Birds Of Tokyo
First appeared - Issue #11

Grabs is speaking to the “flour” of Birds of Tokyo Adam Spark. “I’m currently looking into setting up my own record company and it’s a logistical nightmare,” states the guitarist songwriter who along with Karnivool’s Ian Kenny “sugar”, Tragic Delicate’s rhythm section Anthony Jackson “milk and eggs” and Adam Weston “butter” has cooked up a great four layered self titled EP “cake”, which springs hot out of the oven and melts in any listener’s aural cavities.

There’s no such thing as too many cooks in this environment. Adam Weston already has his own label Firestarter with partner Heidi Trutwein whose many acts have been featured in Groove’s back issues. And of course Kenny’s Karnivool have been busy touring and promoting their ‘Themata’ release. But BOT is no side project. The songs tell you that and their live performances are already legendary.

Spark and Kenny started writing together in 2004. We mention Kenny’s great vocal variations. “Try being in a room with him. It’s spinechilling what he comes up with. A lot of the writing just evolves from what his voice will do.” With a batch of songs written they then grabbed Adam and Anthony and started to record. Adam 1’s experience as a freelance engineer would have come in handy and he is currently producing tracks for Loose Unit, Half Smile and the meaning of. “I’ve been doing the figures for the label and whichever way I look at it, it seems I’ll be spending a few thousand to make very little back. But you have to do that to get things started.” When it came to the final mixing and mastering for the EP Adam called on a higher power in the shape of Forrester Savell who did such great work with ‘Themata’. “We’re going over to Sing Sing studios in Melbourne in July to record a double A side with Forrester, which should have some special features. While we’re there we’re going to do a show or two. A definite one is July 8^th at the Espy.” Let’s hope Adam S and his fellow ingredients can “guarantee a steady hand” as Kenny’s “voice fills the room”, and that the new release can surpass their amazing first bake.

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