There’s nothing quite like chatting to Taasha Coates on a cool spring day, when the banter is just as fresh as the breeze rolling in. Of ‘The Audrey’s’ fame, Taasha has certainly been busy of late, preparing for the upcoming Between The Last Night and Us anniversary tour, ‘Between Us & Last Night’, a celebration of the 10th (actually 11th year) since they first launched their first album.
Playing first in Sydney, ‘it’s been so long since we played with Cam—Cam is Tristan’s brother—he was in our band for the first record, but not since,’ Taasha explains. ‘So we’re really looking forward to it.’ One question that pops to mind though: has Cam been practicing? ‘I bloody hope so!’
Interested into why a tour appealed over recording new music, Taasha explained her call to the stage as a connection she feels with the fans. ‘It’s the connection with the band, though having said that I did do a solo tour, but it’s the connection with everyone. I’m a performer—it’s what I love to do. And then you’re meeting people afterwards, on the road… I’m a bit of a restless person. I love traveling and going back to venues and being remembered by staff.’
Attending the show will be a sonic experience for listeners, with careful thought put into the setlist; ‘we are playing the record from top to tail, in the order that we recorded them. It’s going to be so much fun, because we put a lot of thought into the order of the tracks. That’s what you did 10 years ago, nowadays people shuffle and don’t give a shit. 10 years ago, the order of the tracks was a really big thing,’ Taasha lamented. People just don’t enjoy music the same way these days.
All this talk of touring brings up memories of The Audrey’s live gigs and the most memorable for Taasha involved the first time they ever played Adelaide’s own WOMAD festival. ‘It was 2015 and it was our first ever festival, in Adelaide. We got the most token gig timeslot—the festival opened at 5pm on a Friday and we were on at 10 past 5. We were like ‘those assholes’, but we were setting up at 5pm, going on in 10 minutes and there is no one there. Literally my mum… on a blanket… on a massive patch of grass. Then the opening ceremony finished on the main stage and all these people just wandered over to our stage, like they were on some weird pilgrimage and we were panicking, telling ourselves it was just like playing in a pub on the weekend. But we got out there and people were so supportive, some people knew the words and it was really lovely. It was amazing,’ Taasha explains.
Is playing a festival better than at a pub though? The answer is it’s a bit of both. ‘They are both so different. At a festival, you are pulling dumb rockstar moves on a big stage, big sound… you’re playing to a large crowd who don’t always know your music (they aren’t there just for you), but you’re winning them over. There’s no talk between songs because you’re just banging out a set. With a performance you have people who have bought tickets to be there for you specifically, it’s a whole new vibe. They know the music.’ Of course the best part of festival is the ability for acts to see other acts—‘it’s often the only time I get to see other bands, and when you’re a performer you get the cool back-stage passes!’
Of course, playing an anniversary tour means that all the original merchandise from the days before The Audrey’s were playing headliners, suddenly becomes vintage and very cool. Impressively, most of it is in mint conditions despite a decade of hiding in a garage. ‘I kept it in the back of my mind that someday, someone would want this stuff. I’ve actually kept it in sealed containers,’ Taasha reveals. Obviously she knew she was going to make it—why else would she store it for so long!
Replaying Between The Last Night And Us has brought back memories of recording the album in the studio with the band for Taasha, ‘because you don’t listen to your own music. But I’ve had to to relearn the music and it just reminds me of how much fun we had in the studio. We were so young and we had no idea what we were doing! Our producer was nurturing and supportive. A great time.’
To anyone undecided about checking out The Audreys, they may be playing live renditions of the original album, but it certainly wont be the original recording. ‘I’m not one to faithfully recreate an album on stage, I’ve never really enjoyed playing it like that,’ Taasha explains. The audience will be in for a real treat.
To see The Audreys and relive the nostalgic memories for yourself, head to https://thegov.oztix.com.au/Default.aspx?Event=77169 to source tickets for this Sunday’s show at The Gov.
Zoe Butler
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