“Oh you did it, you stumbled on my button, you came across it and the city woke up” – a curious lyric from Split Seconds latest single Top Floor.
On first impressions, the term ‘button’ may just be a metaphor for an arbitrary trigger, but as frontman Sean Pollard discloses, this particular ‘button’ is of a more carnal nature.
“I was on one of those double-decker buses on the top floor and there was a European couple that were there as well. They were getting pretty amorous on the bus, probably a bit too much so. They had their backpacks and everything; they must have come straight from the airport. We were driving down Oxford Street just up from Piccadilly Circus”, Pollard recounts.
“The street’s pretty amazing so I thought it was a waste. I wrote a song about it because it’s the way it goes when you’re on holiday or when you’re in an amazing place in the world; you don’t often pay too much attention to where you are, you just pay attention to what you’re doing and your own situation.”
Top Floor is the last of Pollard’s ‘London songs’, a batch of tunes written during his time across the pond. Since Pollard’s return to Perth, Split Seconds have been crafting a fresh set of tunes for their impending debut record You’ll Turn Into Me. Although the songs may be new, the content deals with the familiar surroundings of home.
“I think that records…about, it’s all about me really,” Pollard jokes.
“A lot of the album is dealing with the expectation of being back home and what you’re supposed to do with your life and figuring out how to fix it all — that’s where the title comes from. You’ll Turn Into Me is kind of an idea of expectation and the whole album is based around that theme.”
“It’s very interesting coming from a place like London to a place like Perth because it’s so small and you know everybody and there’s not really anywhere to escape, you run into somebody you know around every corner.”
Indeed Perth is renowned for its tight-knit music community. A place where a common pursuit of artistic expression seemingly overrides any individual ambition for recognition.
“It’s brilliant… Once people start putting out music and start making music with other people, it’s almost immediately picked up on and everyone’s talking about it.”
“Then everyone will start getting behind each other and talking to each other and joining each other’s band. The amount of people that are in each other’s bands in Perth is ridiculous,” Pollard chuckles.
“There’s a lot of cross-pollination between bands and stuff like the WAMis and stations like RTRfm really help to foster that attitude around here and really help to bring everyone together and make it a really, really healthy scene, and it will be for many years.”
The WAMi Awards have been particularly kind to Split Seconds. Taking place later this month, Split Seconds are nominated for ‘Most Popular Group’ and ‘Most Popular Live Act’. Last year the inide pop five-piece walked away with five WAMi Awards, including ‘Most Promising New Act’, ‘Best Indie Pop Act’ and ‘Best Vocalist’.
“It was really cool last year because we weren’t expecting anything, we were just happy to be nominated and happy that people were talking about us. It was really, really cool to be nominated and to actually win a few awards as well… We were massively stoked about that,” Pollard humbly admits.
“I think this year we’re nominated for a few again. It’s just always a good night; it’s always a good time of year out in Perth when the WAMis come around because everyone’s over here, everyone’s paying attention to Perth. The national spotlight is pointed at us for a little while.”
In the lead up to this year’s Wami Awards, Split Seconds and headed out on a co-headlining tour with Sydney indie band Underlights. Having supported acts the caliber of Jebediah and Surfjan Stevens in the past, Pollard reflects on one of Split Seconds more memorable tours.
“The first tour we did with The Panics … it was our first tour as a collective and they were kind of friends from Perth and we got to know them really well on that tour.”
“They were super supportive and they had seen a few things before so they gave us some tips on what to do. It was inspiring watching them command audiences every night and doing what we’d like to do in five, ten years time.”
Split Seconds debut record You’ll Turn Into Me is slated for release on July 7, 2012.
Watch: Split Seconds – Top Floor
Split Seconds and Underlights SECOND LIGHT Tour.
Presented by Music Feeds, Beat, Rave and The Brag
Thursday, 10 May – NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB, Northcote, VIC
Tickets: http://www.northcotesocialclub.com
Friday, 11 May – THE ESPY FRONT BAR, St Kilda, VIC
Tickets: http://www.espy.com.au/
Saturday, 12 May – KAROVA LOUNGE, Ballarat, VIC
Tickets: http://www.karovalounge.oztix.com.au
Friday, 18 May – X&Y BAR, Fortitude Valley, QLD
Tickets: http://www.imc.oztix.com.au
Saturday, 19 May – SOL BAR, Maroochydore, QLD
Tickets: http://www.imc.oztix.com.au
Thursday, 24 May – GOOD GOD BAR, Sydney, NSW
Tickets: http://www.imc.oztix.com.au
Friday, 25 May – THE BERESFORD, Surry Hills, NSW
