NEW VIDEO: The Rookies 'Seed and Soil' + Album Launch Show
The wait is finally over for The Rookies fourth studio album Feed The Fire, out Wednesday 22 March, featuring a string section of members from the Newmarket Collective alongside the talents and musical musings of the band’s five members, this album is a whole lot of jazz like you’ve never heard before. After the album's first two singles ‘Dry Bones’ and ‘On The Shoulders of Giants’, The Rookies are lifting the veil on a playful visual and live recording of the album’s closing title ‘Seed & Soil’ as they gear up to celebrate the album's release, before two Victoria launch parties on Friday 21 April at Tanswells in Beechworth and Saturday 22 April at The Night Cat in Fitzroy.
Enlisting the help of long-time collaborator Duncographic as a video director and Guus Hoevenaars of Newmarket Studios on live sound, The Rookies created their first live video, recording a live version of album closer ‘Seed and Soil’. Featuring a string quartet composed of Felix Pascoe, Sunni Rae, Ariel Postmus, and Hamish Jamieson––this is the first time The Rookies have performed this piece as intended with a string section - the video was filmed in the Fitzroy North backyard. But, not just any backyard, the band’s rehearsal home for the past 5 years.
“A challenging location to shoot, we eventually found the perfect locations ––rhythm section nestled with the chicken shed out back, with the string section below a beautiful eucalypt and the horn players in a collapsing treehouse––three things that amazingly can be found within one frame in this weird and wonderful garden. “Seed and Soil” refers to the need for nourishing the ground in which you grow new life, so it was also fitting to record it near a very well maintained composting system.” - The Rookies
“The band are always down to get weird and wacky. We didn't really go in with much of a plan on the day which left lots of space for us to improvise and see what we came up with because the last thing we wanted to do was just another straight ahead live clip. The end result is something true to both the music and the band." - Duncographic
Hitting all good record stores Wednesday 22 March, Feed The Fire was written collaboratively, first online bouncing ideas back and forth, and then in the rehearsal room, either at Joel’s house or at some long full days at Bakehouse studios. “We realised early on that the tunes connected seamlessly, and decided to make the album as a single piece of music - while there are six distinct pieces of music on the record, the entire record is continuous”. The Rookies don’t take releasing music lightly, with the hope of arousing listeners to inspire them to take the journey of recognition, action, and outcomes with them, as Feed The Fire explores the purpose and powers within the element of fire; destruction, regeneration, nurture, and passion. The quintet are joined by a string section made up of members of the Newmarket Collective, performing beautiful arrangements by The Rookies trumpeter Tom Sly, which can be heard on ‘Vultures’, ‘Schema I and Schema II’ and ‘Seed and Soil’.
“The record is very much a collaborative effort. Everyone wrote sections, arranged other people's ideas, and bought into the vision for this album. It feels great to be making a fourth studio album. Whereas Play Jazz felt like it needed to show our range, Feed The Fire felt like it could show us doing a consistent sound - one part of our range - but doing it to a new level, which was really exciting.” - The Rookies
Join The Rookies as they challenge human prejudice and societal systems, question the need to begin again and rebuild for the benefit of humanity and our world, or be whisked away for nights like no other in North Eastern Victoria on Friday 21 April at Tanswells in Beechworth or Saturday 22 April Melbourne’s iconic The Night Cat.
Feed The Fire Album Launch Shows
Friday 21 April
Tanswells - Beechworth
Doors: 8.30pm
Tickets $25+BF
Saturday 22 April
The Night Cat - Melbourne
Supports: Sampology, Nikodimos and his orchestra, Kuzco
and Ella Stoeckli
Doors: 9pm
Tickets
Rooks Return - Every Wednesday
Set 1 - 8:30 - 9:30 pm
Set 2 - 10:00 - 11:00 pm
Free entry
Feed The Fire Track Listing:
1. Dry Bones
2. On the Shoulders of Giants
3. Vultures
4. Schema I
5. Schema II
6. Embers
7. Seed & Soil
Feed The Fire out Wednesday 22 March 2023
Vinyl is available for pre-order via Bandcamp
Feed The Fire Album Credits:
Greg Sher - alto & tenor saxophone
Tom Sly - trumpet
Joel Trigg - Fender Rhodes
Oscar Neyland - double bass
Chris Cameron - drums & percussion
On 'Dry Bones':
Erica Tucceri - flute
On 'On The Shoulders Of Giants:
Eamon McNelis - trumpet
James Macaulay - trombone
Kyle Chenoweth - trombone
Brennan Hamilton-Smith - clarinet & bass clarinet
Jack Beeche - soprano saxophone & baritone saxophone
On 'Schema II'
David Van Pelt - ARP 2600 synthesizer
On 'Seed and Soil':
Alejandro Vega - congas
On 'Vultures, Schema I, Schema II, Seed and Soil'
Strings by The Newmarket Collective
Violin - Zoë Black, Jos Jonker, Sarah Curro
Viola - Ceridwen Davies, Paul McMillan
Cello - Svetlana Bogosavljevic
Engineered & mixed by Guus Hoevenaars at Newmarket Studios
Mastered by Lachlan Carrick at Moose Mastering
Artwork & photography by Hanah Wexler & Greg Sher
Chris Cameron plays Sleishman drums
Oscar Neyland plays a Benedict G Puglisi double bass
This album was created on the stolen lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. The Rookies wish to pay their respects to Elders, past and present. Sovereignty has never been ceded, this always was and always will be Aboriginal land.