Rolling Stone Australia September 2017

1

The Heming-way

When it came time to write the follow-up to 2015’s Speaker-

zoid, the Jungle Giants’ frontman Sam Hales found an unlikely

motivational coach in the form of late author Ernest Hemingway. “I

read an essay Hemingway wrote for creatives that demystified writ-

ing,” says Hales. “He talked about working nine to five, working your

creativity like a muscle. That shaped my approach.”

2

Business hours

In the spirit of Hemingway’s methods, Hales decided to treat

songwriting like any other job. “At first it was really hard be-

cause I’d never worked on music from nine to five before,” he says.

“But because I kept chipping away I’d have songs by the end of the

week that were a long way down the track already.”

3

It’s the vibe

An important factor in Quiet Ferocity’s creation was the

setting up of a non-home recording space. The answer? A

designated recording room with 24-hour access. “I made the coolest

fucking room,” Hales beams. “I got this nice desk, all these cool

lamps and I got a disco ball put in with some laser lights. It was the

key to kicking it to the next level.”

4

Groove is in the heart

Hales made a concerted effort to make sure the new music

was something people could move to. “I used to do this

dance test,” he says. “I had this couch at the back of the studio,

and I’d stand there and play the song and just jive to it to see if it

worked.”

5

Don’t forget to exercise

“I started swimming because Hemingway said that exercise

was important,” continues Hales about the album’s bearded

spirit animal. “So I was super-fit and recording the album was the

happiest year of my life. I remember that I’d leave the studio and

meet my friends at a bar afterwards and feel like I was glowing be-

cause I had this perfect thing going on with my process – I felt like I

had a secret piece of gold in my pocket.” JAMES JENNINGS

FEROCIOUS

The Jungle Giants

(l-r: Cesira Aitken,

Sam Hales, Andrew

Dooris, Keelan

Bijker)

September, 2017 RollingStoneAus.com | Rolling Stone | 15

5 NOTES

The Jungle Giants

Brisbane quartet return with third LP, ‘Quiet Ferocity’