A Quick Chat With Birdsnake

Congrats on the upcoming Birdsnake Begins Remixed package, which follows your debut EP that came out earlier this year. What’s behind the project and how long has this project been in the works?
This project has been brewing for quite some time, pretty much since the early stages of our Birdsnake Begins EP. The Remixed version is a collaborative effort, huge thanks to Dr. Condiments. It’s a body of remixed work championing the diverse and creative community pushing the boundaries of genre-mixing with reimagined electronic remixes from some of the city’s best electronic producers, combining band, electronic, and both digital and organic sounds. 

We've always been keen on the idea of different producers reimagining our tracks, so when DC approached us with the idea, we were immediately onboard.

All of the producers killed it, we’re so happy with how the final piece has come together and can't wait to share it with everyone. Naarm, New Zealand and Indonesia’s electronic scenes are dripping with so much talent. We were so lucky to have some veterans and up and coming artists share their take on our work. 

When, how and why did Birdsnake begin?  Why does Birdsnake exist?
Birdsnake began a while back, we all met through music school and started hanging and jamming. After a lot of time, mostly spent making music, Birdsnake formed. It was a slowburn, but after gigging for a few years we realised we should probably start releasing these tracks and sharing our music digitally. 

The project exists as a creative outlet for friends to explore their sonic curiosities through creating electronic and organic textures together. 

At the end of the day we want to make music that we love listening to and feels good.

Tell us about some of the tracks – we understand one of the members in the band ‘Cobsonics’ remixed ‘The Redeemer’ and made a dub edit of ‘Hello Koto’ for Chicago born singer Milou Moon to harmonise over.  What was  the process involved?
We were thrilled to have Milou Moon breathe new life and melodies into Hello Koto. They’re a fresh band but already making waves, with French-American artist Emily McGill fronting the project – she came from the actual School of Rock in Chicago – and plays alongside Sam O’Neil (Sunnyside), George DeSilva (DeSilva and South Asian Collective, Kerfew), and Jevaan Waldron. 

Once we heard her vocals, we thought it was the perfect fit for a Cobsonics dub. The process began by opening up the original project files and carefully integrating Milou's vocal layers. Her voice added a fresh dimension to the track, and Cob took inspiration from her harmonies to experiment with new dub elements, effects, and rhythms.

Revisiting the projects was both nostalgic and invigorating. It allowed us to explore different creative directions for the tracks, especially after the EP had been out for a while. Cob reworked the mix, emphasising deep basslines and echoing effects, perfectly complemented by Milou's vocals.

A few of your pals globally have contributed to this release, including the minimal aficionado Cooper Dodge, house legend Dawn Again, Silver Dagger, internationally-renowned Kiwi Eden Burns, Indonesia’s Sattle and emerging prog and dub legend Jon Jones.  Tell us about how these came about?

Cooper Dodge is a close mate of ours, and his taste in electronic music is something we've always admired. When it came to creating this remix package, we knew the stems would be safe with him. It was fascinating to watch him deconstruct the original tracks and rebuild them with his signature minimal style. His remix added a fresh perspective and depth to the package, perfectly complementing the other contributions. Overall, Cooper's involvement was a natural fit, and his flip of Phlusta has become a standout piece in the collection on the package.

Sattle is an amazing bass, breaks and UKG producer from Indonesia we got in contact with and are stoked that he wanted to be involved.  His wobbly remix was the first to come out.

The rest of the remixes in the package came about through artists DC has worked with that we were super down to have involved. It’s a blessing to have Eden Burns, Dawn Again, Jon Jones and Silver Dagger on the package.

It looks like you’ve snuck in a single of your own ‘Ice Cream’ to the package.  When was this recorded, and where does it fit in the Birdsnake universe?

When any of us are together, it usually ends up in beats being made. They can stay as small ideas that don’t end up seeing the light of day. But after the release of Birdsnake Begins, we found ourselves back in the lab. This beat got pulled and we knew we had to work on it. 

Hip-Hop is a shared love for all of us and had a heavy influence on this track. Something we didn’t get to explore much of on Birdsnake Begins, so we thought it would be a nice little treat for the remix release.

When not working on music, what other creative outlet/s do you have?
Each member has multiple creative outlets outside of music – Winton is a visual artist who can always be found with a sketchbook or camera in hand. Ayden can often be found thrifting for fashion gems or moving and grooving through physical expression.

Leon can be spotted behind the lens of a camera or blowing people’s minds in the kitchen. And Jacob eats, sleeps and breathes music.

Can you share a secret ingredient or ritual your band uses to lock into a tight groove during rehearsals or performances?
A real benefit of having jammed together for so long, there’s a palpable synergy. You are more aware of each other’s place in the music, so it makes it easier to lock in.

What’s your favourite show you’ve played so far?

Collectively, our favourite gig has been the album launch at the Gaso. Not sure if it was just the summer heat, but that show feels like a bit of a fever dream. We were also stoked to play at Rooftop Bar in October last year to celebrate the release of the first single. 

If your band’s music could be the soundtrack to any film or tv series, which would it be?

Nature doco, specifically bird or snake related (perhaps both). Or the next Dune.

What’s your typical recording process like, and what are your highlights from your time recording this track?
It varies, someone could bring an idea to a session or we jam and improvise to cook something up on the spot. We have tracks that we’ve been playing live for ages and still haven't recorded.

If you could play at any venue in the world, where would it be and why?
Natural amphitheatres are fresh. Meredith or Red Rocks or maybe an underwater one if that exists.

So when’s the launch & what can people expect?
Birdsnake Begins Remixed will be out on all platforms June 6th. Before that, we’ll be launching with a party May 31st at The Evelyn. It’s gearing up to be a fun one. We’ve been lucky enough to lock down some of our favourite local talent to join us. We’ve got a couple of producers from the release in Pers Comm & Cooper Dodge for some, Cooper will be dropping heat b2b with Lou Richie. We’ll also have local legends Shio and Alex Albrecht spinning tracks and avant-garde electronica. We might even have a surprise guest from the release joining us 👀

What’s in store for the rest of 2024? / And lastly, what upcoming shows do you have? 

Got some big plans cooking up for the rest of 2024. Plenty more music and shows to come, might even try to sneak the Birdsnake expansion internationally.

You can check out the whole release on Bandcamp here or follow Birdsnake or Bathtub Music.