Olympic Ayres [QandA]

BY ALEX ZINOVIEFF
THURSDAY, 19TH JUNE 2014

It took about 20 seconds to like Olympic Ayres a lot. I heard their latest release ‘Control’ recently, and I was sold. It is just above this text, and I invite you to click it and see what I mean. I managed to get them to take time off from watching the World Cup to answer a few questions. We chat about dates, rivalries and where they’re going.

What did the answering of these questions interrupt?

Australia Vs Netherlands World Cup match ... we were robbed!! 

Are you well? Is Olympic Ayres a happy place right now? (Feels like it should be)

Yeah! we are very happy with the response we've had for our new songs (Take Flight & Control) ... We cant wait to share with everyone this EP we've been working on titled 'Leisureplex' (outSeptember 17th).

For those that aren’t yet familiar with who you are, how would you slot it into a sentence or two? 

We're two guys from Sydney who came together to make some music, and we're still making music :)

How are you feeling about the state of the Australian music scene? 

It's very exciting! I was thinking the other day I cant remember another time in my life where there have been so many Australian bands/producers on my playlists ... lots of good music coming from here!

How do you feel about the British / Australian rivalry? 

I don't feel like there is a rivalry in music .... maybe sports? but we're not that into cricket.

Scenario - you’re walking down the street, and your about to be approached by someone and asked on a date. Who is it  (can be anyone) and where do they take you?

It's Jessica Gomes and we go eat Yum Cha.

Your latest single, Control, recently came out. It’s a banger. We enjoyed it a lot. Was there a vision for the song, or did it just fall together? 

Kam showed me the song one day, he had done at home and it was pretty much finished, I just added a bit of guitar and other little production tweaks and it was done!

Is there a ‘sound’ that you’re going for at the moment? 

For this EP we recorded it at Linear Studios in Sydney using vintage analogue equipment and a real drummer for all of the tracks. We tried to stay out of the computer as much as possible so I guess you can hear a difference between our new and older tracks

If I were to turn on your iPod now, what would be playing? 

Jungle, Panama, Lykke Li, Sampha, Juce, Little Dragon, Movement, Oliver Cheatham, Chet Faker, Oscar Key Sung, Schoolboy Q, Moderat, Metronomy, Todd Terje, Hercules & Love Affair, Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, Rhye.

Imagine a boatshed - what is inside? 

A studio with a million synths and drum machines, guitar, bass, piano, rhodes, pre-amps and a sizzler buffet.

What’s the next move? 

We're releasing our EP 'Leisureplex' on September 17th and playing some shows!