Pessimism Strikes You Cold: Sandpit Beat:
Sandpit by Louisa Williams
Imagine carving up a Crepe-Paper Fortress with the uncontrolled slashes of an axe. Unnecessary perhaps, dramatic maybe, but the whirlwind finale to Melbourne trio Sandpit's long awaited debut album On Second Thought sears with passion that can only be explained by a large dosage of confusion, melancholia, depression, anger and bitterness, as do each of the preceding nine tracks. You'd feel this way too, says bassist Stephanie Ashworth, if you were constantly under pressure to fit in with a certain indie rock scene, justify your musical existence and keep dignity the songs. "It's all about bluffing", vocalist Brendan Webb begs in Metamorphosis, but deep down Sandpit struggle to keep the honesty of their creations, and if that means starting a song three times in a live performance so as not to taint it's beauty, that's what they're going to do.

Reflecting on the success of Sandpit's earlier two EP's Lessons in Posture and The Tyranny of Creeps, it would have been simple but nonetheless predictable to release a replica album. But taking the time to grow, learning more than just posture across the three years has made Ashworth adament that the wait was worth it; "I was saying to someone the yesterday, it's not mandatory, but it's kind of good to test the water by doing a couple of EP's and work out all the things about the process of recording before you launch right in there I think". Also pleased about Webb's vocal maturity, she believes that his upfrontedness gives the album fragility and boldness; "On the album, Brendan's vocal's are unashamedly out-there and it's really good, finally the vocals are so beautiful. Yeah, he's ridiculously shy but finally his voice has really grown and to sit in the studio and hear it so loud and then hear it finally mastered and mixed. There are really poppy moments on the album, but there's also sparse, very melancholy, it has a lot of sombre moments on it. It was very much there in the recording process, there were times when I had to walk out of the room because it was so honest and vulnerable, when Brendan was doing his vocals because he really put himself out there. There were times when myself and the two engineers would go 'oh my god, I have to go outside and have a water'. It's a really honest album and I'm glad we did it", she reveals. Having little time of late to notice the impact of the two singles, Along the Moors and the newer, Swervedriver guitar driven, falsetto chorus boasting Greater Expectations, Sandpit have just finished a thirty five show tour with The Superjesus. An interesting mix some may say, but Ashworth explains that the support was somewhat of a challenge. "The thing about Sandpit is that we've been a support band for so many indie rock events that I think we made a decision to tour with The Superjesus because I am sick of fitting in with the indie rock genre, just towing the line and preaching to the converted. It was really important for us to do a really full-on national tour with a band that are commercial and overtly so, and to play to completely different people who I thought maybe would throw things at us", she laughs now, "but it was really good for us to do that because we got tighter, and we played three gigs a day somedays. I thought it was really good.", Ashworth admits. And now that Sandpit's household name has expanded, they have the onerous task of locating and breaking in another off beat drummer. Producer slash drummer Greg Wales had filled the seat, originally as a temp for a Pavement support but later lured to remain, unfortunately having to jet off to the states now. "Yeah, a drummer is an absolutely, incredibly important part of a band. They're the backbone and really important dynamically. Greg is more of a pop drummer than perhaps our previous drummer", she says adding that many journalists have already noted the poppier moments on On Second Thought. "Greg was incredibly, is incredibly receptive to everything, he's not just a drummer, he produced the album. He was obviously the man for the job, he knew all the songs, he was very close to them and he loves off-kilter pop vibes, he's not a straight pop man. A lot of it's got to do with personality and where you're coming from. Sandpit could never have a standard four-four drummer. It's got really weird timings and it sounds right but it's just wacky to play", she says proudly. But Webb and Ashworth are equally as busy, with Webb's solo project B.L. Stryker due for a solo album later this year and Ashworth's recent inclusion in pop favourite Something For Kate, the challenge of side projects is just too enticing to pass up; "It's always good to do different types of music, it's good as a musician because you expand your brain, and I made a pact with myself a few years ago that whenever anybody asked me to do any side projects or any collaborations or fill in for a while that I would challenge myself to do it", she divulges, laughing as she begs me not to ask her what she'd do if a side project hit it really big, too sweet to offend anyone, only saying that Sandpit is very close to her heart.

This was lovingly and beautifully transcribed for me by Fionna Thiessen