Since their debut EP release Rolling On The Floor, Laughing Ourselves To Sleep in 2009 Ball Park Music has been making waves across the music industry world wide. In 2010 the band released a second EP Conquer The Town, Easy As Cake and began to gain mainstream recognition with their debut album Happiness And Surrounding Suburbs. In 2012 their sophomore album Musuem was released, and their most recent album Puddinghead was released in 2013. Ball Park Music has had two singles make the Triple J Hottest 100 list, and have performed at some of the biggest music festivals in Australia. The band’s lead singer and guitarist, Sam Cromack, took the time to answer a few questions about their new music and being back in Australia for Beyond The Valley from December 30th.
Ball Park Music is currently in Europe for a short period of time before heading back to Australia for ‘Beyond The Valley’. What is it like for you guys being in a different country performing your music?
It’s early days for us here. We’ve signed with labels in the UK and Germany, so we’re taking an opportunity to meet those people and play some music. The culture change is healthy. I find European audiences to be more appreciative and music-focused. I think Australians have learned to always expect entertainment and a party. That’s not a crime, but it is nice to be here playing for people who really listen.
The band will be heading back to their home turf for the Australian music festival ‘Beyond The Valley’ from December 30th. Can fans expect anything new and different from your set?
I think we’ve really come on as a group this year. We’ve learnt to be a lot freer when we perform. We’ve been jamming and improvising a lot more and that’s made each show unique and unpredictable. Paul will have been away in Iceland and will get back just in time for the shows, so hopefully we won’t be too rusty.
Since your first EP release in 2009 Rolling On The Floor, Laughing Ourselves To Sleep Ball Park Music has been going from strength to strength. Are there any performances in particular that stand out since the whole journey started?
We played a festival in Vietnam, which was quite surreal. We also played for almost 20,000 people in Dubbo, Australia for Triple J’s One Night Stand in 2013. That was pretty weird. We played for the first time in Berlin the other night for about 100 people. The last few years have taken us on some strange and varied adventures. Some of the most stressful and unusual gigs end up being the most satisfying.
Your most recent release is the album Puddinghead; Triple J has described it as “playful, quirky and intelligent indie pop with a good dose of wit, cynicism and frank observations of our day to day lives”. Did you guys really isolate yourselves as a band by renting a suburban house in Brisbane for a year? And how did that impact your music?
Yes we did do that. I think it gave us more time to immerse ourselves in the record. We were working on it heavily for about nine months. I think it’s nice to lose yourself in the process. We didn’t really know when it would end. I’m looking forward to doing it again in the future.
Could you tell me one of the most memorable nights you have had out as a band?
I remember having an absolutely massive night when we were on tour with Boy & Bear in 2011. My memories of the night are extremely blurry. I do remember arriving at someone’s party in Sydney and I was so drunk I was taking things out of the person’s fridge. Terrible form. I think Dean got so drunk he cried. What a cutie.
What is the band most looking forward to about heading to Australia to perform for fans at ‘Beyond The Valley’ this New Years Eve?
Being back on home soil will be comforting. I love festivals so much. It will be nice to get back on a big stage and play in the open air. Can’t wait.
If you want to catch Ball Park Music perform while they are back in Australia you can still get tickets to Beyond The Valley at: http://www.beyondthevalley.com.au/
For more information on Ball Park Music head to their website: http://www.ballparkmusic.com/home
Or their Official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ballparkmusic
