What We’ve Been Listening To: Slow Cinema

Even though Slow Cinema’s taste in music changes constantly – they have very different tastes in the music they love, and their listening moods will change weekly or even daily – they are fans of Australian bands such as Good Glow, Bloody Hell, NewDark, and NTL Landmarks, and Holy Holy.

Have a listen to the Newcastle-based indie-rock band’s latest single, ‘Pocket Knife’, before learning more about them below.

Who is Slow Cinema, and how did the namesake come about?

Slow Cinema is an alternative indie rock band from Awabakal land/Newcastle who love to put on a live show with unbridled enthusiasm and raw emotion. It took us over a year to figure out a band name as we kept adding ideas to a spreadsheet that eventually had around 150 potential names. When we were organising our first gig, we figured we’d need a name. Everyone picked five names off the list they liked, and four of the five band members chose Slow Cinema.

What artists or bands are on your must-listen list lately and why?

This is a really hard question to answer as we all have very different tastes in the music we love, and our listening moods will change weekly or even daily. I’d love to shout out to a few other bands from Newcastle that we love and have played with, such as Good Glow, Bloody Hell, NewDark, and NTL Landmarks.

When you go into the recording studio to work on new material, what are your must-haves?

An open mind to any and all ideas, a sense of enthusiasm and fun for writing and creating something new, and, I think our guitarists would agree, a lot of effects pedals to play around with. When recording our EP at the Grove, our producer Jack Nigro was instrumental in giving us the freedom to experiment but also making sure we didn’t lose track of the overall theme of the song we were performing.

Which song, or songs, of yours would you recommend to a first-time listener and why?

There are two I would recommend. Firstly, our new single, ‘Pocket Knife’, demonstrates more of our indie/pop leanings with its upbeat dance grooves and infectious melody. It is one of those songs that will get people up and moving on the dancefloor.

Secondly, I would suggest people check out ‘Sizzler’ which came out in early 2023 and shows our heavier garage-rock side. Big riffs, a driving rhythm section, and a gritty vocal performance all combine to become one of our favourites to play live at every show.

Which song of someone else’s (artist or band) would you have liked to feature on and why?

I’m not sure about any other artist’s songs. Still, there are producers we would love to collaborate with musically in the future, such as Nick Launay, who has worked on some of our favourite albums. Closer to home, we are all big fans of Holy Holy and would jump at the chance to work with Oscar Dawson from the band, whose recent production work has been impressive.

What led you into becoming a musician(s), and why do you keep making music?

We all grew up listening to music from a very early age, and then began playing instruments and started bands in our high school years. None of us have lost that excitement of getting on stage and seeing how a crowd reacts to a song you jammed on in a garage. There’s no greater compliment than watching a person you’ve never met start dancing around and enjoying the music you have made with mates. As long as we have that enthusiasm about playing, I don’t think we will ever be able to stop getting on a stage and performing songs into which we have put our blood, sweat, and tears.