Gold Fields have never sounded better. After taking a break from getting out and playing live, the band are set to return with a couple of new tracks, and a whole new focus.
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"We toured for a long time and just needed a break from it," says guitarist/producer Vinci Andanar.
Though they weren't playing any shows, the band have been working hard doing a bunch of remixes and released a track called Hold Me at the end of last year. It has marked the beginning of a new sound for the lads, one that has sprung from making a switch to using music software programme Ableton.
"Ableton was something that we never used before but we wanted to really learn it. It was when we got that and we started really working and doing our remixes and improving on that, I think that's when we realised where our sound was heading," Andanar says.
It has been a process that has allowed the band to realise the music they've been hearing in their minds.
"Doing the first album, I guess we didn't really have the skills to get the exact sounds we wanted. We knew what we wanted but we couldn't really get it ourselves. Whereas now that we've had the time off to really work on that, we can envision how we want our songs to sound, and we can achieve it."
As well as preparing new music, like a track called Lakeside due to be unveiled on their upcoming tour, Gold Fields have produced a number of successful remixes for Australian and international artists. This includes a remix of Alive for Empire of the Sun, as well as Miami Horror's Real Slow, and Vulnerable for rising American R&B star Tinashe. It is part of a transition into working more as producers, rather than just being known as a live band. And collaboration is something that goes hand in hand with that.
"Having that time off and just releasing remixes is a nice transition into our new material that we are going to be releasing," Andanar says.
"How we saw this project from the start, we always wanted it to be more of a production group rather than a band ... And working with other artists is something that we've always wanted to do."
This includes teaming up with Triple J House Party host KLP (Kristy Lee Peters), who will be co-headlining with Gold Fields on their latest tour. It's a collaboration that has given birth to a track called Make Me Feel.
"We thought it would be awesome if we could work with KLP because we knew she could sing and were fans of some of the earlier work that she's done," Andanar says. "She's one of the most hard-working people I've met as an artist. We gave her the song and within a couple of days she had all the vocals done, and sent it to us. We were like, wow. She just doesn't stop with her work."
Available free to those who pre-order tickets, Make Me Feel is destined to get a run at the upcoming Canberra show.
"We trialled it last year," Andanar says. "We played at EMC, the Electronic Music Conference in Sydney, and we got her up and she sang, and it sounded cool."
GOLD FIELDS & KLP
Where: Transit Bar, Civic
When: 8pm, June 20
Tickets: $15 + bf available at moshtix.com.au
