Brisbane act BANFF and Sydney-sider Caitlin Park have been making waves with their single My Love, My Lover, a harmonious collaborative piece with undeniable heart. Following this release, the interstate duo are kicking off a side-by-side east coast tour.
You can expect the best from each artists’ catalogues. Tracks from BANFF’s 2015 EP Future Self as well as Park’s latest album The Sleeper are sure to make the live stage, and fans lucky enough to score tickets will experience the live duet premiere of My Love, My Lover.
We had a chat with the two artists, asking them both the same series of questions to see what juice we could dig up on both BANFF and Caitlin Park’s recording process, their single, the upcoming tour and any work on the horizon.
BANFF and Caitlin Park collaborate with ease and a natural, self-professed friendship. My Love, My Lover is the evidence – a beautiful dialogue between the two artists.
HAPPY: First off – how did My Love, My Lover come about?
BEN: While I was writing for Future Self I stumbled across that little chorus guitar line and couldn’t get the hook out of my head. I fleshed the song out a little bit but never found a home for it on the EP, so it just sat in the demo tin for a while. A few months later I picked the song back up again and felt like it really leant itself to that boy-girl dialogue thing. Midway through 2015 Caitlin and I were billed together at the end of the line festival in Brisbane and we threw this idea of collaborating around. In February this year I had a short break from shows and decided to head down to Sydney to spend a day writing with Caitlin, and voila! My Love, My Lover was born.
CAITLIN: My Love, My Lover came about when Ben approached me to collaborate – he sent through a rough demo of the tune and I listened to it on the plane on the way home from Melbourne while I was touring with SOAK. I was immediately sucked in by it… so we made it happen.
HAPPY: How was it collaborating in the studio? Was this the first time both of you had done this with another artist?
BEN: I’ve collaborated with a bunch of other great artists in writing and recording sessions, but this was the first time I’d put out a release as a collaboration. To be honest it was really exciting. Sharing ideas and getting a new perspective on the songs was a great experience. Caitlin totally ‘got’ the track and added her bits and pieces with absolute skill and charm!
CAITLIN: The collaborating was pretty easy – it felt pretty natural with Ben and even though we had only hung out 2 or 3 times there was a ‘friends for years’ feel to it. Working in the studio was driven by Tom Iansek and that was amazing! I did a little singing and some synths, Dave Maudie (Courtney Barnett’s drummer) came through and smashed his part in 2 or 3 takes, and the rest was laid down by Ben. It was a breezy time, and there is nothing like making music with friends for the weekend.
HAPPY: Why is it Banff x Caitlin Park, not Caitlin Park x Banff? Is this purely an alphabetical thing?
BEN: Probably more of a result of the way the collaboration process worked out more than anything else.
CAITLIN: Hmmmm, strange question. It’s not a ‘band’ we have created, just two songwriters’ names – I would say, Banff goes first ’cause its his release… I just wrote some words and sang them over his beautiful guitar parts.
HAPPY: Caitlin, what was Ben’s best trait in the studio? Ben, same question about Caitlin?
BEN: Caitlin’s enthusiasm and genuine excitement over what we were creating was infectious. So many good vibes made the whole process really easy and enjoyable.
CAITLIN: Best trait would defs be that he was super chill – didn’t get stressed easily and let the process flow. I dig that, I think recording can sometimes be very stressful, he handled it like a pro.
HAPPY: Ben, what was Caitlin’s worst trait in the studio? Caitlin, same question about Ben?
BEN: Ahhh, not sure. Maybe she thought some of my jokes were a bit average. That’s cool though, I’ll work on it.
CAITLIN: Maybe the garlic breath after the wrap he ate… but I ate one too, so you get what you give.
HAPPY: Are you looking forward to touring together? What if you found out that both of you have really bad touring habits?
BEN: Yes, absolutely looking forward to touring together. We’ve all got bad habits. Probably nothing worth sharing here because that would just be odd.
CAITLIN: Touring should be fun. I don’t think Ben is as immature as this question – so I think all will be well.
HAPPY: Who is going to be the frontman/woman when you guys play My Love/My Lover live?
BEN: I reckon Caitlin will sing her parts, then I’ll sing mine, and then we’ll embrace and walk off stage. Should be lovely – come along!
CAITLIN: I would say Ben will be taking the lead here, after all it is a BANFF tune as mentioned earlier – but we’ll both be sharing the stage throughout the tour.
HAPPY: Would you guys work together again? Are you planning to?
BEN: Yeah maybe one day. I would love to start with a completely clean slate and write a full album with Caitlin. I think it would be real nice. Will focus on the tour for now though.
CAITLIN: For sure! No plans at this time, we’re just excited to bring it on tour and travel and play music with my friends
BANFF and Caitlin Park’s tour dates are below:
Friday August 12 – The Oxford Circus, Sydney
Saturday August 13 – The Grace Darling, Melbourne
Friday September 2 – Black Bear Lodge, Queensland
