The Hostiles - One Horse Town (2016)

We first became aware of The Hostiles when their drummer (who is sometimes our drummer) Darren would regale us with stories of this band he was in who would turn up to gigs and make up songs on the spot. Lyrics, music…everything.
We decided to go see The Hostiles not really knowing what to expect. To our surprise they were not trying to be funny and the impromptu songs had depth, soul and engaging lyrics. Their songs also had a theme. They were about the down and out people and places of Melbourne.
We realised that behind this anarchic approach, The Hostiles had a plan. The Hostiles are about the moment and we became their friends. When their bass player was unavailable for a gig Dave was asked to fill in. he asked Strat for a set list and some chord charts (as you do) and received an email with a picture of a bass guitar (and nothing else). That confirmed it. To us The Hostiles were like a musical equivalent of the 19th century French Impressionists. Now that may be a little bit artsy-fartsy for some but that’s how it looked to us.
Recording The Hostiles was a challenge. We felt a studio might take the edge off, and so we recorded them at Darren’s house. As recording progressed we got The Hostiles to articulate a specific set of those ‘impressionist’ songs (as well as some of their favourite songs written by friends of course) into a loose story.
So ladies and gentlemen take a walk with us through the back streets and pubs of St Kilda (before gentrification) and take in the loose groove of The Hostiles.