Devastations - The dark allure of the Southern Hemisphere

Tom Carlyon, guitarist of Devastations, is a lanky guy with a loose-limbed gait, wearing an open freak shirt with his chest on display, which makes him seem even more laid-back and naive. He approaches us, easygoing and smiling, during the sound-check ahead of the Milan show in support of the Australian trio's new (and good) album, “Yes, U”. The roar of the drums in the background and the faint vibrations of speech somewhere between calm and shy don't help create the atmosphere that someone so seemingly well-disposed might suggest, so the chat takes on a far more formal and dry tone than intended. No matter, though, because between one drum roll and another we still manage to satisfy our curiosity about one of the most convincing noir-rock projects of recent years.

Tom, a very common phenomenon among Australian bands is leaving their homeland to head to the States and Europe. I'm thinking of Birthday Party, Go Betweens, Dirty Three. How do you explain this phenomenon?

I wouldn't be so sure it's really a “phenomenon”, I just think a lot of people want to try leaving Australia and then come back. As far as I'm concerned, I think it's normal for a band, from any part of the world, to find themselves having to travel a lot and to all sorts of different places. It's just that Australia is a singular, different kind of starting point: everyone is so fascinated by this country that leaving it ends up looking like a “phenomenon”, when really it happens everywhere.

But by now you're living between London and Berlin, where you recorded the new album. I was wondering why you chose Berlin, given that the days when this city was musically the beating heart of a certain kind of rock are long gone. I'm referring to the days of David  Bowie, Iggy Pop and also Nick Cave…

Actually, it was purely practical reasons that moved us. You see, the real advantages of Berlin are that it's a very cheap city, that you don't need much money to live there, and that you can easily find people who speak English. That's why I'd call it a city for lazy but ambitious people, and that also explains why it attracts so many young people and just as many musicians. Personally, I prefer other cities like, for example, Los Angeles.

Is there anything you miss about Melbourne? Is the lifestyle there so different from the European one?

What I miss most about Australia is my daughter, who's only a year and a half old. And yes, the lifestyle is completely different too.

And which of the two do you prefer?

All things considered, I'd say Melbourne, but simply because I grew up there, all my friends are back there, when I leave the house I know everyone I run into, and for lots of other reasons too, the football teams and so on. Everyday life is a bit boring, like everywhere really, but for a band Europe is definitely better.

So you like football then?

Actually, no, it was just an example.

I'd love to talk to you about Australian bands - I've never talked about Australian rock with an actual Australian. Personally I love quite a few, from Icehouse to Church, from Go Betweens to Dirty Three... Do you think there's a particular aesthetic in the way you reinterpret pop-rock, or are English and American models always the reference points you measure yourselves against?

Maybe that's exactly it: it could be that Australian bands take American and English rock as a natural reference point, but in the same way that dance music has to reckon with italo-disco: simply because it's the coolest. There's no real reason why this happens, but since we speak the same language, it's easy to recognize ourselves in those established models. So my answer is yes, but don't ask me why, because I have no idea.

Let's talk about your latest album. The intimate atmospheres remain, but there are some new things in the sound, for instance in the use of electronics. What's behind these choices?

When we finished our second album we found ourselves tired of arranging songs the same way every time. From that point of view, "Coal" is a very homogeneous record, but in the long run that atmosphere wore us out, so for the third record we decided to bring in synthesizers, more electronic elements. I have to say the result was interesting because, you see, we're not actually those big red-wine drinkers with permanently broken hearts that people think we are! Anyway, the basic aspect, the soul of our songs, stays pretty much the same, it's the arrangements that change.

A record like "Coal" seemed to me, all things considered, more accessible than "Yes, U": here the tracks are darker and more stretched out...

Maybe, but it's funny: a lot of people talking about "Yes, U" called it broader and more expansive, but paradoxically we actually used less instrumentation. Aside from that, personally I prefer it by far to "Coal" because it's much more representative of who we are. More personal than the first two records were, where we probably came across as something we're not...

So basically, you really don't like being labelled as balladeers...

It's not that we dislike it as such, it's that we simply aren't that. I think "Yes, U" is our best work. Some people find it dark, but it's simply what we are.

But when I read about you, comparisons are made with some big names in that field. The first and most obvious is Nick Cave, but also Tindersticks, and even Leonard Cohen. Do these comparisons bother you, or do you find them flattering?

It would be funny if they irritated us, given the names being thrown around. But I'd mention very different names myself, Roxy Music for instance, not this kind of music for people who never leave the house...

But why do you think these comparisons keep coming up? Maybe because you're Australian?

Ah, nothing more likely! Anyway, that's what we are and we have to live with it…

Do you listen to a lot of music? Who are the musicians you like most - I'd like to hear some names that no one would ever think to associate with your sound…

Being musicians, we listen to a huge amount of music every day. Right now, the Chromatics and Glass Candy come to mind, and then David Byrne and Sakamoto, you know? For the most part it's "random noise", and then we tend to listen to individual songs, because that lets us get into them better, to really get inside their sound and structure.

I'd like your opinion on "new media". For instance, by now there's no one who doesn't have their own MySpace page (I've got one, and of course you do too!). I've always wondered about the real usefulness of this showcase. Do you consider it a useful tool, a revolutionary one, or simply a sort of sticker album?

Before the internet came along, I never knew of a musician who had the chance to be in this kind of relationship with fans and, in a way, to keep an eye on them and somehow… "organize" them. It's a phenomenon I like, it's a fun world: there are a lot more people in action, more music in circulation…

Speaking of music in circulation, what about "peer to peer"? I've interviewed indie bands who are even happy that people download their music for free, because at least that way they're sure they'll always have an audience for their shows. The majors, on the other hand, are absolutely furious, and then there are bands like Radiohead who even put their new album out as a pay-what-you-want download, shaking up the record labels. What's the Devastations' take on all this?

We don't really have a position on it as such, but we're certainly a long way from deliberately putting our records online for free, or next to nothing. Radiohead can afford to do something like that (by the way, I can't wait to hear their new album) because whatever they release, they could even charge thirty pounds for it and still be sure of selling a ton of copies. As far as I'm concerned, I'm just flattered if people are determined to get hold of one of our albums by any means necessary, and that they end up liking it. If that encourages them to come to our shows, all the better!

What are your plans once the tour wraps up? I saw your last date is in Melbourne in December? Christmas at home and then…?

And then we'll still be touring Australia in February and March…

No American dates?

Yes, in February we'll also be in the United States, and then we're discussing doing another European run next summer, but I don't know anything for certain yet. You know how it is, we can't plan more than six months ahead.

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