A Quick Chat With Psychic Social Club

Get ready to be swept away by the irresistible indie rock melodies of Psychic Social Club, the up-and-coming four-piece hailing from Naarm/Melbourne. Their latest single, 'We Don't Talk,' is a powerful surge of musical brilliance. Comprised of frontman Jared Roscioli, guitarist Simon Farrelly, bassist Chris Baxter, and drummer Luke Bratchford, this tenacious foursome has been causing a stir in the local indie music scene. Influenced by Australian greats like Spacey Jane, The Vanns, and Bakers Eddy, Psychic Social Club infuses their own unique flavor into their music, evident in the fuzzy guitars, rippling vocals, and an infectious driving rhythm that define 'We Don't Talk.' We caught up with the Jared to find out more about the track, the band and more.

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Can you tell us what this track means to you and what you want people to take away from it?

We don’t Talk is very personal one for me. It is a reflection on past relationships that faded when I moved interstate as a 17-year-old. It seems like a lifetime ago, but I still reminisce on those lost connections and consider how things might be different in an alternative life. Hopefully people can connect with the track, reflect on their own relationship journeys, and maybe even make peace with the fact that some things happen for a reason, and sometimes friendships just naturally run their course. 

Who are some of your influences and why?

The great thing about Psychic Social Club is that we all bring our own individual influences to the group and it’s super helpful in experimenting with new ideas. For me, I’m really loving bands like Bakers Eddy and the Vanns at the moment but I think that if you are new listener of PSC, you’d probably hear elements of early Brit rock, pop punk, and a very healthy, and not at all indulgent, amount of The Strokes.   

What’s the creative process for you, from writing through to recording?

Every song is different when it comes to writing. Sometimes it comes from when the four of us get into a room together and just play with no expectations but often times it stems from a story that I want to tell. I usually sit with an acoustic guitar and just play with chord progressions or riff ideas. These usually reach the guys by way of voice memo. I reckon there’d have to be close to ten thousand voice memos and videos in Luke’s (drummer) inbox over the past 8 years. In the case of ‘We Don’t Talk,’ we actually had the song written for over a year in a sort of dirty surf-rock kind of vibe. We’d played it a couple times live but something about it just wasn’t working, it wasn’t hitting quite the right feel. So we re-imagined basically the whole thing, scrapping everything except the vocal melody and lyrics and trying to get more in touch with the melancholy feel of the lyrics, and we’re pretty pleased we did.  

What do you think makes a great song?

For me, a great song inspires emotion, whether it’s uplifting and makes you want to dance, or sombre and reminds you of a beautiful memory. I appreciate songs with great stories or messages, but I guess it just depends what mood I’m in.  

If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?

This is probably the most difficult question to answer. There are so many amazing artists out there that have inspired what we do as a band. If I were to choose any artist at this present time, I’d have to say Mallrat. I love her music and feel like we could do something really cool together. 

When not working on music, what other creative outlet/s do you have?

Music is my number one passion, but I’ve dabbled in loads of media projects over the years, everything from music videos to horrible YouTube gaming content. Honestly though, I’ve dabbled in just about every creative practice from photography and cinematography to painting and candle making. 

Who are some local bands we should check out?

Everyone should definitely check out Mother Culture, I’ve been really into them lately and they put on an absolutely stella live show.. I’m also getting around Daydreamers, Olympic White, Strawbz, and good friend of the band Matt Joyce.

Winter or summer and why?

Easy! Winter, because the footy is on. 

What else do you have planned for 2023?

We’re launching We Don’t Talk at Cherry bar in Melbourne very soon. We have a few other releases in the pipeline for this year and we’ll be back in the studio recording new music for release later in the year. Plenty to go, we’ve been a band for a while but it feels like we’re just getting started. 

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