A Quick Chat With Virgin Mary Disco

Naarm/Melbourne-based band Virgin Mary Disco is making waves in the indie rock scene with their latest single 'Automation'. Following their recent release 'Modern Man', the four-piece group showcases their new wave-inspired sound in this lively and unapologetic track. Drawing influence from post-punk legends Joy Division, New Order, and The Cure, the song features clashing drums, rowdy guitars, and deep-toned vocals. Lyrically, the track comments on the effects of rapid technological growth and capitalism, with the perspective of an AI machine taking over the world. Despite facing a pandemic-induced hiatus, the band is showing no signs of slowing down, with more exciting releases planned for 2023. We caught up with the band to find out 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?

The concept came from our thinking about the continued transformation of our workforce. We are now dealing with the effects and outcomes of globalisation and of the outsourcing of blue collar jobs. Big company executives and white collar workers said "deal with it and understand that your job can now be replaced by machines and that's good". However, computers can now do many white collar jobs as well and the very people that scoffed at others before are beginning to feel the effects of automation themselves. We then decided to write the lyrics from the perspective of an AI machine that was overtaking the earth after humans failed to take care of it themselves. The machine begins automating everything until even the billionaires are scared of the machine.

With the song, we wanted to highlight the importance of being aware of how automation may affect us all... but personally, we welcome our new robot overlords!

Who are some of your influences and why?

Musically, we’re very influenced by the classic post-punk and new wave synth sounds of Britain, such as Joy Division, New Order and The Cure, which makes sense when half of the band was born and raised in Britain. The grit, working class ethics and DIY attitude of this music is a part of all of us. The band works so well together because of all of our different influences outside punk though. Other artists we love are bands like IDLES, The Strokes, Cage The Elephant, Parquet Courts, Kraftwerk.

Outside of music, we're also influenced and inspired by socioeconomic and political happenings, living in a world grappling with the various effects of capitalism, climate change, rapid and unhindered technological growth, populism, sexism, and a global pandemic.

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

Our process differs depending on our mood, how busy we are and the song. Because of our different influences, we find it works well when one of us has an idea for a chord progression, melody, structure or even a full song mapped out and brings it to rehearsals. We each like to put our stamp on different parts of the song or add what we think might make a song sound better. We find that even something as simple as a good bassline, guitar or vocal melody or drum beat can be the start of something really fucking great.

Recording is such a fun process for us because we really get to play with our sound much greater than in a rehearsal studio. We love to bounce ideas off each other and a producer to add different layers that we may not have thought of. When recording 'Automation' this was the case - we played with different synth sounds and arpeggios to layer in, and that jangly guitar your hear in the outro were really amazing outcomes of our time in the studio.

What do you think makes a great song?

Without sounding too cliche, music is better when it’s raw and honest and effectively conveys an emotion or feeling. When writing and performing, we like to think back to some of our favourite recordings pre-2000s where recordings sounded more vibrant and songs sounded imperfectly perfect. That, and a really catchy melody, danceable beat, and a riff that makes your face scrunch up!

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

Robert Smith. The Cure frontman has done some ICONIC collaborations with bands like Crystal Castles, blink-182, Gorillaz, Chvrches, and The Twilight Sad. Imagine joining that list! We'd also love a collab' Slowthai because his energy and storytelling are unparalleled right now. It would be interesting to see his process considering how off the wall his finished songs turn out.

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

Liam is passionate about film photography. Jackson writes poetry and builds guitar pedals in his free time, Duncan uses his creative spare time to write short stories and skate. Spencer doesn't have much creative spare time, as he uses all his creative power in his engineering career and music!

Who are some local bands we should check out?

Some of our favourites right now include Soundtrackmusic, Moaning Lisa, Citrus Grove, Syzygy, Daisy Tapes, Tin Pot Clay Man, Wilsn, Good Morning, Hooper Crescent.

Winter or summer and why?

We're hurt you didn't give us the option of Autumn, personally. The colours, the smells, the warmth during the days and colder nights suit us.

What else do you have planned for 2023?

We have some very exciting things lined up for the remainder of this big year. We have a release show planned for “Automation” on 28th April at The Retreat Hotel, Brunswick, with our friends Hibiscuit and Southern Crustacean.

We have two more singles lined up for Spring/Summer that we think people are really going to dig! For one, think surfy-dancey-indie, and the other a straight up banging punk tune! We're pretty excited

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