Discover New Australian Music

Tell us about your music - how did you develop your sound?
Our music is a mix of various influences from the B-52’s to Midnight Oil. The songs so far have come out of spontaneous writing sessions without too much structure apart from a feel or sound. Anja has a visual approach to songwriting and usually comes to a practice with a riff and a strange concept. Then as a band we have to try and fulfill her “creative vision”.

What can punters expect from a Sweet Shoppe live show?
Usually our live show is a little different to what we’ve recorded in the studio, improvising during songs like Beneath the Moon. We’ve only played a handful of shows so we’re still getting to know each other on stage which keeps things interesting for us and hopefully the audience too. We have an Australian only cover policy. The Birthday Party’s ‘Cry’ is currently in the set. There’s so many good ones, but we’re thinking Errol by Australian Crawl might be next.

What’s the best advice you’ve been given and who was it from?
Jordan: After hearing me play, my music teacher once told me that I needed to “connect the dots, man”. I’m still trying to figure out what that means.

Tell us about the bands or people in the ACT music community that inspire you.
There’s a pretty strong and tight-knit music community in Canberra. TV Colours, Danger Beach and The Fighting League are all close friends of ours, the healthy competition drives us to play shows and make our music. Anja in particular was a little frustrated with the all-male line ups, there’s not a lot of women playing music here, and this inspired the creation of Sweet Shoppe and Sex Noises (also featuring Anja and Jordan). It’s a small place and it often gets forgotten, but we love Canbrah.

What are your plans for Sweet Shoppe in 2014?
We are currently in the process of writing our first album after finishing our Taste It! EP pretty quickly. The aim is to have it out by mid-year with a few shows out of town in the coming months. The album will build on the sound from our EP, but this time Anja is chasing a “space-gospel” vibe. You can expect sermons and synthesisers.

Australian music is…?
The best kind of music. We love our Oz-rock. Most practices revolve around watching Goanna, INXS, Midnight Oil and GANGgajang videos. The ‘nzoz’ Youtube channel is all you’ll ever need. There’s a bunch of great music being made at the moment with bands like Harmony, The Ocean Party, Gooch Palms and Deep Heat, to name a few. We just want bands to keep visiting the Capital.