By Robyn Morrison
Bertrand Poncet eagerly slides into our chat about Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!’s new album. Throughout the conversation, there’s a sense of real anticipation and excitement about the band’s new release, Get Lost, Find Yourself.
“Basically, when we started to write this album we started with a main direction for the whole record and we came to the realisation as a band that we didn’t want to do the same thing. We wanted to step up our game, basically. We decided if we didn’t want to write the same album, we needed some help.”
That help came via some American producers, where the band did some co-writing sessions. “We wrote songs together and I think that was a very different experience. It brought some very good ideas, a different way to work and to write songs. When I listen to the whole record, I find it shows very well where the whole band stands right now.”
Poncet goes on to explain that Get Lost, Find Yourself is inspired by a lot of the band’s experiences. “I think our previous record was good but that was all digital, fake amp sounds but we wanted something more natural. We recorded this one on analogue. When we went into the studio we decided we were going to write on real instruments the old fashioned way. I think it turned out exactly how we wanted it.”
Shifting the focus away from the music, Poncet says the band wanted big choruses when it came to the vocals. “We wanted something that would get stuck in your head for weeks. On this record, this was the first time we’d spent so much time on the vocal melody.”
Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! have been spending some time on the road lately, and with the release of the newer material, Poncet explains how the old and the new mesh. “We’re trying to match the songs that sound the same, for example we’ll go from the more happier songs to the heavier songs, then softer…we had a whole logical progression. Right now on tour, we’re playing two new songs (Playing Dead and The Other Line). I feel like crowd reaction has been great. We’ve changed some vibe (on the newer material) but it still has the Chunk roots.”
The band is working on bringing their live show to Australia. “Unfortunately, nothing has been confirmed,” says Poncet. “We have high hopes to tour Australia before the end of the year.”
While you’re waiting for the band to make the trek back to our fine land, you can grab a copy of Get Lost, Find Yourself, which is out now via Fearless Records/UNFD.
