SUPER CRUEL is a perfect testament to the wealth of local talent coming out of Australia at the moment.
Formed by producers Jesse Sewell (AKA Jesse Porsches) and Adelaide’s Matthew Khabbaz (better known as Tigerilla), the dynamic duo evolved out of a friendship and creative connection within our second-to-none local electronic pop scene. While both of the lads have seen some serious success as songwriters and producers in their own right – Sewell has an ARIA to his name for Flume‘s “Sleepless”, and Khabbaz has invaded the triple j airwaves over the last year with winners like “MerryGo” and “TULIPS” – their shared writing and recording sessions eventually gave birth to songs and sounds they both saw as more suitable for a new project entirely.
Crash-landing onto radio and streaming charts back in March with their stunning debut “November”, SUPER CRUEL already have thousands of music lovers around the nation waiting with bated breath for their next move. Who will follow in the footsteps of Australia’s indie folk darling Lisa Mitchell and jump on the duo’s second certain hit? Is there an EP on the way? What does a SUPER CRUEL show look like?
Just days before they were announced on the amazing second Spilt Milk lineup, BB caught up with the boys in Sydney to find out all about the origins of the project, the story behind “November”, the ins and outs of their collaborative process, and how they manage to find a balance between all of their creative ventures.
Best Before: Boys! How are we?
Jesse Sewell: Jordy! How have you been?
Good, mate! What are you guys up to today? Are you both in the same place right now?
Matthew Khabbaz: Yep! Sitting right next to each other.
How long are you guys in Sydney for? I know you live here Jesse, but Matt – are you finding yourself spending more and more time over here?
M: I’m only here until Saturday, but I honestly think I’m just going to move over here.
J: You’re loving the glitz and glamour of Sydney, aren’t you?
M: Ha! Yeah, I love the big smoke.
Matt – when did you find yourself touring and leaving home on the regular?
M: Basically, I was doing some other stuff externally with Cam Bluff. I met Jesse in between, and then I had another session with Cam here in Sydney. Jesse and I fit a session in while I was here. From then, it evolved into a weekly thing; I’d fly over, and then Jesse and I would work on songs. That’s been the case pretty much up to now. I’ve been jetting over to Sydney every couple of weeks over the last year, to be honest.
Were you working on SUPER CRUEL material even back in those early sessions?
M: Yeah – it was mostly stuff that ended up being used for SUPER CRUEL, but we were also writing just for the sake of writing. As we went along, it all just started sounding more like a project, and Jesse and I thought that, instead of doing something for both our own individual brands, why couldn’t we bring it together and do something that will feed into what we do anyway?
Was there a point where you realised that these songs were going to make up a separate project that you could push officially?
M: Yeah. How many songs did we have piled up, Jesse?
J: Five.
M: Yeah. We had those songs that we thought were at a decent enough level to consider releasing. Benji – who’s my manager for Tigerilla – jumped on board with the idea and gave us a little leg-up with establishing the project. At that time, we didn’t even have a name for it, so it was difficult to even start selling it to someone. It was just a sort of ‘artist x artist’ project. I think people liked it, but they were also asking how they could sell it to an audience with no name or identity attached to it. Listeners need something tangible.
Once we realised that, we made the decision to roll fully with SUPER CRUEL. With every other project, I’ve always looked back and wanted to change things here and there, but in hindsight, we made some good decisions and points early on this time around that have helped us with everything now.
The incredible Lisa Mitchell features on your debut single “November”. How did that come about?
J: We wrote the song originally with our friend Xavier Dunn, and we knew we wanted to release it as a single. We originally actually had Amy Shark on the song, but it was held back, and then we were told we had to find an alternative. That was before “Adore” had really blown up, and I remember at first being like, “Guys – are we sure? She’s playing an electric guitar in a room and I don’t really get it…”
You were like, “She’s got this song called “Adore”, I don’t really know how it’s going to go…”
J: Ha! Yeah, I was like, “I think we’re taking a bit of a gamble here.”
M: I was the only one who was on board! Everyone was like, “This is a bit weird,” but I was like, “Dude – she’s amazing!”
J: Ha! So yeah – we had this track mixed, mastered and ready to go, and then she started blowing up and we were celebrating because our song was going to have Amy Shark on it. And then the week she landed number two on the Hottest 100, they told us that it wasn’t going to happen anymore! I was crying.
M: It was a Steven Bradbury moment, for sure. But having said that, then we ended up getting Lisa on board, and she is actually such an icon. She’s so beautiful, she’s so good to work with, and her vocals are amazing. In the end, who cares? The track’s great, and she’s great.
