Kick-on with Australia's most-loved party band.
Not many know life in lockdown like our mates in Melbourne. After being stitched-up with the strictest of curfews and restrictions over the last 7 months... we've invited local favourites Northeast Party House to unleash some steam on our Cabin Fever series with the ultimate kick-on mixtape.
As a proud supporter of Support Act, this series is our platform to connect with our favourite artists and raise awareness for the musicians, crew and music workers affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
We like to think we've got a lot in common with the six homies from Northeast Party House who are no strangers to a bloody good time. The Melbourne band was born out of a need to capture those irreplaceable vibes of adolescent debauchery and the pure freedom that comes when age is just a number.
Since forming 10 years ago, they've run their fair share of hot-laps around the festival circuit, amassed a cult-following with their electrifying live shows and blessed us with bangers like Calypso Beach, their iconic cover of Redbone and most recently their third ARIA-nominated album Shelf Life (listen here).
The band's production wizard and synth-maestro Sean Kenihan jumped on the CDJs to pull together a thumping mix on behalf of the lads available now via SoundCloud. We caught up with him to chat life in lockdown, a love of lasers and what else has been happening since shit hit the fan.
1) Thanks for jumping on board homies! Where'd this one all come together and any inspiration behind the track selection?
I did this mix from my bedroom, where I’ve literally spent the last 8 months. Usually a few of us would catch up and go back to back for a mix like this but we can’t really do that at the moment, so the guys sent me a few of their current favourite tracks and I padded the mix out with some of my recent discoveries.
2) How have the crew been holding up in Melbourne isolation - what’s been happening over this cooked period?
We’re holding quite up well! The silver lining to this whole terrible situation is that the band has been forced to have time off for the first time in a decade.
We would have never taken this much time off if it had been up to us but in hindsight I think its been really good for us. We’re all really excited to start writing and playing shows together again. For me personally, one of the greatest benefits has been having time to just listen to music.
I’d neglected my music listening and collecting for years because I was ‘too busy’ making music. It’s been nourishing.
3) Between postponed tours and festival appearances and all the other stitch-ups involved with live music being strangled since the onset, how has it impacted you guys and how have you all kept it together?
At first we all took the cancelation of the tour quite hard. We’d been working on this album for years, it felt like all this momentum was behind us and then everything just stopped.
But then once Splendour was canceled and all the other festivals began to drop off one by one, our anxiety was replaced by a strangely peaceful feeling. We’re all extremely lucky to be getting either forms of Jobseeker/keeper or still employed in other areas.
Malcolm’s been mixing and producing bands remotely, I’ve been scoring a short film and making DJ mixes, Mitch has been pumping out solid NPH remixes, Jack has been releasing music with his other project Eternal Crush, Zach has been quietly working away on some secret tunes and is also about announce some huge news about a project he’s been working on, and Oli has been writing a mix of solo guitar folk and novelty video game music.
So we’re all hanging in there through various means. But again, I think personally each of us has benefited from having a forced break. We’re all dying to play shows again, which isn’t a feeling I’ve had since I was 19 years old.
4) On the bright side, you guys pinched a massive ARIA-nomination and gifted us all one of the most epic live streams we’ve seen over the last period. How's the stoke levels and how'd you guys bring that madness together?
We were so surprised and humbled by the nomination. It was incredibly gratifying. In the end it’s a matter of luck really whether you get recognition for the hard work you put into a creative pursuiit. I just felt really happy for everyone in the band.
Yeah that DJ set was so much fun! We’re planning to do a couple more of those DJ set streams, we’ll keep them going until we can all go out again… god, it’s going to be so good to play DJ sets again to a packed club.
5) Northeast Party House is undoubtedly one of Australia’s most loved party bands and we all live for the live shows. What are you missing most about playing gigs?
LASERS!
6) Last but not least, once this is all over and we can dance once again… what’s your ideal post-pandemic lineup and location?
I’d like to do go out into the bush with all my mates, with an amazing PA and just listen to my friends play DJ sets for days on end. There’s nothing better than seeing your friend playing a set up on stage when they’re absolutely killing it. I prefer it in a lot of ways to be on stage myself, mostly because you get to dance.
Cools is calling upon our all our music loving mates across the globe to support the industry appeal where possible. With your help, we'll be able to support our music workers through this difficult period and help them be in a position to bounce back louder and throw a post-pandemic party for the ages. You can do your bit by donating directly to the Support Act COVID19 Emergency Appeal below.
