Brisbane’s Powderfinger recently unveiled their newest album "Vulture Street" in July this year. It showcases the sound of a band connecting with their inner-mongrel, exercising their rock mojo and cranking up the big riff machine like never before. One thing that will never change though is Powderfinger’s patent emotive prowess, that ability to make your chest swell until it fills like it’s going to burst. The effect here is the same, just this time it’s coming from a more guttural source. It’s looser, less cerebral, and more pelvic.

Another thing is certain too; Powderfinger have been listening to a lot of AC/DC and Led Zeppelin records in their collection. Take for example the first single "(Baby I’ve Got You) On My Mind" which itself pays homage to AC/DC’s "Highway To Hell".

"It’s just the sort of stuff we all listened to really" begins Powderfinger guitarist Ian Haug on those AC/DC influences. "Bands like the Zep and Rolling Stones, AC/DC. They were all the sort of bands we grew up listening to. The last record that we did was really atmospheric and a little bit serious I guess, but with this record, we wanted to pretty much sound like a band in a room and have it sounding a bit like a party. And I think we achieved that cause it sounds pretty rockin’ and it’s not too serious. It’s the type of album you can put on before you go out rather than when you come home".

"Vulture Street" was created in seven weeks in a Sydney studio with previous collaborator Nick DiDia again in the producer’s seat. "Nick was great and he had a lot of input into the recording process" says Haug. "Things like tempo ideas and general feels and voicings of chords and all that sort of stuff. There was another bloke there called Tony Reyes who was working with Nick as well and he was more the musician actually. He was one of those super musician dudes who can play just about everything. He was really helpful like he would say ‘why don’t you play like this? And actually go to show you on the guitar, which was very helpful. And I think all of us got a couple of things from him that made a big difference".

When it came time for mixing the album, it was taken care of in Atlanta, Georgia by Brendan O’Brien, a long-time associate of DiDia’s and producer of some of the best work by Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young and Rage Against the Machine. "Vulture Street" features 11 songs that were the final fermentation of a year’s worth of writing and rehearsing at home in Brisbane for the band. They ploughed through some 50 compositions to arrive at the album’s taut, loud, foot stompin’ numbers.

"We had shit loads of half-baked ideas on our computer" explains Haug on the writing process. "And probably way more than that. It was more like hundreds really but they weren’t really songs that were finished or anything, they were all just riffs or choruses or whatever. So everything ended up getting withered down you know. And the songs progressed like that and the ones we all wanted to work on were the ones that got worked on, so we went into the studio with 14 of them"

The band intends to release the left-overs from the recording sessions at a later date. "I think one of the songs is probably going to be thrown away completely" reveals Haug. "Because it just didn’t do what we wanted to do with it at all. There are another three or four songs from the sessions that will probably end up being B-sides and stuff like that".

While "big sound" usually means "big amplifiers", surprisingly for "Vulture Street’s" big sound, it meant cranking up heaps of smaller amps. "The guitars were generally recorded through small amps a lot of the time" explains Haug. "Something that Jimmy Page used to do too with his use of Supro amps. We had a couple of those that Nick had brought out and there were a couple of bits where you do need the Marshall. But it was pretty amazing because with the small amps it really builds up a little place on the record that a big amp would be too much for. Having a little amp sounding out totally of control and really rocking out, makes it a lot more exciting than a sound of a stack would make"

When it came to recording the guitars, Haug alternated between a Les Paul and an ES-335. "I used mainly Gibson guitars like an ES-335 and my ’76 Les Paul that I’ve always had" says Haug. "The ES-335 is a re-issue. On my Les Paul I have split the pick-ups so you can pull the tone pots out and make them into single coil, one thing Jimmy Page used to do too. When it came to effects, a lot of it was just straight into the amp really. Any effects I used tended to be Line 6, I really like the Line 6 stomp boxes and we used a POD as well actually for different things. I borrowed these pedals from Mark Lizotte, a little Compressor pedal from the ‘60’s called The Saffron Squeeze which helped thicken things up a bit. That’s pretty much all that was in line apart from a Wah.

"we’re a rock band! We’re never gonna do reggae or hip-hop"

So who does Haug enjoy listening to these days for musical inspiration? "I love listening to Queens Of The Stone Age, Kings of Leon and Black Keys" reveals Haug. "And obviously all the old stuff that I mentioned before such as Led Zeppelin and AC/DC. I like lots of stuff like even Hip-Hop. I think that there’s lots of stuff out there in each sort of genre is worth listening to these days".

Did he say Hip-Hop? Does this signal a warning to all that someday soon Powderfinger are gonna do a Hip-Hop number?

"Nah, we’re a rock band!" laughs Haug. "We’re never gonna do reggae or hip-hop". Thank God for that.

Looking back over the past few years and all the widespread success Powderfinger have achieved both musically and personally, harbours many memories of good times. "It’s been such a gradual progression" reflects Haug. "It’s not like we came out of nowhere with this massive band. We’ve had three fairly successful records now and it’s been a very enjoyable trip for all".

And with a looking back, comes also the constant prospect of looking forward and beyond Powderfinger, something Haug feels really positive about. "Personally myself, I would love to branch out into record production" he muses. "I’ve got a little studio in my house. I would like to go out and see a band a go ‘hey I like what you do. Can I record it?’ sort of thing. I would like to do a label as well. I also would like to try my hand at doing some film soundtrack and stuff. I mean I don’t want to do all that stuff while Powderfinger are still big. There’s just no time!"

Story By Joe Matera