MINIATURE SUBMARINES – INTERVIEW FROM MESS + NOISE
He’s a full-time member of The Stabs, a gun-for-hire for the likes of Love of Diagrams and The Breadmakers and with his new solo project Miniature Submarines already making waves, Mark Nelson tells DOUG WALLEN why he can’t help but submerge himself in all facets of Melbourne’s music scene.
There’s an unmistakable dark side to the debut 7” from Miniature Submarines, the solo project of Stabs bassist and itinerant collaborator Mark Nelson. And yet the Melbourne-based multi-instrumentalist calls it his version of pop. Really, it’s the friction between his gentle, melodic singing and his penchant for gritty guitar and squealing feedback that makes the project instantly engaging. A similar combination of pretty and crunchy is a hallmark of so much ’90s rock, which provides Nelson with ongoing inspiration. But the gloomy noise-pop of both ‘The Little Room Under The Stairs’ and ‘I Heard That You Turned Into A Loser, Baby’ doesn’t recall any one band, which is saying something, really.
The project began as an outlet for Nelson’s home recordings – and it is still is, although Monica Fikerle (Love Of Diagrams, Baseball) played drums on the 7”. As for gigs, Nelson has built a rugged lineup in guitarist Greg Kerslake (Mother & Father), bassist Alex Jarvis (ex-Automatic) and drummer Duncan Blachford (ex-Witch Hats). While keeping the live band intact, Nelson aims to play nearly all of the instruments on his upcoming releases, something that shouldn’t prove too difficult for a guy who plays in at least five bands. A fairly deadpan presence on the phone, Nelson was articulate and often funny while discussing why a project like Miniature Submarines was good for his health.
I don’t know if I’ve ever interviewed someone on the basis of just two songs.
There are more on the way, actually. I’ve started recording the next record. Well, I started a while ago but the computers got stolen. I was working at Jet Studios and it got broken into. People lost albums. I had only recorded three songs, so I lost three. I’m going to Birdland [Studios in Melbourne] to start again. The next one’s going to be a 10”. And then an album.
So you’re sort of working your way up?
Yeah, well, I’ve got this batch of songs. The 7” was just to get something out quickly. Looking at my list of songs [after that], it just seemed like a 10”. If I pair them up into appropriate groups, a 10” makes sense. And then [from there] I’ve got a really good list of album songs with nothing that really sticks out like a sore thumb. I feel like these two songs sleep much better at night on a 7” than they would do among the other songs on the album.
When you re-record the three songs you lost, will you change them at all?
No. I’ve demoed them and then recorded them, so in a way I’ve demoed them a couple of times now. I know how they go, and that’s how they go.
