STACK NZ Jun #74

MUSIC FEATURE

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TRIMMING THE TRAP

MUSIC

Dougy Mandagi and Joseph Greer say the theme of camaraderie came about quite by chance; but it's fitting for a leaner Temper Trap's third record, Thick AsThieves . By Zoë Radas

King's Cross, which is host to the away-from- home studio for Mark Ronson, among other musicians – to the States and in between. “You still want to have the DNA of the band – when we play [a track] together, we're still conscious of it being a Temper Trap song,” says keys and guitar player Greer. Mandagi adds: “There are collaborators that help you come out of your shell or help you write, and there are writers that just want to write for you.” He tells a brief story about an unnamed ‘collaborator’ in LA who asked him to play bass on a song. “He goes, ‘Don’t play it like that, play it like this.’ I’m not even a bass player!” “He thought he was getting a session musician,” Greer chuckles. Mandagi continues, throwing his arms into the air: “What the f-ck, man, I drove all this way, and nearly got into an accident on the freeway ‘cause I’m used to driving on the other side of the road! So yeah, I’ve seen and experienced a whole gamut of different types.” Thick As Thieves ’ songs are an engaging mix, with huge ‘arena-ready’ tracks up at the head of the album ( So Much Sky , Fall Together, and

else to do. I’m not going to start doing vocal acrobatics just ‘cause. I think that each of us should always serve the song, not serve ourselves. There’s an art to understanding that, to being sensitive to the song.”

M ucking with electric knobs, a vocalist refusing to sing, Takeshi’s Castle , Gaga looking good, a studio space next to Mark Ronson, a near-miss on an LA highway, an Instagram snap that became a subconscious conversation with Dougy Mandagi and Joseph Greer about The Temper Trap’s new album Thick As Thieves flows easily, which isn’t a small achievement considering these two just played a sold-out hometown show last night. “We’ve been busy, yeah, the last few days,” vocalist Mandagi smiles wearily over his glass of water. In addition to gigantic singles Fall Together, Thick As Thieves and Burn traversing the airwaves, these shows have given Temper Trap fans – rabid with curiosity – an idea of which direction the now four-piece would take, having shed lead guitarist Lorenzo Sillitto in late 2013. “The objective was to really understand the purpose of each part and be very intentional,” Mandagi explains, “not just have someone do something just because they’ve got nothing symbol, and songs whose skins can be expanded to embrace a stadium: the

Each of us should always serve the song, not ourselves

This deliberate, “leaner” approach coincided with a period of songwriting collaboration for the band, which took them from their own Tileyard studio in London – a creative arts community in

JUNE 2016

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