Spicy Sydney rockers (and pizza lovers) Hurst are back with a fresh single, and a fresh perspective. A clear turning point for the four-piece, ‘All My Friends (Are Liars)’ explores themes of disillusionment and social isolation in the wake of our increasingly vain and social media obsessed society.
Hurst have been kickin’ round the streets of Sydney since 2014, gaining traction fast on Triple J Unearthed and supporting the likes of Kingswood, who are themselves Unearthed alums. Tirelessly playing gigs across the country, Hurst’s eclectic sound is a hearty return to classic rock, combining indie elements with raw, emotional songwriting.
I caught up with lead singer Ana Veira to find out a little about the creative process behind the new track, and what else the band has in store for us.
Hey Ana, I love the track. Could you tell me a bit about the story behind it?
Hey Jodi! Thanks girl. The track was based on one night out in Sydney. I went to Oxford Art Factory to check out some bands with Ben (bassist). People were scattered across the room, not really caring about what was going on, more interested in scrolling through their phones or making known that they were at the gig without actually connecting with what was happening. It grinds my gears how people use social media as a platform to bitch about one another and be jerks under the veil of anonymity. The more I noticed it, the more it frustrated me.
What was different about the creative process behind this track to your previous work?
What’s funny is that we wrote this song back when we first started in 2014. But it was something completely different back then. It was called ‘The Painter’, and long-story-short, it was about how pissed I was at someone for ditching me. The song wasn’t really working and sounded too similar to a Radiohead song we were obsessed with at the time, so we reworked it to what it is today. Same emotion though, “pissed” – a classic trait of mine haha.
Pissed makes for good tunes though! Could you talk me through the production and recording process?
After wrestling back and forth for a year with either working with a producer again or doing it ourselves, we came to the conclusion that we had nothing to lose if we just tried to do it all ourselves – and if we failed, it’s just a lesson learnt. So Nick (drummer) took charge, did a ton of research, and we ended up tracking drums in a 1000+ seater church on the Central Coast. Initially, I wasn’t very optimistic that we could do this, but as soon as we heard the drum takes, we were blown away by how huge it sounded. The rest of the recording was done in Nick’s bedroom. In the end, I believe we got more clarity of who we are as a band and the kind of sound we want to get out there.
Now that it’s out, what have you guys got planned for the months ahead?
We’ve got a music video coming out for the track too, so keep your eyes peeled for that. We’ve also got a couple of singles up our sleeve that we plan on rolling out within the next few months, as well as jumping back into our bedroom/studio to record some more tracks. We’re keen to get our music out there. And we’re just going to keep playing more shows too!
You can catch Hurst this Friday at Hideaway Bar, and Sat Nov 18th at Sad Grrrls Fest.
