Amyl and the Sniffers Interview
Amyl and the Sniffers find comfort, chaos, and clarity on their sophomore album Comfort To Me.
Amyl and the Sniffers are a burning blend of Australian punk and pub rock. Renowned for their fiery energy, the four-piece quickly garnered international attention for their explosive live shows and fervent music.
Touring worldwide in 2018 and 2019 saw their success grow to new heights, gaining impassioned fans across the globe. From there, they went on to do a campaign with Gucci and win an ARIA award. Vocalist Amy Taylor even did a Coca-Cola themed cover of WAP. The band was only on the rise, with each release becoming tighter, more intricate, and well thought out. On their sophomore album, Comfort To Me, the band is tighter than ever, creating one of the most cohesive and effervescent punk albums of 2021.
Speaking with Amy and guitarist Declan Martens via Zoom, I got to hear more about Comfort To Me, their experience working with Gucci, and how their songwriting process has evolved since the early days.
Amy joins from “the bunker,” an art space she uses for writing and painting, while Declan joins from home slightly later, having just returned from a rehearsal. Finally able to speak about their new album, you can tell that they’re impressed with what they’ve achieved on the record. Declan shares that it’s “exciting to show people how we’ve changed and we’re also very proud of what we’ve done. So I’m really looking forward to people hearing it. We’ve just been conscious of every process in it being made, and some of it’s been a bit rushed, but a lot of it we’ve been able to put a lot of time into it. So I think that’s added for me, like, the excitement of the album — because it’s felt like a much bigger project than the last one.”
Unfortunately, at about this point in the call, Amy’s connection completely falls apart. Quickly sorting a hotspot, Amy returns to the call to delve into how the pandemic affected the album. “Well, pretty intensely, I reckon. I spent heaps and heaps of time on lyrics and what I wanted to say, what I wanted to think about. I feel like, for everybody, last year was such an introspective year and super isolating and pretty depressing.”
“It just changes a bitch I reckon is the best way to put it,” she jokes.
After their immense world tour, the band started living together in September of 2019, having not had a proper home in a couple of years. As a result, the band grew closer together throughout the pandemic. “When people ask me, like, ‘how was it doing lockdown with your band?’ — I’ve done small two-week lockdowns with other people and it’s so much better with the band. We’re used to being in each other’s hair,” Declan shares. “Yeah, if we’re honest I feel like we didn’t really do much at all. Like, you know, we got an album out of it, but we also spent a lot of time sitting around,” Amy adds.
Not being able to leave Australia had a direct effect on the album. Unlike their debut, restrictions pushed a situation where the band had to work locally. “So we recorded it over here in Melbourne and we did preproduction here in Melbourne and then we got it mixed by Nick Launay and he was based in L.A.,” Declan says.
“When we were getting it mixed, it was an interesting sort of thing. I had a few phone calls with him every now and then — sort of just like relaying back what the band thought and different philosophies on how it should be mixed,” he further explains.
The band, known for their live performances, haven’t had much opportunity to play in the past few years. “There’s a chance that if all goes well, we might get to come over to London in November, which is dope,” Amy hopes. Going from a crazy worldwide tour in 2019 to practically nothing was hard on the band but they found solace in their stability. She elaborates on this.
“I’ve kind of enjoyed being in one place and because we were so busy and going everywhere all the time and had no stability, it’s kind of been nice to, you know, have my own bedroom and put a poster on a wall and make a friend and spend time with people I care about and stuff like that. That’s been pretty nice in a way, even though it’s been absolute fucking hell. It’s also been pretty nice.”
“I think we matured so much quicker than other people around us our age because of what we’ve done. Like travelling for four months overseas when you’re 22 and 23. We just grew up really, really quickly. But at the same time, we’re still the young people that we are,” Interjects Declan.
Unlike on previous albums where the band had an opportunity to play the new songs live and develop them in a venue setting, this album was written mostly without playing any of the songs to a real audience. Amy jokes, reminiscing about their return to live performance. “I mean, fuck. When we played that first gig back after 14 months, it was truly like all of us, afterwards we’re like, ‘well, that was fucking impossible.’”
“Our managers were there and I was like, ‘Fuck that’s it. They’re thinking: how are they going to get rid of us?’ But then we played again the next night and we killed it.” Declan laughs.
