Quintet Aussies Lime Cordiale came quite a long way from their home of the northern beaches of Sydney to play at the massive and chaotic live music scene of SXSW. With a voice and sound that can’t help but bring up comparisons to Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) and The Kooks from us writers at Vinyl, this group is definitely deserving of your undivided attention with their up-beat indie rock distinctive of the land down under. We caught up with brothers Oli and Louis Leimbach midway through they week at SX to talk about their experience in the USA, working with Daniel Denholm, and their biggest influences.
VM: 2013 was a huge year for you guys, touring all across Australia to promote your second EP, Falling Up the Stairs. How was that experience for you guys?
Louis Leimbach: Amazing! We all felt solid about that EP and the shows went splendidly. We started the year with an amazing festival on the east coast, so that defiantly pushed us a lot, and we also supported some bands that we adored. We were super vibing on all of the shows out of our hometown, which had great turnouts.
VM: How did you come up with the band name Lime Cordiale?
LL: Our last name has ‘Lime’ in it, and we stole the ‘Cordiale’ from a French musical festival ‘Musique Cordiale’ we were attending when we first started playing together.
VM: How has it been performing and making music as brothers in the same band; does that ever cause tension or disagreements within the band?
LL: I can’t really imagine doing this without a sibling. There is never any backstabbing, and we can read each other perfectly. Sure, there is tension, but that makes for something good to write about.
Oli Leimbach: Despite being brothers, we get along really well. We have similar vision.
VM: How was the experience of having the EP produced by Daniel Denholm?
LL: Daniel is a strange guy. One of those wackos that would be naked under his trench-coat playing music all night long in the dark by himself. But a musical genius who totally gets us, and we fully respect him. We worked hard finding a sound that mimicked our personalities and presence for about six months. We put down about 20 tracks and picked out the best five.
VM: Being from Sydney Australia, how has that influenced your sound?
LL: There is definitely a distinct sound coming out of us at the moment – maybe that has something to do with it? We come from a surfy town that like to party and dance so we’ve definitely adapted our sound to its groovers.
VM: Are there any particular musicians or bands that shape your music?
LL: A lot of old soul, deep house, reggae and psychedelic music. Some of our favourites are Bonobo, Citizen Cope, Charles Bradley, Amy Winehouse, Tame Impala and Crowded House.
VM: How has your music evolved since the beginning?
OL: When we first started out we were playing much smaller venues and mainly just acoustically. But as we started playing bigger places, we had to adjust our sound to less of a sit down and listen and more of a stand up and dance type of feel. Its all about playing something that people can dance to.
VM: Anyone who you guys would love to play live with?
LL: Citizen Cope, Charles Bradley, The Growlers, The Strokes…
VM: Do you guys have a favorite song to play live?
LL: ‘Bullsh*t Aside’ is pretty fun the play live. It seems to get everyone grooving pretty hard.
VM: What bands were you most excited to see at SXSW this year?
LL: We had no plans, and that was the best plan. We just hopped from venue to venue, and because of that we now have a list of about 30 great bands we previously had never heard of. We made friends with a couple of them and now have some good U.S. connections and friends.
VM: How many shows did you play at SXSW? What was your favorite?
LL: At one showcase we played, the guitar amp blew up in the first song, so Oli just danced around for most of it. When you stuff up that hard at the start of your set, you just loosen up and stop worrying, because there’s nothing else to loose.
VM: What is next for Lime Cordiale?
LL: We’ve got a bunch of new songs we want to lay down when we return to [Australia]. Then head back over to hit the USA with some fresh new tracks.
Apr 08 ‘Play Us Your Hits’ Showcase @ MUSEXPO Los Angeles, CA
Apr 09 Casa Costa Mesa, CA
Apr 21 Bluesfest Byron Bay Nsw, Australia
Jun 11 The Catalyst Santa Cruz, CA
Jun 17 The Crocodile Seattle, WA
