INDIE folk-roots duo Pierce Brothers will make their return to the south-west later this year after their June gig joined a long line of events called off by COVID-19.
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Siblings Jack and Pat Pierce were due to bring their high-energy set and new album Into the Great Unknown to The Space in Warrnambool last week.
With the international touring circuit off the cards for the foreseeable future, the pair look forward to playing across Australia.
This pandemic has certainly shaped up to present many great unknowns - particularly for new dad Jack Pierce who also had to cancel his wedding in 2020.
Their latest album released this year is their most ambitious yet; elevating their usual sound with soaring strings by The Cat Empire's Ross Irwin, the result is a composition more mature and more full of love than previous works to date.
Where earlier singles like 'It's My Fault' and 'Overdose' were written from the melancholy, this album is full of optimism.
The album, Jack Pierce explained, was greatly influenced by Gang Of Youths' 2017 album Go Farther In Lightness.
"I always really loved to write upbeat songs in the melancholy - what we aimed to do with a lot of the really upbeat ones was to have these dark lyrics juxtaposed with the sound," he said, referencing Foster the People's macabre summer anthem 'Pumped up Kicks' to illustrate the point.
"We don't have so much sad stuff to write about anymore.
"A lot of Into the Great Unknown was in one way, a stepping into the great unknown where all our future in music was up in the air and I was about to become a father and there were all these feelings of unknown about that.
"I think it was a much more optimistic record.
"For one we weren't so road worn; when we wrote it we were in the studio and had a lot of time.
"We set up in the studio for a whole month and we got to explore deeper sounds and explore further what we could sonically and emotively."
The two brothers cut their teeth on the Melbourne busking scene and were, for years, a staple of Bourke Street until their breakout EP The Night Tree in 2014 saw them pack out stages in some of the state's most iconic venues including The Corner Hotel and the Forum.
They've toured extensively across Europe and North America, and have become synonymous with the Melbourne music scene.
"It's definitely been quite a journey from busking to all over the world," Jack said. "Not that we're doing any of that at the moment.
"It started from busking and that's definitely influenced the way we play as well; we started from an empty street of people that aren't there for the music, and whether it's that or a packed festival or a venue, it's always the same - we want to put on as big a show as we can to make people engage.
"It really directed the way that we've done everything from the outset."
Their busking was so successful they bought their first tour car - "the Pierce Brothers mobile" - entirely with busking coins.
"We counted it out in coins and that's how we paid for the car... super embarrassing now that I think about it," Jack laughed.
"We ran that car into the ground."
For those who haven't yet seen the Pierce Brothers live, they are no simple acoustic duo.
For one, instrument-wise, Pierce laments humorously the carrying around of 37 different instruments on tour that got lost many times; notably between connector flights in America and another time in Amsterdam.
They're an act that are a must-see live; their stage presence and infectious energy evidenced by the lacquer on the side of their guitars worn away by the impact of drum sticks - where one drums on the side of the other's acoustic - and the often sweat-soaked crowd.
It's not uncommon to see one of them scaling the stage, or in the thick of the dancing crowd.
Their passion for the craft and talent is a genuine marvel to behold.
The pair will return to The Space Warrnambool September 18 this year.
- Got a gig or event to share? Let us know! Email kyra.gillespie@warrnamboolstandard.com.au
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