"I don't think anybody actually studied architecture at school or anything," says multi-instrumentalist Gus Franklin of Australian pop band Architecture in Helsinki. "Cameron likes to joke that he bought the name on E-bay. I don't know whether that's true or not."
The band's name, a true "mash-up" of words, is demonstrative of the group's music. Styles are thrown together, different instruments emphasized and after repeated listens, no definitive "sound" is discernable. AIH, an octet unofficially led by Cameron Bird, work consistently to keep their listeners from boredom; and while at first the results are baffling, ultimately the precision and innovation of the songwriting pay dividends.
But AIH's "mash-up" of styles is not of the melting-pot variety championed by artists like Beck or the Beastie Boys. Each different sound is essentially isolated to a separate part of a song. While a Beck track may be described as rock-backed dance music with a bit of twang, an analogous AIH song would begin with a rock section, followed by a brief dance movement and ending with a mellow bit of twang. The transitions aren't always smooth, either ? pop-rock, for example, frequently takes hairpin turns into dance.
"I guess it's just an attempt to throw people off," says Franklin, talking from a phone in the van they're using to tour the States. "It's like a short attention span thing from inside the band. I don't know. I really don't."
So do any of the band members actually have ADHD?
"Probably, but it's not diagnosed," he jokes, adding that "it's a general sort of schizophrenia," attributing it tongue-in-cheek to the "times we're living in."
The slice-and-dice, mixing-bowl sound omnipresent on AIH's new record, In Case We Die, has won, besides praise, not a small number of comparisons to another popular indie band, the Fiery Furnaces. While AIH has eight members and the Furnaces only two, both prog-pop groups are unique in the way they leave the listener in suspense as to the direction a particular song will take. The comparisons have proven rife for internet webzine and message board analysis.
"The actual outcome of the music, I don't think it's that similar," says Franklin, adding that the overzealous comparisons are more on the basis of "a general way of composition... in the way that things cut and paste."
Aside from the way they're edited, the songs' eclecticisms do not seem so shocking considering they're the result of eight different inputs. Franklin notes that many of the songs originate with Bird, while others result from any member's spark of imagination. "Everyone brings a little bit to the table every now and then," he says, noting, however, that once they start to fiddle with a person's song, the original idea "starts to get bastardized."
In theory, composing new material to satisfy eight different votes in a band sounds impossible. Even if seven love something, it only takes one dissent to halt the song in its tracks. So are AIH the Australian pop scene's Eight Angry Men (and women)?
Sort of. "It's funny," Franklin says, "sometimes you'll almost finish a song and then someone will say 'I hate this!'" While he explains that this has certainly happened on occasion, the band finds ways to work around it and rarely scraps a song. "You have to find a way around," he notes, "like the reasons why you hate it. There's a lot of discussion about things like that. Those things seem to be ironed out."
On the road, away from the frustrations of recording and the grueling process of compromise, the band seems completely at ease. The group gets along well, and even when on the phone Franklin is unafraid to crack a joke with bandmates in the van. "Hey, what music have we been listening to?" He asks the other members, a few seconds later saying "Journey? What do you mean, we're talking contemporary music." He relents, eventually saying "well, we've been getting really into Journey. That seems to be about it."
And while it's a long way from home, the United States has been good to AIH. Australia (Melbourne, to be exact) will always be their home and first love, but they find touring the States a tremendous experience. And they can't wait to get to Philly. You'll never guess why.
"Tell everyone to prepare the cheesesteaks," he jokes, "we've got humongous appetites and just want to eat!"
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Architecture in Helsinki will play First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., Tuesday, June 14, at 8:00 p.m. $10.
