In addition to almost singlehandedly keeping the 1970s vintage clothing and accessories market afloat, Melbourne and Sydney based rock and rollers The Delta Riggs have been investing time in recording – the result of which is great new jam “America” which they’re honouring with a namesake tour (all dates below). The band wrote the track during an Artist Residency at inspiration-mongering creative haven La Casa where they got down to the business of jamming, writing and recording. We caught up with Michael “Monte” Tramonte, proud owner of the group’s most excellent hair, to discuss recording, the recent tour with the Deap Valley babes, and what’s coming up for the band.
How was your time staying at La Casa? Can you tell us about a typical day there? Well if how much I miss the place is any indication of how our time at La Casa was…It was absolutely amazing up there. Taylor [Steele], Mikey & the whole crew were all massive legends. Basically the run of the day was: Wake up, walk out the door straight into the ocean for a swim, I would whip up some breakfast, come 11am the first beers would be opened and then we would play music together till the wee hours. Repeat all steps.
We can see from the video that you wrote some new tracks there including your current single America. Was it easy to write there with the ocean on your doorstep and a stocked Corona fridge? We ended up writing about 3 and a half songs during our tenure at the house. Something about setting up in the living room upstairs, looking over the beautiful beach in Summer and Corona was conducive to writing/ playing music. “America” came together really quickly and not much actually changed from its original form to the cut on the album.
You guys have been together for about seven years. What’s the stand out moment to date? I’d definitely have to say recording our debut album in late December 2012 has been the stand out for us as a group. We spent the last 3 years working up to that point so to actually have it out and receiving the accolades it has is really rewarding. We also got to support Primal Scream on their national tour in December, that was a real definitive moment for us too.
You recently did some shows with Deap Vally. What was it like playing shows with those girls? The shows were so rad. Both Lindsey & Julie were so much fun and kick out the jams. After the Melbourne show, we headed to this bar where the girls had a DJ set….Several hours later involving many drinks, a lock in, some strange fellow named Desire and our new (and welcomed friend) from North Carolina we ended up stumbling out in the daylight.
What’s next for The Delta Riggs? Can you tell us about the tour dates you’ve just announced? Our new single “America” (which we wrote at La Casa) is about to be released and we are heading out to play a bunch of shows to support that. There are also a few little surprises coming up that I can’t talk about yet so I will leave it to ambiguity and imagination to fill the blanks.
THE DELTA RIGGS – “AMERICA” SINGLE TOUR
WED SEPT 11 / THURS SEPT 12 (TBC) | BIGSOUND LIVE – BRISBANE
FRI SEPT 13 | EFTERSKI FESTIVAL – THREDBO*
FRI SEPT 20 | KAROVA LOUNGE – BALLARAT
SAT SEPT 21 | THE TOFF – MELBOURNE
SAT SEPT 28 | SMALL BALLROOM – NEWCASTLE
THU OCT 3 | ALHAMBRA – BRISBANE
FRI OCT 4 | ELSEWHERE – GOLD COAST
SAT OCT 5 | THE STANDARD – SYDNEY
Tix onsale Thursday 9th August
More at www.thedeltariggs.com/
Photo by James Adams
