Musicadium Blog

This week, the featured artist on iTunes is one that we are especially excited to be distributing!  It is Australia’s answer to the “Supergroup,” Basement Birds.

No Doubt, you have heard of the other acts they front - Kav from Eskimo Joe, Kevin Mitchell AKA Bob Evans and Josh Pyke from…Josh Pyke.

Musicadium’s Artist Relations Manager Sarah Hamilton talks with Kevin Mitchell and Steve Parkin about music purchasing habits, cheesy/embarrassing tunes and how the boys came together to create their harmony-filled tunes.

1.     Ok, we have to ask the obvious question because we’re keen to know the answer! With 4 amazing creative minds in the band, does ego get in the way? Or is it more a case of that there is never a shortage of creative ideas?

SP: DEFINITELY THE LATTER. ONE THING WE DISCOVERED IS THAT WE ALL HAVE SURPRISINGLY SIMILAR TASTES IN SONGWRITING AND PRODUCTION, AND THERE IS DEFINITELY MORE A BAND VIBE THAT A “FOUR SONGWRITERS” VIBE.

KM: No one in the band seems to have an out of control ego which is a bit of a shame because that would probably make us a bit more interesting but at the same time reigning in ego’s can become such a tiresome affair after a while.  There are always a handful of songs being tossed about at any one time, jockeying for position to be the next one given the royal recording treatment.  I think our songs have bigger ego’s than we do!

2.    How did the concept of Basement Birds come about?

SP: KEV AND I HAD WRITTEN A SONG, AND I HAD CO-WRITTEN WITH KAV BEFORE WITH ESKIMO JOE AND ON OTHER PROJECTS. JOSH AND KAV HAD COLLABORATED ON A SONG, SO SOMEHOW THE IDEA AROSE FOR US TO ALL GET TOGETHER IN A ROOM WITH SOME BEER AND SEE WHAT HAPPENED!

KM: I believe it was probably Steve and Kav’s idea.  I don’t really know the answer to this question so I’m going to have a guess and suggest that, because Steve and Kav spent the most time together previously, they probably cooked up the idea.  Kav had just been on tour with Josh and Steve was touring with me at the time and Josh and I were already mates.  Conceptually, we thought we might like to make an album that relied almost solely on acoustic instruments and also indulged our collective love of harmonies.

3.    How does the songwriting process work? Does one of you start off and it just builds from there or do you each get assigned different parts?

SP: MOSTLY, IT’D BE A BASIC SONG STRUCTURE THAT ONE OR TWO OF US HAD COME UP WITH, THEN WE RUN THROUGH IT TOGETHER AND ADD IDEAS, MIDDLE 8′S ETC. IT VARIES. “BUS STOP”, FOR EXAMPLE, WAS PRETTY MUCH JUST A BOOZED UP KEV AND JOSH ON THE PORCH. KAV AND I RAN OUT AND YELLED “STOP! THATS A HIT! PLAY IT AGAIN!”

WE ALL WORKSHOP LYRICS AND MELODIES THOUGH, ITS ALL ABOUT WHATS BEST FOR THE SONG.

KM: We know we have a song ready to go when either Josh, Kav or Steve yell out, “It’s a hit!”.  Having never written one before I find them unrecognisable so I go along with their better judgement.  Someone always has a song they are working on and want to bring to the band so everyone throws in ideas to finish it.  We also work out amongst ourselves who will sing main harmonies, second harmonies or perhaps who might take a middle eight to sing.  The process is actually pretty fast as once we are all on a roll creatively we tend to work pretty quick.  Some songs are almost fully formed when they arrive and some songs are pretty much written entirely on Kav’s porch moments before they are recorded.

4.    We like the approach that you have taken to your release schedule - less tracks, more often.  Do you feel that this approach is the middle ground between the fall in album sales and the lack of “decent margin” on single sales? Or do you feel it is more a reflection of consumption trends?

SP: IT WAS MORE OF A CASE OF - “OH SHIT, THE ALBUM’S NOT FINISHED YET”, TO BE HONEST! IN ALL SERIOUSNESS, I LIKE THE IDEA OF MAKING SOME SONGS INSTANTLY AVAILABLE, AND ANY PHYSICAL RELEASE TO BE A BIT MORE SPECIAL. I THINK THE DAYS OF THE JEWEL CASE WITH A ONE CARD SLIP ARE OVER, TO BE HONEST. AS DYLAN SAYS, “THERE’S NO STATURE TO IT”

KM: Woah - slow down!  “Decent margin”?  “Consumption trends”?  It was our managers idea.

5.    You seem to have fairly similar tastes in music, but do you secretly love any bands/artists that you’re usually embarrassed to admit to but can unveil to us now? (If it makes it any easier mine are Roxette and Beyonce…)

SP: I’VE ALWAYS MAINTAINED THAT BRITNEY SPEARS’ “TOXIC” IS ONE OF THE FINEST SONGS WRITTEN THIS CENTURY. SHALL WE COVER IT LADS?????

KM: Oh I’m never embarrassed about music that I like.  That’s why I have absolutely zero musical guilty pleasures.  I love Billy Joel’s “She’s Always A Woman”.  Infact I love everything Billy Joel did up until 1985.  Beyonce’s “Halo” and “Single Ladies” are also phenomonal.

6.    How do each of you purchase music? A combination or is one of you a vigilant vinyl collector?

SP: I STILL BUY CD’S. I WORK IN A RECORD STORE (MILLS RECORDS IN FREMANTLE) AND MY BOSS WOULD BE A BIT DARK IF I DIDN’T! I LOVE VINYL, I STILL THINK IT’S THE BEST WAY TO LISTEN TO MUSIC, RATHER THAN JUST HAVE A SHUFFLE OF UNNAMED MP3′S PLAYING ON AN IPOD IN THE BACKGROUND. THE ARTWORK, THE SMELL OF NEW VINYL, EVERYTHING ABOUT IT! I AM REALLY HOPING WE GET TO RELEASE THE BASEMENT BIRDS ON VINYL.

KM: I used to collect vinyl but I must admit it has been slowly beaten out of me.  I haven’t bought vinyl in about 7 years and my collection rarely gets played these days as my record player isn’t even plugged in anymore!  Although I love the romance of vinyl.  That will never die.  I don’t even buy many cd’s anymore.  The majority of my albums/songs are bought from iTunes these days and listened to on an iPod.  I love the immediacy of it.  If I’m wasted at 2am and suddenly realise that Donna Summer disco is the best music in the world to dance to, I can be shakin’ my hips to her greatest hits collection within minutes!

7.    Finally, if you could add a fifth member to the Birds (living or dead) who would it be?

SP: LIVING OR DEAD?? LIVING, I’D HAVE TO SAY PAUL KELLY. THEN WE WOULDN’T HAVE TO WRITE ANY SONGS, THEY’D ALL BE THERE ALREADY AND BRILLIANT! WE’D JUST HAVE TO SING THEM! DEAD? I’D ADD ROY ORBISON. THEN WE COULD COVER THE TRAVELLING WILBURYS WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS…

KM: Anyone as long as it was a woman.  There are times when I think what the four of us is doing is absurd.  We’re four grown men and sometimes it just feels ridiculous.  A woman in the group would add an extra depth I think.  But what kind of sadistic lady would want to join?
You can download the iTunes Single of the Week - Basement Birds - Waiting for You at

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 at 3:08 pm and is filed under Featured Artist. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.