“You know that song on the album? The one called ‘Don’t Need A Cunt?’ Like the first twenty times we tried practising it, the boys were like ‘we can’t do it, we can’t sing and play at the same time.’” Amy shares before Declan quickly adds “To do that song it is hard because it’s a call and response sort of thing, like one and then the other. So now we just all do it together, which is like our motto, you know? Stuck in the mud together.”
The band have a relentless work ethic; you can hear as much in their music. Each record, they have improved leaps and bounds as artists. “I’m a bit of a perfectionist, I reckon,” thinks Amy. Since the early days, the band have shown a deep passion to grow. Declan pitches in on their recent development: “I think Amy taking another step forward with her lyric writing inspired us as well. I think this one was a big challenge for the boys in the band because, you know, there wasn’t really that road tour tightness. So it was all hands on deck to be tight.”
Delving further into their work ethic, Amy goes on to explain:
“If it was up to me I’d be putting out a song every two hours, but it’s kinda fun to be patient. Because it makes it more exciting. If you ate ice cream every day it would be crap I guess. Sometimes if you wait for it, it will be nicer.”
In 2019, Amyl and the Sniffers partnered with Gucci for their #guccigig series. Originally receiving an email, much to the surprise of the band, Amy expands on this experience. “Yeah, literally, that’s it and then we got flown first class to Sicily, got picked up at the airport. Fuckin’ got in this really beautiful hotel. We got there like the night before all the models and stuff got there because it was like this really big crew of two hundred and then it was just us and then just a whole empty hotel, like The Shining. And we had our rooms to ourselves and it was just me and our manager who’s got a big beard and it was just us having a steak, in this empty kitchen hall, and the people who were working there didn’t know why anyone was there. So it just looked so fucking crazy.”
“It was big Shining vibes, ey? The whole hotel was empty because I guess it was Winter there. I guess it was like the off-season? So it was a lot like The Shining,” adds Declan. Amy reaffirms the surreality of the situation. “It was fucking pretty awesome though, such a crazy experience and shit — like people have their opinions on it. And it’s like this is fucking fun and crazy and weird and everyone was so nice and it was so fucking weird! But it was pretty special.”
Working with Gucci has had some backlash from the punk community due to their anti-capitalist ethos. “Oh, yeah. And I think it’s fair as well. I feel like I understand most of the time. You know, like some of it is just about people who care about other people; capitalism and consumerism don’t go hand in hand with caring for other people. So I can understand and be like, ‘well, this seems contradictory and this isn’t what punk ethos is about.’ All that kind of stuff — I understand it,” Amy pauses. “I think, in the end as well, it’s like the world’s so crazy and we’re not bad people. People are putting fucking tubes of flame into the earth to drink oil for breakfast. And we’re a crew who took up a sick job with a sick brand and, I don’t know, who cares? For anybody who makes money or has a job, there’s not any such thing as healthy, good money, you know? We’re all exploiting each other.”
Declan adds to this take. “And we were literally fucking starving before that. That was the first time we got money in so long, you know? Like, oh, if you like the band so much, don’t you want us to eat and stuff?”
“Yeah, that’s so true. Like, I’m pretty sure when we won that flight I had seven dollars in my bank account and I was like this is fucking dope. You got to take up jobs and do weird stuff to live and survive. It’s just the world; we don’t have any other kind of income. And music doesn’t make that much money for us at the moment,” explains Amy.
The honesty here is refreshing. There’s an authenticity that comes from the band that they’ve cultivated through their momentous climb to the top.
“I think just when people are authentically themselves or expressing themselves in a way, that kind of brings out the best in other people. It’s kind of contagious. If I read heaps of Dolly Parton books, I’d feel better about myself. Or if I watch Cardi B interviews, I’m like ‘Fuck yeah! Life’s worth living.’ So I feel like anyone who’s just themselves makes other people feel good too. So that’s what I want to try to do and that’s what I like doing anyway.”
This reflection from Amy marks a conclusive moment in our conversation. It’s around this time our zoom call comes to an end, leaving our conversation on a positive and uplifting note. Let’s hope that those late-2021 gigs come to fruition so fans can get an opportunity to hear the new album in the live setting it truly deserves.
Amyl and the Sniffers’ new album, Comfort to Me, was released September 10th 2021.
Photography By: Jamie Wdziekonski
Interview Taken from OG Still Listening Magazine Issue Five: 04/10/2021