Music / Features
Track by Track:
The Beegles - Sly
The Beegles - Sly
Following the release of his intriguing second album earlier this month, we got in touch with Ash Briody, the mastermind behind The Beegles, to dig into the stories beneath the mishmash of experimental instrumentals, ambient grooves and imaginative soundscapes that makes up Sly.
Across a string of albums and EPs, Ash Briody’s solo pseudonym as The Beegles has found the local noise-maker churning through musical styles and moods, moving from charming bedroom-rock at its origins, to playful psych-pop and haphazard recording experiments; and Sly, his latest full-length endeavour, may be his most unpredictable yet.
From the enthralling ‘Dog’ that opens the album at its most menacing, featuring the album’s only vocals in the form of an enigmatic spoken word section courtesy of Big’n, through the calming ebb and flow of ‘Swim’ and onto the sprawlingly creative ‘Time’, Sly is forever twisting and turning, constantly serving up innovative curveballs that blur between euphonious and disorientating, while always tied together by a profound sense of poignance and charisma.
To dig a little deeper into Sly, Ash has kindly peeled back the curtain on the creative process behind the album and walked us through each track.
From the enthralling ‘Dog’ that opens the album at its most menacing, featuring the album’s only vocals in the form of an enigmatic spoken word section courtesy of Big’n, through the calming ebb and flow of ‘Swim’ and onto the sprawlingly creative ‘Time’, Sly is forever twisting and turning, constantly serving up innovative curveballs that blur between euphonious and disorientating, while always tied together by a profound sense of poignance and charisma.
To dig a little deeper into Sly, Ash has kindly peeled back the curtain on the creative process behind the album and walked us through each track.
Dog (feat Big’n)
‘Dog’ is an interpretation of a dream I had where I faced the depression that was hurting me and dealt with it. My life changed after that night. The track has two separate parts that came together in their own time. I wrote the music for this track a long time before the actual poem was recorded. I was experimenting with a technique in blind improvisation. A necessity that came out of playing alone a lot. The poem is performed by Dan Tuite aka Big’n (Stained Daisies, El Fucko, Flavoured Watersticks). Tuite is a tip top legend.
‘Dog’ is an interpretation of a dream I had where I faced the depression that was hurting me and dealt with it. My life changed after that night. The track has two separate parts that came together in their own time. I wrote the music for this track a long time before the actual poem was recorded. I was experimenting with a technique in blind improvisation. A necessity that came out of playing alone a lot. The poem is performed by Dan Tuite aka Big’n (Stained Daisies, El Fucko, Flavoured Watersticks). Tuite is a tip top legend.
Freak
‘Freak’ is a jam between Mitch Peters (Side Stare Music founder) and I. It must’ve been 2019, we sat down in the studio, Mitch on synth, me on drums and guitar. We never thought anything of the recordings until this album came together, but it really worked. I enjoy spontaneity and feel, and this track has both.
Heart
I had a series of heart-based recordings. I was working in a garage setup that I had. I would use contact mics to record people's heartbeat then make music to it. A lot of really weird stuff came out of those recording sessions, and this was one!
Swim
‘Swim’ was originally written for a sound design presentation at Sial Studios in Melbourne. The original mix was a 16 channel 3d sound system. When you stood in the middle, it was an encompassing experience, it felt like you were moving forward with the swimmer. I’ve always found this sort of music really calming. It escapes the sometimes homogenous mould that we get used to in music, and is a central theme of the album. It has a narrative without having to explain everything.
Dope
‘Dope’ is just a big old beat with a disorientating time skip. One mic on the drums. Recorded in a few hours. Another one from the streets of Collingwood.
‘Freak’ is a jam between Mitch Peters (Side Stare Music founder) and I. It must’ve been 2019, we sat down in the studio, Mitch on synth, me on drums and guitar. We never thought anything of the recordings until this album came together, but it really worked. I enjoy spontaneity and feel, and this track has both.
Heart
I had a series of heart-based recordings. I was working in a garage setup that I had. I would use contact mics to record people's heartbeat then make music to it. A lot of really weird stuff came out of those recording sessions, and this was one!
Swim
‘Swim’ was originally written for a sound design presentation at Sial Studios in Melbourne. The original mix was a 16 channel 3d sound system. When you stood in the middle, it was an encompassing experience, it felt like you were moving forward with the swimmer. I’ve always found this sort of music really calming. It escapes the sometimes homogenous mould that we get used to in music, and is a central theme of the album. It has a narrative without having to explain everything.
Dope
‘Dope’ is just a big old beat with a disorientating time skip. One mic on the drums. Recorded in a few hours. Another one from the streets of Collingwood.
Anxious
Anxiety and identity distortions. Mick Gristle aka Dr Chicken Gristle made a mix pass of this track but neither of us remember what he did. Somehow, he made it weirder! This is another track which really exemplifies the idea of the album as a whole; that these tracks, although all about something at their core, are still left ambiguous and up to interpretation.
Train
‘Train’ is dark as fuck! I was learning heaps from Matt Wilson (OKEG) while we were living together in Brunswick. I would do these weird synth passes, and he would teach me what the parameters were doing. I keep getting asked about the first synth, but I can’t give it away. I created my own sample bank for this and created a technique to mix it. That secret is mine! The most unsettling thing about this track is the note that never resolves. Nor should it.
Time
‘Time’ is another piece I wrote for the Sial 3d sound studio. It’s literally dividing a day into one second increments. That ended up meaning I would record something in my life every 4.8 minutes to make the track five minutes. The first pass was spaced out in evenly, but I thought I'd select key things that happened during the day to make the narrative more interesting. My good friend Adam Day was with me for the morning. Amy Jones from Rat Child was with me for the afternoon and the night featured the amazing Hideous Sun Demon live at the Evelyn. I thought I was getting tinnitus at the time too, so I emulated what I was hearing. I don’t have tinnitus. Hideous are just a super loud band hahaha.
Anxiety and identity distortions. Mick Gristle aka Dr Chicken Gristle made a mix pass of this track but neither of us remember what he did. Somehow, he made it weirder! This is another track which really exemplifies the idea of the album as a whole; that these tracks, although all about something at their core, are still left ambiguous and up to interpretation.
Train
‘Train’ is dark as fuck! I was learning heaps from Matt Wilson (OKEG) while we were living together in Brunswick. I would do these weird synth passes, and he would teach me what the parameters were doing. I keep getting asked about the first synth, but I can’t give it away. I created my own sample bank for this and created a technique to mix it. That secret is mine! The most unsettling thing about this track is the note that never resolves. Nor should it.
Time
‘Time’ is another piece I wrote for the Sial 3d sound studio. It’s literally dividing a day into one second increments. That ended up meaning I would record something in my life every 4.8 minutes to make the track five minutes. The first pass was spaced out in evenly, but I thought I'd select key things that happened during the day to make the narrative more interesting. My good friend Adam Day was with me for the morning. Amy Jones from Rat Child was with me for the afternoon and the night featured the amazing Hideous Sun Demon live at the Evelyn. I thought I was getting tinnitus at the time too, so I emulated what I was hearing. I don’t have tinnitus. Hideous are just a super loud band hahaha.
Sly is out now via Zucchini Records.