Even after hearing that story, I still think it sounds like a pretty perfect fit on the final track.
M: It almost was exactly that – a perfect fit. I mean, sometimes you just have to go through that – those mini changes and losses – to get the win that you need.
J: Yeah – even from writing these songs a year ago, to trying to get it mixed with Lisa was like a two-month wait. We found ourselves wondering if this project was ever going to actually start!
M: That was just stress city, hey.
Was “November” one of the first songs you wrote in your sessions, or did it come later?
M: I think it was one of the first songs we wrote. Maybe the first one, actually.
In those sessions, were you aiming for a distinct sound or style of song, or did it all come about more organically?
M: Definitely organically. We had a whole bunch of songs, but weirdly, they all sort of sounded similar – probably because of production techniques and things you find yourself just doing automatically. But we noticed that one song was heading more in a Duke Dumont direction, one was sounding like “November”, one was a bit more Jack Ü-inspired – they each had their own lane. What we tried to do from there is round the edges out across the board, and find a bit more of a direction once we had the songs all down pat. At the same time, we didn’t want to lock it all in too much, because we knew that whoever we ended up working with on the next song could end up taking it in a new direction and adding their own elements. We have our boundaries, but for now we need to look into keeping some kind of cohesion.
Is every SUPER CRUEL song you have in the wings at a point where you could potentially dust it off and release it?
M: No way! What we do is we write songs to a certain level, and then instead of finalising the song – which is generally the most tedious, time-consuming part of it all…
J: It definitely is the most time-consuming part. We’ll get so excited for the first day that the song starts to take shape, but then we’ll probably never jump back on it unless somehow that track becomes the one.
So I’m guessing you guys have a bunch of folders on your laptops packed with half-finished recordings, and they all have stupid nicknames?
M: Ha, exactly! Dude, there’s files in there that are literally just a build and a drop. Maybe just four chords and a snare drum. From that, we can just be like, “This is the ONE!” That’s just so good for inspiration though, because you end up going back to it down the road. We’ll find ourselves saying, “Remember that kick drum from that other song? Let’s use it here!” It’s never time wasted. Sometimes you just have to get out what’s in your head.
How do you both find time to balance and prioritise with SUPER CRUEL, Porsches, Tigerilla and everything else you have going on?
M: I actually don’t even know how we do it, hey. I think it’s because whether we’re working together or not, if it’s for Jesse and he has a show and I’m down, I’m going to be going to that anyway. So we always just work it out from wherever we are, or where we’re going to be. For example, I’m also here now in Sydney for a show, so that then opens up a window for us to finish up the new single while we’re here. Instead of just flying in for The Wall last night and then flying out again, I can stay for a while longer and we can get stuff done. In those sessions when we’re both in the same place, we’ll work really hard and run on little to no sleep to get it all worked out.
Lately we’ve been talking a lot with artists about the role of social media in their careers. How responsible has social media been in the success you’ve had so far since unveiling and breaking SUPER CRUEL?
M: I think it’s a mix of both social media and all the support that comes from a record label that’s helped us so far. Social media allows you to reach a fanbase that don’t know you very, very quickly – not that they don’t always know you, but it gives people something real and personable. They can see it, they can interact directly, and it helps people connect.
On the industry side, I think you’re more likely to score some early wins with a record label. They know exactly how to get you heard by all the right people, and get you featured in all the right places. These people aren’t just mates doing you a favour – it’s their job to promote what you’re doing, so I think it can come from both avenues.
Can you tell me about how you pitched SUPER CRUEL to your label?
M: We presented it to them directly because we knew that there was something there; whether or not it was going to be big or successful, we didn’t know. It was basically a pitch where we said, “Hey, look what we’ve done – do you want to get on board?” They gave us a yes quite quickly, which was really nice because it gave us a lot of options and avenues.
Even though you were saying before that there were times where you were both sitting around waiting and wondering whether it was going to get off the ground, from the outside looking in, it feels as if SUPER CRUEL has been quite a smooth-sailing experience for you both so far.
M: Yeah, totally. The first couple of months were the smoothest sailing ever, and I remember we were thinking, “How is this even happening? Is this real?” but it always happens – the good comes with the bad – but it’s not like anything particularly ‘bad’ has happened, anyway. There’s always roadworks with any project, but it’s just like life; I mean, you can’t really drive through Sydney without getting caught in traffic. There’s always ups and downs.
Super Cruel have just been announced on the massive 2017 Spilt Milk lineup – check out all the info here.
If you haven’t already, fall hard for their debut single “November”: