Just over three years ago four fine folks from Sydney stormed the scene with the release of their debut record, Bliss Release. The foursome otherwise known as Cloud Control, (Al, Heidi, Ulrich and Jeremy) have since spent their days and nights playing shows and festivals in countless cities both local and abroad. The band make a peculiar kind of music that is refreshing, unique and yet strangely familiar -- a sound that manages to resonate in a way words cannot adequately capture. 

Tomorrow mark’s the day that the group’s sophomore record, Dream Cave, is released in Australia and after a cheeky listen (or six,) we can confidently say that it’s one of the best LP’s we’ve heard all year. Whilst markedly different from Bliss Release, the album holds within all that we fell in love with years ago and simultaneously captures the growth that Cloud Control have clearly experienced throughout all these past few of years. Many highlights are sprinkled throughout the record, including quintessential rhythmic melodies, powerful and dynamic vocals, groove-able bass lines and intriguing sing-a-long’s. Admittedly yes, these attributes of the band have shown themselves in releases prior to this one, but in the case of Dream Cave they’ve been pulled apart, puffed up and cast under the spotlight, creating a release well worthy of the accolades. All that aside, word on the street says it’s also coming out on PINK vinyl... Because you weren’t already excited enough.

Dream Cave should be considered as a new chapter in the tale of Cloud Control -- a story that we hope continues for many years to come. And so on the eve of the album’s release, we sat down with Heidi and Al to chat about exploding rocks, maximum wage and the thrilling adventures that have brought them to this moment. Read on.

B: Beth
H: Heidi
A: Al

B: How does it feel to have Dream Cave finished and ready for people to hear it after all these years in the making?

A: I feel a bit nervous. I mean, we just want people to like it. I like it, I think its a good album. But it is coming out on pink vinyl, soo...

H: Its been finished for a while so I think we’re all just pretty excited to have it out. I really just think its good music and I can’t wait for people to be able to enjoy it. Its quite different to us, I feel like when people first put it on they may be a little confused at first, in a good way.

A: We were talking to someone yesterday who thought they’d put on the wrong CD at first. Only from the first track which doesn’t exactly have normal vocals.

B: Is there a story behind the album? What brought this collection of songs about?

A: The album is named after the song and I guess as a whole there’s no overarching story to it. It was inspired by a lot of different things and places, for example the song Dream Cave was written during rehearsals in the studio, it was a really shit rehearsal studio -- like no natural light or fresh air, but anyway I was really into Roy Orbison at the time and was trying to imagine what it would be like as him stuck in a cave. Like, what sort of song would he come up with if he were in a cave for 20 years.. But all the songs come about in different ways and are inspired by different people, different songs, its complicated. 

H: I think the only common theme is the four of us trying to write music.. Other that that, anything goes! 

A: And everyone has to like it. If one person doesn’t like it it doesn’t get off the ground.

H: When that happens it just keeps getting worked on until everyone’s happy with it, unless whatever the problem with it can’t be solved. We find it pretty important to play songs that we like, I mean with each release we’ve got to potentially tour them for the next three years so if they’re not going to sound good live and if we’re not all on board there’s no real point. 

A: I couldn’t bear to think of Ulrich behind me, crying whilst drumming away to a song he doesn’t like for three years...! 

B: Since the release of Bliss Release I’m told you guys have kept quite busy and I’d imagine there have been some pretty special moments together during that time.. Anything worth sharing?

H: There’s heaps. We spent a month together on an island in France which was probably up there in the best times of life. 

A: Or when we had that fire on the beach and found exploding rocks. We had this beach fire going with wine, food...

H: I’d made a fennel and orange and parsley salad.

A: That was really good.

H: Yeah so we cooked up some fish and then basically spent about an hour searching for driftwood for about an hour scouring the coast. We had bikes, so I remember trundling back half-trees on my bike to throw on this fire. It ended up getting so hot that the rocks started exploding. 

A: We had to leave because it was that dangerous. We didn’t even realise that was a thing but you know how when things get hot they expand, the theory is that there may have been air bubbles in them, or something else that was making them pop. We’d just hear cracking then rocks would fly everywhere. 

H: My favourite red jacket was a victim of said explosions. There was a big burn hole from one of them! 

A: You could have died! 

H: Well it wasn’t on me at the time, but yes.

B: Is there a track that stands out for you all on the record?

H: Well maybe Island Living which we wrote while on that trip. We actually wrote like four songs on the album on that trip, so that was pretty good. 

A: Its funny because our UK label didn’t really like the songs we wrote there, but hey -- we totally showed them because now they love it. 

H: Or even Happy Birthday -- some of the lyrics on the track are inspired by our road crew in the UK, these english guys who speak with great British accents and who say funny phrases like, “Are you holding it down?” that at first didn’t make a lot of sense to us.

A: I think means, “Are you about to puke?”

H: Well I think it can be used whenever you’re in a compromised position to ask whether you’re coping or not. 

A: But if you’re ‘holding it down’ it means you’re coping really well with the situation.

H: Like, if you’re really hungover in a room with your girlfriend’s mum and you’ve just shat yourself but don’t portray that, you’d be ‘holding it down’. Anyway, that expression ended up as a key lyric in that song! 

B: If given the opportunity to share the festival stage with one other band/musician to perform one song together, who would you choose and why?

A: Moondog. Because he looked like a viking and ah, I imagine he was a really great guy.

H: He’s a really good pianist.

A: I just really love his music. And he’s such a character. Playing on stage with a guy that looks like a viking would just be awesome.