Labor of Love: Ocean Alley
Cruisey - adj - Australian Slang - relaxed, easy, chilled out.
Sydney's Ocean Alley are the living breathing definition. Their cruisey psych, rock and reggae vibe was on full display when they paid us a visit while out on Tash Sultana's "Flow State" tour. The boys were kind enough to treat us to a live rendition of their tune "Knees" off of their "Chiaroscuro" album. We asked them how they got their start and what keeps them moving in this episode of Labor of Love.
How did the making of music become your life?
After a few EP’s and our first LP we had enough support to be able to head back to the studio and write our second album so that’s kinda when making music became our whole life. We quit our day jobs and headed back on the road and we haven’t stopped since. Why would we!?
How did the band come together?
We all lived close to each other and met surfing and hanging out around town at home. When we first started playing together in a backyard shed we played covers of songs we loved listening to but shortly after that we began writing our own music and immediately fell in love with the process and the feeling of making something new together. That’s where it all started, 7 years ago in a backyard shed.
How do you make it work? How does it all come together?
We have always operated independently and love the fact that each of the band members have an equal say in all the decisions we have. We don’t owe anyone money and just keep doing what we love together. Coupled with the support from our friends, families and fans we feel like we can keep doing this forever! And that’s what we want to do; keep making new music together and performing it for everyone to hear. As the crew at CME know, it’s about living your passion any way you can.
Who were your major influences? What guides your playing style?
We each have our own pretty unique influences from stuff like Led Zeppelin and Sabbath to Bee Gees, ELO, Hendrix, Joplin, Mark Knopfler and the rest. We grew up on our parents music and that era of rock and roll has been the main shaping force in our song writing and playing.
What do you have coming up? Albums? Tours?
We are currently half way through a North American tour with A fellow Aussie Tash Sultana. We’ve had the opportunity to play some amazing venues with her on this run. When we get back home we will be touring Australia with Falls Festival to play four separate shows over the new year period. It’s gonna be great to finish up in this cold and get back to the beach over Christmas! Next year there is definitely another album in the works. Just got to get it out of our heads and onto a record!
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