s definitely sold out. Sydney’s will sell out this week. Newcastle is about to sell out, Canberra sold out, Melbourne sold out in a heartbeat. Brisbane sold out. I think Torquay is about to sell out. It feels really awesome.

How have you adjusted to the challenges of the music industry now compared to when you first started out as it seems even tougher for any band now?
I think we’re in a better position than we were ten years ago because the deal that we were operating in was really unsustainable and now we’re we’re free of it. So, we’re free to make decisions about our music and about our business model going forward that we didn’t have that free will when we released Blue Planet eyes ten years ago. So that’s an opportunity that we’ve got. I also feel like the new industry is really tough if you’re emerging trying to break through the noise. But if you’re fortunate enough like us to have some kind of awareness, like some kind of footing, then you can, I’m just gonna say the same word, evolve and can develop that and lean in hard to who your fans are. If you’re trying to build new fans from the ground up, I think it’s really tough at the moment. I find it an exciting time in the music industry. Ten years ago, when we signed to Universal, all of the labels were in free fall. The the labels were really scared about what streaming was going to mean and now the now it’s fine. Now, it’s like we understand what streaming is. We understand how to work with it. We understand where and how to make money as a group, if you’re an artist, you don’t make money from the music anymore, and as long as you can accept that you are fine, as long as you can understand that the the actual model has changed and not be stagnant in your thinking.

Are you looking at playing Blue Planet Eyes start to end on this tour or are you mixing it up?
We’re mixing it up. Yeah, it doesn’t work and we’ve only ever done that once. When we released it, we did like a listening party. We played it from start to finish, and we’re like, well, we’re never doing that again. That doesn’t really work live, but every song on the record we play on the tour. It’s just in a different order plus a bit of everything else as well.

Was it exciting unboxing and seeing the album on vinyl?
Yeah, the boys picked out the new color scheme as well, we did a special version and I think they’re about to sell out. We’ve had to ration them out for the shows. But yeah, they look beautiful and it’s just so nice to see that physical thing which makes such a difference, doesn’t it?

Are there plans for new music?
We’re we’re writing at the moment and we’re looking at recording early next year. We’ll see what what comes out in the wash and how we want to approach the next cycle. I really want to have another baby.
So, I’m not not super sure if the record release is going to come first or the baby’s going to come first,
or if I’m going to try and do them together seems insane. I’m just going see what how what happens next year.

The Give Peace A Chance – The Words and Music of John Lennon in Concert sounds like it will be a great night out? I’m curious what songs you will sing.
It will be a nice surprise! I’ve I was very lucky with what I got given, and I got dealt one curve ball which I’m like, oh, my God! I can’t believe that you’re giving me this song to sing at so much pressure. What great musicians and great artists to do it with. It’s gonna be heaps of fun.

Are there goals and ambitions to take The Preatures overseas and have another crack at it?
We definitely want to get to America again, because we’ve got a lot of fans there. Visas are such a a big expense and frankly, a lot of work. So, we’ll probably mix it in if we do some new music. I live there so it would be great for me to be able to do a US tour.

Interview By Rob Lyon

Catch The Preatures on tour on the following dates, tickets HERE…

Isabella Manfredi also appearing on the Give Peace A Chance – The Words & Music Of John Lennon In Concert. Tickets HERE…