By Kyra Gillespie
Newstream’s debut album ‘The Cabin on The Hill’ is officially out in the world.
The indie rock/folk project by Upper Beaconsfield producer Daniel Bristol and Narre Warren singer-songwriter Joel Simons is a dreamy mixture of Tommy Emmanuel, John Mayer and Hollow Coves.
The title track is a vintage-tinged, at-ease, largely acoustic jam that features ambling, rolling instrumentals and lilting, gentle vocals delivered with distinct storyteller flair; a feeling that is a hallmark of the wider album.
The creative duo have been long-time school mates and formed the band earlier this year for Daniel’s university assignment.
“I called Joel to record the first song and we really enjoyed working together. So after that we went on to make the album as a band,” Daniel said.
“I was about two months behind in the assignment when I first got in touch with Joel in January and we got the whole album done in four months.
“We originally wanted to do four covers and four originals, but the copyrighting involved with doing covers was so complex that we just decided to do the whole thing ourselves. It was an intense process.”
They describe themselves as “two guitarists with too many ideas and not enough instruments.”
Vocals, lyrics and acoustic guitar were Joel’s domain while Daniel took charge of the electronic elements: the electric guitars, drums, bass and synth as well as the recording, mixing and mastering.
“I’m the acoustic guy,” Joel said with a laugh.
“Our sound is like a mashup of Bon Iver, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles and Dope Lemon.
“We drew inspiration from a lot of different songs and bands.
“The genre changed about ten times during the process. But overall we’re really proud that we got an album out there.”
The eight-track brainchild of the local creatives came to fruition through hours upon hours spent in the studio.
Their sessions often spanned from around 5.30 in the afternoon to well after midnight.
“We wouldn’t get back home until about 2 or 3am some nights,” Daniel said.
“We didn’t do it in the standard way; usually when making an album you would start by laying the drum tracks down and build from there, but we started with the guitar.
“Because we didn’t have a click track it made it so much harder. Sometimes when I was laying down the drums Joel would do something weird rhythmically that would throw me off. It wasn’t conventional but it worked out in the end.”
The young musos insist there’s no real meaning behind the band or album name.
“Naming was the last thing on our minds; we completed the whole album and the titles came almost as an afterthought.
“Joel kept choosing corny names,” Daniel said jokingly.
They both agreed that if there was to be another album they would give themselves more time to complete it.
‘The Cabin on The Hill’ can be found on iTunes, Bandcamp, Apple Music and Soundcloud, Spotify and Triple J Unearthed.
