DOUG WALLEN talks to Potential Falcon’s Simon Connolly about famous side projects, new recordings and the pitfalls of being an alt-country band in Australia.

A five-piece that’s sometimes reduced to a four-piece thanks to guitarist/keyboardist Hugo Temby living in Canberra, Melbourne’s Potential Falcon shares frontman Simon Connolly and bassist Joe Foley with the better-known Aleks and the Ramps. But it’s no side project. Connolly has been playing with drummer Donovan Martin and guitarist Huw Murdoch (also of Plastic Palace Alice) for nearly 10 years in bands such as Minute Major and Hedys Lament. And just so there’s no confusion, Potential Falcon’s grounded strain of alt-country definitely plays the straight man to the Ramps’ swerving art-pop.

The band released their debut mini-album Hank Williams Grave in 2007 – even though they’re not huge Hank Williams fans and aren’t even sure if that title should be possessive.

“I think it’s his grave,” jokes Connolly. “I’m not entirely sure where that came from, other than the song. But the song doesn’t actually have anything to do with Hank Williams’ grave. I feel like we’re taking advantage of [him] somewhat.”

Now on the tail end of an east-coast tour, Potential Falcon are about to launch their new single, ‘On The Road (pt 1)’, in their hometown. It’s the first taste of their new album, which could be out as soon as September. Connolly recorded the album himself and enlisted his uncle, uber producer Wayne Connolly (Knievel, Youth Group), to mix it. His sister designed the single’s cover art.

Between the breathy, ringing single and its Wizard of Oz-inspired b-side ‘Be My Dorothy’, Potential Falcon are getting back into the swing of things after splitting time between recording and their various side projects. As Connolly is quick to observe, the band straddles American alt-country and Australian indie rock, which isn’t exactly a recipe for radio success these days.

Is there a part two to ‘On The Road (pt 1)’?
Yeah. The part two is actually called ‘Honey (pt 2)’. We stole the idea from Gillian Welch. On her Time (The Revelator) album there’s a similar thing. They’re about the same thing and have lots of similar lyrics between the two songs.

People might be surprised to learn that Potential Falcon shares members with Aleks and the Ramps, because that band has a reputation for being so unpredictable, and you guys …
We’re totally predictable! [laughs]

Well, you’re much more straightforward. What does it say about you and Joe that you play in both bands?
That’s me and Joe. All the people in the Ramps are into this kind of music. We all actually really like ’70s rock and stuff. The influence just doesn’t shine as much in Aleks and the Ramps as it does, obviously, in Potential Falcon. That’s just something I like to do. I like being the frontman and I like to sing. I have to have that outlet. But I think people are surprised, definitely. People who really like the Ramps probably aren’t that into what we do with Falcon, but there are enough people that dig both.

Does being in other bands hold Potential Falcon back from recording more albums?
I don’t know. It’s always a time and money thing, making a record. Same with the Ramps. Joe and I have to prioritise the Ramps because we’re onto a really good thing there, and I think with everyone else, like Huw playing in Plastic Palace Alice, we just make time when we can. I don’t think we would do anything that much quicker if we weren’t in those bands. I’m a really slow songwriter. I write maybe 15 songs a year and out of those, I only ever want to play half of them. So the opportunity to actually have enough songs to put an album together doesn’t come around that often.

“People like My Morning Jacket, Ryan Adams and Wilco can come over here and sell out venues, but for Australian bands doing the same thing, there’s no proven track of how to do it.”

Potential Falcon obviously have a lot of alt-country influences. Do you think that sort of twang is something that’s missing from a lot of local bands today?
There are definitely bands doing that kind of thing. There’s a band from Brisbane called Halfway who are just completely amazing alt-country. We’ve got a friend playing drums for us, because our drummer’s away, who also plays in Plastic Palace Alice and a band called the Bitter Sweethearts, who do that kind of thing, and another band called the Hello Morning who do it. For Australian record labels and radio stations, they have no idea how to market it, so you just don’t get to hear it all that much. Whereas people like My Morning Jacket, Ryan Adams and Wilco can come over here and sell out venues, but for Australian bands doing the same thing, there’s no proven track of how to do it.

Does that mean you’re left looking more to American artists for direction?
I think so. In terms of the alt-country music I listen to, it’s mostly American stuff. That’s where that whole thing came from. And all the indie rock influences are more Australian bands like Knievel and Pollyanna. I grew up and got my musical education in the ’90s, listening to a lot of Australian indie bands. But in terms of how to be a band and what to do in the industry, we can’t really follow the American example because we don’t have the kind of audience.

Besides money, what’s the advantage and disadvantage of recording the band yourself?
The disadvantage is that it’s really, really fucking hard, especially because we like to initially track the stuff live. It’s fucking hard to concentrate on watching the levels and making sure everything sounds well and also then trying to play well and remember the words. I didn’t realise how hard it was going to be until we got there. It was quite an exhausting process. It was rewarding though. It was a steep learning curve. I’ve done a fair bit of recording and live engineering, but it’s a big leap. I don’t know if I necessarily want to do it again for the next record, but it was worth it. The advantage other than cost … well, that’s the biggest advantage. I don’t know that I thought much beyond that in terms of the reasons for doing it. I was encouraged to do it by my uncle. He heard the demos and said they sound really good. He [said we] should just hire a studio and get an assistant that knows the gear really well.

How does the new album compare to the mini-album?
Well, the mini-album, not that I’ve listened to it in a long time, sounds a bit disjointed. There’s three or four really country songs on it and then a couple of really indie rock, jagged guitar-y sort of songs. I don’t know that it flows that well. It sounds like we’re still finding what we sound like. This new album, to me at least, just sounds like us. The songs flow nicely together.

Do you feel like you’re leaning more towards country or indie rock?
I think at the moment we’re in the middle ground. The single is the least country thing [on the album]. It’s almost a stretch to say it’s country at all. But the rest of the album definitely has more of a country vibe. [But] I think we’re slowly swinging towards more of an indie rock thing at the moment. I mean, I love country music and alt-country but I do find it restricting sometimes as a songwriter.

Is there a name for the album yet?
There isn’t. We’re still tossing up names, I think. It’s hard to get everyone to agree.

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‘ON THE ROAD (PT 1)’ LAUNCH

Friday, May 29
Esplanade Hotel, Melbourne, VIC
w/Worlds End Press + Tom Woodward and the Orphanage + The Bitter Sweethearts

Sunday, May 31
Northcote Social Club, Melbourne, VIC
w/Sly Hats + The Graveyard Sons + Ruben Stanton