KILLING HEIDI BASSIST WARREN JENKIN DISCUSSES THE BAND’S NEW ALBUM WITH AUSTRALIAN MUSICIAN’S GREG PHILLIPS

Killing Heidi's rock solid bassist Warren Jenkin has just pulled into his St Kilda driveway as our interview commences. Two months have lapsed since the completion of their third album, one they've decided to self-title due to their belief that it's the first true representation of the band's music. Jenkin is relishing any time that can be spent at home. An album release is fast approaching (officially out August 23) and a huge national tour will take them away until the end of November. Then it's back to the US to talk release details and all going well, the consequent promotion and touring in support of it.

It's an important release in the context of the band's not so long but brilliant career so far. The first album debuted at number one and sold over 300,000 copies. The follow up 'Present' only found its way into 50,000 homes. Now I know many bands would be over the moon at selling 50,000 copies of an album, but the investors in Killing Heidi's third album are banking on a return to the tremendous chart activity of 'Reflector'. The unexpected inclusion of their first single "I Am" on the international soundtrack to the Spiderman 2 movie has certainly got things off to a flying start.

However, the new album is a different kettle of fish to the first two. Like many new young bands thrust into the limelight, external forces played a large part in the group's decision making process back then. With the new "Killing Heidi" disc, the band claim they have taken control of the reins.

"We wanted to try different things this time and different ways of recording" said Jenkin. "I wouldn't say we weren't allowed to do those things before, but it was kind of frowned upon. We felt we really wanted to do things our way and the producer we found loved everything we brought to the table, and he was happy to accommodate us."

The producer Warren refers to is John Travis, who has worked previously with Kid Rock. Buckcherry and Sugar Ray. Travis and his electronic boffins transformed a guest house in LA into a state of the art studio. The guest house was part of a three storey mansion in a secure compound which formerly belonged to a convicted drug lord. More importantly for Jenkin though, was the fact that Travis was on old bassist himself and had some cool ideas for recording Jenkin's bass parts.

"I had about 15 different basses to choose from" recalled Warren. "But I ended up getting an artist endorsement deal with a company in Chicago called Lakland. They sent over a couple basses for me that just destroyed every other bass I've played. They just sounded so much better. They are actually just the Korean made Skyline models (with cutaway on the high register side of the neck that allows easy access to all 22 frets up the neck) that they assemble in Korea and send back to Chicago to complete. I tried all these full-on American models but liked the sound of this one better … more aggressive. The pick ups are Bartolini MK-1's (split-coil soapbars coupled with the MK-1 preamp). It's more bitey than the other basses, they make the mid range more aggressive. John was over the top about them, he had recorded them before. Pretty much we ran through a 1968 Ampeg SVT amp, all valve, and we used a couple of other little gadgets but most of it was through the Ampeg."

The first sonic impression listeners will form with this album is that it rocks, however subsequent dissection will reveal a band working hard at creating interesting grooves and thoughtful musical notions. For example the bass line that hangs behind the verse of the song "Your Hands" is a dark, moody feel Jenkin found under the influence of listening to a lot of Tool's music. "That came about as an amalgamation of two songs that we put together. I do a lot of playing by myself where I'll hold a momentum or feel and that came out of that sort of thing," explains Warren.

On the breezier "Summer Long" the approach was different again.

"That's the only bass that is different to the others on the record. It's my 69' Jazz Bass. We wrote it in the lounge room and it's more of a demo song. When I started playing it, I was playing more like The Strokes. It has that drone bass line through it and it also reminds me a bit of New Order. I played it on the front pick up and right up the neck. For recording it, I used the POD Pro as a double line. I would have an Ampeg line going to the desk, a DI line going to desk and Pod line to the desk. These were all timer lines that match up together. My sounds on this album were a result of the different combinations of each of those. Some are straight Ampeg, some are thru the POD."

Warren was not only happy with the sound of this album but also the fact that there were no conditions governing who or where the songs came from. With previous recordings, contractual obligations dictated that songwriting credits needed to perceived in a certain way. No such smoke screen was required for album number three. Jenkin explains. "There's a funny way we represented our music on our last record because of all the deals that went down. Adam and I had a lot to do with a lot of the songs and we just listed them as Elle, and we had a different deal going on with that privately. It had a lot to do with the publishing deal they were tied into. On this record we have been able to list a lot more of what we have done with our own names."

Jenkin believes he's become more of a "meat and potatoes' kind of player since joining this band. His background prior to Killing Heidi was hard core funk and soul, so he's had to pull his head in with respect to his playing style. However while his musical tastes might have differed from Ella and Jesse, Warren believes his childhood exposure to music was not at all different to that of the Hoopers. Jenkin spent much of his childhood on Thursday Island where it was not unusual for people to be walking around playing ukelele or an old acoustic guitar. "People were always singing. It was funny when I met Jesse and Ella's mum because even though she looks nothing like my mum, she's a lot like her in spirit," said Jenkin. "When I went to Violet Town for the first time, their mum told me how people would come around and play music on their front porch, and that’s a lot how I grew up."

Catch Killing Heidi live at a venue near you.

For dates and news go to: www.killingheidi.com.au