New Navy

Jamie from New Navy recently sat down for a chat about the coming Musica Festival, their new EP Uluwatu and getting compliments from NME. New Navy are a Sydney based band originally from the South Coast. All four members – Ben, James, Matt and Jamie, were high school friends and like many things in life the formation of the band “just happened.”

The name itself is nothing deep, just the colour of a band member’s shirt during rehearsal. This carefree Australian attitude is certainly reflected in the music they have released with the crisp guitar melodies and sunny indie pop outlook.

New Navy’s debut Uluwatu EP was written mainly in Bali at a nearby surf break. The name itself is the spiritual word for temple by the water. And whilst their songs such as “Zimbabwe” and the summer grooves of “Tapioca” represent exotic places the band are keen to “separate the politics from the beauty of a country.” As Jamie reflects the songs themselves are generally about “escapism” and “a fictional place” it’s clear that they have a simple formula of “writing music we like” and their influences come courtesy of parents record collections – INXS, The Beatles, Talking Heads and Frank Sinatra.

New Navy certainly provide the breezy indie songs that are prerequisite for any good summer party and have picked up support from both radio and media who have compared them to The Whitest Boy Alive and Cold War Kids. Press internationally from the likes of NME – “Foals go tropical” and more local from Richard Kingsmill (Triple J) – “5/5 Wow! You weren’t kidding about the clean guitars. The tiny guitar licks in this song (Zimbabwe) are really clever. And percussion has become the new lead guitar break!” have further enhanced their current reputation. It’s good to know the four piece still have their feet on the ground with Jamie mentioning it’s all rather “surreal” and certainly “hasn’t sunk in yet.”

The year so far has seen New Navy take on the JD set, hold the number one position on Triple J unearthed charts and share stages with the likes of Wolfmother, Midnight Juggernaughts, The Holidays and The Scare. Their plans for 2012 are to release a new EP and continue touring. So what can we expect from their set for Musica/Tumbalong Festival this weekend? They are certainly looking forward to showcasing the EP’s indie dance songs and may even drop a cover. Pressed a little further Jamie says “you might hear a bit of Salt n Pepa.”

I’m certainly looking forward to seeing this band at Musica and as Russh Magazine says – “…it’s the kind of thing that makes you smile, wide and hard, no matter how late you’re running or how bad the traffic is.” The EP is out now. Good luck lads.

New Navy play Musica Tumbalong Festival this Saturday 22nd October with artists such as Mitzi (AUS), SBTRKT (UK), Simon Caldwell (AUS) and Tiger & Woods. Find out more and buy tickets right here.