DRUM MEDIA ARTICLE - 3RD OCT 2006

Having previously dipped his fret into power-pop and psych-pop with bands Swivel and Hazey Jane (amongst others), Bryan Estepa is now heading down an alt country road on his own. He explains to Paul Smith just how he got there, and why it’s all pop to him.

POPPING UP

Bryan Estepa has been a fixture of the Sydney indie scene for over ten years, playing with a number of different acts. Yet no matter what musical style they took on he believes they all had the same thing at their core. “They may have different edges of rock to them but to me all the bands I’ve been in have been pop bands,” he affirms. “I’ve always been very conscious of the melody and of the hook and that is the common denominator with all my stuff. It’s all just pop music.”

Estepa admits he actually thought he’d be in bands forever. Even his previous foray into the world of the solo singer-songwriter, under the moniker Adeline, soon morphed into yet another band, as he recalls: “It started off as a solo acoustic thing but I kept the name Adeline to keep it open should it become a band, which it did. It was just a comfort thing I guess playing under a different name and not having mine so boldly up front.”

Adeline came and went. So did another band afterwards for that matter, but Estepa has finally now gone it alone. And his inspiration remains the same as his last solo effort – his rediscovery of the acoustic guitar. He recalls: “When I worked overseas a couple of years ago I discovered a lot of artists that I would probably have never have been exposed to unless I’d gone there. Guys like Wilco, the Pernice Brothers and Lambchop who lean towards that alt country sort of scene and of course the acoustic side. And so I just fell in love with my acoustic guitar again.”

In particular it is the openness of the music that grabs Estepa, as he explains: “I am attracted to the raw emotion of alt country. There’s just something plain and simple about what’s being said and it’s not being hidden behind pyrotechnics or loud guitars, it’s just out there for everyone to see, bearing its soul.”

Echoing that philosophy Estepa’s own album release All The Bells And Whistles is itself instantly engaging. With its swirling organ, West Coast harmonies, catchy choruses, jangly guitars and of course lashings of pop it is also strangely and warmly familiar. Most striking of all are the rich textures that permeate through every song, something that Estepa was keen to achieve with producer Michael Carpenter (Youth Group, The City Lights). “I write on acoustic guitar and would normally have the basics of how I want the eventual finished song to sound but I think that’s where it helped having a producer like Michael Carpenter who’s a pop music encyclopaedia” he reasons. “I could say I’m hearing this sort of Beach Boys harmony in this part and then he’d help create it. We were literally layering the album as we went so I guess that’s how the textures come because when you have an open palette you can build it slowly until you think you’ve got enough, without overdoing it. I just love songs where the more you listen to it the more you hear.”

That includes delving into the lyrics as despite the album’s happy tone there are some heartbreaking themes running through the songs. Estepa explains the paradox: “It’s easier to write songs when you’re in a sad emotional state or you’re angry and I think that’s when the best songs come. I guess a happy melody can hide what the song is really about though.”

Although he now officially calls the shots he still has some well-established musicians playing with him to help create something similarly special live. Yet Estepa remains typically self-effacing about it all as he concludes: “Pretty much what you see is what you get with me and I guess with my music as well. I can’t pretend to be a doff doff dance guy, I can’t pretend to be a big metalhead but I can give an honest performance of melodic songs that hopefully people will like.”

WHO: Bryan Estepa

WHAT: All The Bells And Whistles (Popboomerang / MGM) Released 7 October

WHEN & WHERE: Friday 6 October, Lewisham Hotel, Lewisham; Friday 27 October, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown