Editor: The Superjesus are gearing up for a huge end of 2018 with the 20th Anniversary release of their ARIA #2 album SUMO, as well as a massive Aussie tour playing the album in full!
We asked vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Sarah McLeod to take us through the records that helped inspire the sounds on SUMO.
Swervedriver - Mezcal Head
Swervedriver gave us the idea for alternate tunings. The two guitar players in this band weave in and out of each other like a tapestry. The individual parts don't make a lot of sense, but when you put the two parts together it makes the song. That’s what we were going for in The Superjesus.
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Wall of sound, we wanted to take those alternate tunings and put a twist on it, where Swervedriver had the Manchester sound of single coil guitars through dirty Vox amps, Fenders etc, we wanted to take that tapestry and make it bigger, slicker and more hi-fi sounding in production, almost a metal version without being metal. Siamese Dream was our blueprint for the size of the sound.
Kyuss - And The Circus Leaves Town
Kyuss we used as a reference for our single note riffs. The sound of the single string taking over the mix before landing back into the tapestry of intricacy. It’s like a wooly sound, loads of distortion is added, then a micro synth and all the top end is removed. This sound is awful on chords but works really well on single strings only, so it’s great for songs like "Down Again" and "Blisterment".
Soundgarden - Superunknown
These next two references relate to the vocal. I used to listen to Chris Cornell’s lyrics and pull them apart and study them. His dark ambiguity was really picturesque and vivid. He could take you somewhere without knowing you were going there. Very rarely did I know what he was talking about but it wasn't about that. Very rarely did I know what I was talking about either!
Oasis - Definitely Maybe
This record was just as influential as the rest of the above records combined. Again, it was a vocal thing, Oasis is where I got all my melody ideas from, I loved them. I would try hard to take these dark minor progressions and sing pop hooks over them, which may I say is no mean feat! Sometimes I would feel really unsupported by the music, but I would push through to get my major notes to work. This push/pull of influences is what makes the sound of The Superjesus.
The SUMO 20th Anniversary reissue is available on August 17th and available to pre-order now, here. It comes with bonus live tracks recorded for Triple J's Live At The Wireless on CD, plus this belter cover of Kylie's "Confide In Me". SUMO is also available with its original tracklist on limited edition red vinyl, here.
Sumo 20th Anniversary Tour Dates - all tickets available here.
SAT 29 SEP | THE GOV, ADELAIDE SA
FRI 05 OCT | BARWON CLUB, GEELONG VIC
SAT 06 OCT | MAX WATTS, MELBOURNE VIC
WED 10 OCT | TAPHOUSE, BENDIGO VIC
THU 11 OCT | BEER DELUXE, ALBURY NSW
FRI 12 OCT | ANU BAR, CANBERRA ACT
SAT 13 OCT | NARRABEEN RSL, NARRABEEN NSW
FRI 19 OCT | MANNING BAR, SYDNEY NSW
SAT 20 OCT | TATTERSALL’S, PENRITH NSW
SUN 21 OCT | CAMBRIDGE HOTEL, NEWCASTLE NSW
THU 25 OCT | BYRON BAY BREWERY, BYRON BAY NSW
FRI 26 OCT| RACEHORSE HOTEL, IPSWICH QLD
SAT 27 OCT | THE ZOO, BRISBANE QLD
THU 01 NOV | PRINCE OF WALES, BUNBURY WA
FRI 02 NOV | NEWPORT HOTEL, FREMANTLE WA
SAT 03 NOV | CAPITOL, PERTH WA
FRI 9 NOV | YORK ON LILYDALE, MOUNT EVELYN VIC
FRI 16 NOV | DALRYMPLE HOTEL, TOWNSVILLE QLD
SAT 17 NOV | TANKS ART CENTRE, CAIRNS QLD
