Aluka : Music Interviews

One should never underestimate the importance of a sterling vocalist; in Aluka, there are three. Annabelle Tunley is one of them. Aluka are an a capella trio; three ladies who have thrown away the restrictive nature of physical instruments and rely solely of their three harmonising, gorgeous voices. You may also know them as Claire Bowditch’s back-up vocal trio. Tunley explains the origins of the unique project.

“We were all studying music together and for one of Rach’s [Rachael Head, another third of the group] performances, she said she was sick of working with bands; as singers you’re not considered musicians. You say to people that you’re a musician and they say, ‘oh what do you play?’ and you say, ‘I’m a singer’, and they go, ‘oh, oops’. This reaction is ‘well, that’s not a musician’. So we were sick of that. It wasn’t a conscious decision to go with a capella or to be inspired by the forties era, it was more a thing that we did together and realised it was really super fun and we managed to do it in a way that people thought was fun!”

“We did our first gigs in March last year” she continues. “It was a really weird situation; some were in Shepparton where the other two girls are from, at their arts festival. Then we supported [Melbourne folk rock/pop band] Lamplight in Melbourne and from that gig everything snowballed. Miles Mumford [esteemed Aussie producer/sound engineer] was there and called me the next day and said, ‘I wanna record your EP’. He said, basically, ‘I don’t want much money, I just wanna record you’. Now we are still getting together a set and working out who we are…”

Is it more challenging to write songs without conventional instrumentation?

“It’s a lot more difficult. I find it a lot easier to write chords than three-part interesting harmonies. You go for basic harmonies that you know work, it works and it’s easy on the ears but it’s been done and overdone. We wanna do something different. It’s a real challenge and we put a lot of time into making it different and interesting”

Considering the rarity of a capella music ion today’s musical landscape, is it hard to find bands you find common ground with?

“Bands like [Melbourne a capella group] Coco’s Lunch; they’re an amazing group that have been around for years. [Sydney a capella group] The Idea of North…there’s lots of bands, but we don’t generally take our inspiration from them, though. Generally, we find inspiration in things that aren’t vocal music, that’s how you create difference. We are different and unusual, but a capella can be seen as outdated. There is a market for it, the Melbourne scene accommodates it. We can play anywhere and people tend to get into it”

“I’m really keen on [Melbourne indie folk/gypsy jazz band] The Tiger and Me, they’re super, the best band, so good. Rapskallion, they’re friends of ours. It probably seems like I’m just giving The Tiger and Me a rap because we’re supporting them [Aluka will be supporting The Tiger and Me at their album launch on April 17 at the Toff in Melbourne] but seriously, they write such clever songs. It’s pop music but it’s clever pop music. They push all the right buttons, the set is mesmerising”

Tunley’s passions are not confined to vivacious vocals, though: “I work in an organic grocery store…that’s my other passion, organics. Organic Gertrude, on Station Street in Fairfield [Victoria]”

“Organics, a capella: how wholesome!” I joke.

“[Laughs] We’re about the lamest band in the world. When we go away with Claire, it gets to twelve o’clock and we’re like, “Oops, better go bed, we don’t wanna wreck our voices!”. We’re so not rock”

So not rambunctious Motley Crue-style stories from the road?

“Actually, we were playing in Brisbane with Claire and Tim Rogers was in the dressing room next to us, and a girl fell out of his dressing room…but when I say ‘girl’, I’m not insinuating anything; there were a lot of people in there! She fell out and hurt her ankle and Tim decided he needed to hide out somewhere…so he came into our dressing room and sat down and it was very “Hi, how are you?” “Good, how are you?” and he sat there for a while, keeping to himself. Then he got up and said, “I’ve gotta get out here, there are too many mirrors in this room!” and left”

“Thing is, there was one mirror in the room and I wasn’t facing him. He was really sweet, though. Very friendly and we had a lovely conversation about Aluka, he’s very interesting. God bless Tim, he’s living the dream”

I would say that’s rock cred enough. Is there ever any concern as to getting your music out to a wider demographic besides a capella aficinardos?

“The thing about a capella is it’s not in fashion…therefore it’s not gonna go out of fashion. People will get on board if they wanna get on board, or not, which means we can be relaxed in out approach”

Tunley is realistic, too; knowing the oft finicky tastes of punters and the shrinking opportunities available for local musicians, she has no fantasies about the musician life.

“If you go into music thinking, ‘this is gonna be awesome, I’m gonna make a living out of doing music, blah blah’, if that’s the thing that draws you to it, you’re completely deluded. Towards the end of last year, we were working on Aluka stuff twenty hours a week and not getting a cent for it. ‘It’s okay if I can’t pay my rent this week because I’m gonna sell this many units!’- don’t be ridiculous. Just accept that if you’re doing it for the potential money then you’re doing it for the wrong reason and you’ll pretty soon get burnt out by it”

Aluka’s debut self-titled EP is out now through www.youloverandom.com

Keep informed of all things Aluka on http://www.myspace.com/alukaband