PLANET JOY
PHOTO BY: Pieter Vosloo  l  WEBSITE: www.planetjoy.co.za

WOULD YOU SAY THAT BECAUSE YOUR SOUND IS VERY EXPERIMENTAL YOU ARE NOT REALLY “PRESSURED” TO STICK TO A SPECIFIC SOUND AND IT KIND OF GIVES THE BAND THE FREEDOM TO ATTEMPT ANYTHING YOU CAN MUSICALLY THINK OF?

We just write what comes naturally to us. We don’t feel pressured to fit into a specific mould that would help us get radio airplay or cater to anybody’s listening preferences (other than our own…) so, we do write in a very creative way that people who have to cater to a broader audience probably don’t… or can’t.

WHAT INSTRUMENTS ARE YOUR “MAIN” WRITING INSTRUMENTS AT THE MOMENT?

We started writing in a bedroom studio with a lot of nice equipment- our main writing tools when we started were an Access Virus keyboard, Ableton Live, Proppelerheads Reason, a guitar and Guitar Rig. We wrote about 50 songs when we first started- all just for fun.

YOU MAKE IT CLEAR THAT YOUR MUSIC IS HEAVILY INSPIRED BY INNOVATIVE 90’S ALTERNATIVE ACTS LIKE NINE INCH NAILS, RADIOHEAD AND PORTISHEAD. DOES IT BOTHER YOU THAT PEOPLE WILL PROBABLY ALWAYS COMPARE YOUR MUSIC TO THOSE BANDS?

As long as we don’t get compared to Black eyed peas that’s fine… We use the same type of production as those bands because they really inspired us to look differently at making music. More in a fun use the studio as an instrument, type of way. Even if bands heavily inspire us it doesn’t mean our music isn’t something in its own right. It’s evolving away from the influences like many bands do after a while…

PLANET JOY HAS ENOUGH SONGS POSTED ONLINE FOR AN EP; ARE THEY AVAILABLE ANYWHERE?

Those are just some of the demos of the 50+ titbits and song parts that actually made it to full songs (albeit unmixed) and that we liked the most. They are going to be decently finished, mixed and mastered and then they will come out as songs on our debut album. We thought we would put them up so that people got an idea what we’re about before they came to see us live.

THE BAND IS CURRENTLY WORKING ON ITS DEBUT ALBUM. WILL ALL THE SONGS BE NEW SONGS AND HOW FAR IS THE WRITING PROCESS?

There are 11 songs that are basically finished and we’ve got the running order. We just need to record them and finish them. Some, like “Happy” just needs to be mixed. The five songs on our Facebook page are going to be on there but they will probably sound very different.

We just bought a studio where we’re going to be recording and producing other bands full time so the first few months we’ll be finishing our album when we don’t have other work. Like tracking live drums over the samples, working that in to give it more variety maybe make some more loops, record actual guitar amps etc. Basically just take the whole “having fun in the studio” thing to a whole new level.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ATTEMPT TO DO DIFFERENTLY MUSICALLY ON THE NEW SONGS FOR THE ALBUM THAT YOU HAVE NOT DONE BEFORE?

Well, for the second album that we’ve already got 3 or 4 songs for- we’re going to be going in a very different direction with the content and the style and feeling the music gives you. The way we’ve explained it to ourselves is that the debut album is our Bioshock and the second album is our Borderlands. So, the same game Development Company but altogether different games.

It’s not going to be so lush as the first album- more organic, funky and sparse but still sort of fucked up. More live instruments instead of loops. We just started working on these new songs last year in rehearsal and they sounded awesome.

IT DEFINITELY DOES NOT SOUND LIKE YOU GUYS ARE INTO MAKING “HAPPY” MUSIC. WHAT SUBJECTS DO YOU LIKE TO CONCENTRATE ON THE MOST LYRICALLY; AND DOES YOUR MUSIC SERVE AS A WAY FOR YOU TO GET RID OF THOSE BUILT UP EMOTIONS AND LET THEM PLAY OUT IN YOUR MUSIC?

The way we work is that we mostly write lyrics together- just sitting in a room recording and sort of treating it like therapy. We’re not the shiny, happiest people and music IS a way to get those emotions out without it having to affect other people. It’s about a lot of different things- from failed relationships to the end of the world. It all works in this little framework that we constructed for ourselves though.

The way the songs work together is like a comic’s story. In the booklet for the album there are going to be a black and white comics opposite the lyrics to put it in context (or make it even more confusing). We like games, and art and stories and we just sort of wanted to bring all of those influences together into a cohesive creative musical product. Whether we’ll succeed still remains to be seen…

WHERE DOES THE BAND DO MOST OF ITS RECORDING AND WHAT GEAR DO YOU GUYS CURRENTLY USE?

We use to do all our recordings in our bedrooms but we now have a decent, professional studio where we’ll be finishing everything up. I can go into an extreme amount of detail about the gear here but I think that would bore most people to death.

BECAUSE YOU GUYS USE A LOT OF DIFFERENT SOUNDS IN YOUR MUSIC ARE YOU HAPPY WITH WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ACHIEVE IN A LIVE ENVIRONMENT?

We don’t try to recreate the lushness of all the samples and loops in a live environment. We don’t play to a click live so that would be impossible. We just strip the songs to all the main parts and do it like that. It works well and the songs really come alive in a different way.

DOES THE BAND HAVE ANY SHOWS PLANNED FOR THE NEAR FUTURE OR ARE YOU GUYS MORE FOCUSED ON GETTING YOUR ALBUM FINISHED AT THE MOMENT?

No shows planned for the near future. But we’re planning to play live a lot more when we finish the album, website etc.

ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR ANYTHING ELSE FANS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR?

Just watch this space. We’re going to put a lot more effort into the band now that we have our own studio. We’re planning to finish two albums this year and do some music videos that are not your run of the mill crappy MK video. We’re also working on our website which is going to be a cool link to our little world…

INTERVIEW BY NEIL VAN ZYL