Interview: Getting to Know Major Leagues

Brisbane-based Major Leagues are set to celebrate the release of their debut EP, Weird Season, with their first-ever Australian headline tour throughout February and a turn at Bigsound 2014, Something You Said talks to Anna Davidson from the band to find out more:

Major Leagues are Jake (drums), Anna (Guitar and vox), Vlada (Bass and vox), and Jaimee (Guitar and vox). We are a Brisbane band who play jangly, fuzzy, sometimes shoe-gazey songs. Jaimee and I are the main songwriters, but everyone brings different influences and ideas to the table. For example, Vlada really loves Destiny’s Child and I think it definitely shows in her vocal harmonies.

Weird Season is our debut EP. It was released in December and is a collection of five songs, including our previous singles, ‘Teen Mums’, ‘Endless Drain’, and ‘Silver Tides’. It is available on 10″ peppermint coloured vinyl, CD and the interwebs. The songs show how we’ve developed, as some were recorded when we first formed a little over a year ago, and some were written more recently. For example, Jaimee’s song ‘Feel’ was only added to our set a few months ago. While we are still super proud of what we did with the EP, we are enjoying getting some even newer songs ready for the tour.

Our upcoming tour will be a big holiday with our guitars and The Ocean Party. It’s our first headline tour, so we are pretty nervous about getting people to our shows. We have played Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle, Toowoomba, the Sunshine Coast, and obviously Brisbane before, but this is our first time going to places like Wollongong, and even to WA to Perth, Fremantle, and Bunbury! It’s scary, but also exciting because we really love the other bands we are playing with.

We spend too much time… well, Vlada spends a lot of her time watching Buffy and Gilmore Girls. Whether it is too much time, I don’t know… Jake spends a lot of his time researching how to make the perfect burger. Jaimee spends too much time listening to Cher and watching The Grinch over and over. I spend too much time eating cheese and pickles. And putting hats on my dog.

Brisbane is way too hot, but a good place to be in a band. The music community here is very supportive, but also kind of competitive. There are so many bands, but everyone is influenced by one another, while trying to gain an edge by sounding different at the same time. Rehearsal rooms here are pretty cheap compared to other cities too, which is a plus because we are all broke.

It might surprise people to learn that every rose has its thorn. Just like every night has its dawn. Just like every cowboy sings his sad, sad song. Every rose has its thorn. Yeah it does.

The Aussies amongst you can (and should) catch the band on their upcoming tour. For dates and all the latest news, be sure to Like the Major Leagues’ Facebook page. Check the band at Bigsound this year. Here’s the full line-up.

Interview by Bobby Townsend