Remote song-writing duo ready to tour
Liz Hobday |
By the time guitarist Mick Turner and vocalist Helen Franzmann actually met each other, they’d written almost enough music to fill three albums.
Turner, best known as one third of the rock band Dirty Three, has played with the likes of Nick Cave, Kurt Vile and Cat Power, while Franzmann has performed under the moniker McKisko for more than a decade.
Turner was looking for a singer in 2020 when a friend recommended Franzmann, and the result is the partnership Mess Esque, which has so far seen two albums, a series of dates at home and now a US tour.
The prolific duo had unorthodox beginnings – the closure of state borders due to COVID-19 meant they had to compose music via email.
The lockdowns became an intensely creative time for the pair despite his Melbourne location, with Franzmann based in Brisbane, Turner told AAP.
“Helen wrote most of the lyrics. I would send a simple piece of music and she would improvise over it and write some lyrics or melody lines and send it back,” he said.
The process has resulted in two albums so far. Dream #12 was released in April 2021, the second self-tilted album later the same year, with enough tracks left over for album number three.
The Mess Esque sound can best be described as ethereal, with music press reviews eliciting comparisons to dream pop and The Velvet Underground.
Their launch into live shows was nowhere near as smooth as Franzmann’s otherworldly vocals, with seasoned performer Turner admitting their first large-scale show opening for Ed Kuepper and Jim White at the Rising festival in Melbourne was a nervous time.
“It was quite hard. We hadn’t played the songs as they had been recorded, we hadn’t played together and we didn’t get a change to rehearse that much,” he said.
“We were really nervous, but it came together all right, and we’ve definitely improved a lot since then.”
Like many music acts, Mess Esque had to cancel dozens of shows during the pandemic, including a date at the Opera House for the 2021 VIVID festival.
But things are looking up – the duo has been invited to Wilco’s Solid Sound festival in Massachusetts, and has booked a three-week sideline US tour.
In his typically understated way, Turner’s response is that it’s “nice to be invited”.
“This is the old school kind of festival where it’s actually curated and they choose bands that they find interesting. I feel quite flattered that they’ve asked us,” he said.
“A lot of festivals now, they actually choose the line-up by algorithm, by how many social media hits you get and things like that.”
Mess Esque will play a series of east coast dates before they head overseas, with shows in Melbourne and regional Victoria, as well as Adelaide and Sydney in May.
AAP
