Cloud Control
Time Out Sydney's finger is so tightly on the pulse, it's a wonder our hand hasn't gone all numb
By Andrew P Street
Cloud Control show off their unnatural powers of levitation
Who are they?
They're a quartet from the Blue Mountains: singer/guitarist Alister Wright, singer/keyboardist Heidi Lenffer, bassist Jeremy Kelshaw and drummer Ulrich Lenffer, who explains... "Heidi and Jeremy met in kindy, and although Al and I can't beat that, we're all friends from way back when. We started making music on a whim after Heidi entered us into the Sydney Uni band comp: Al had never sung and I'd never played drums, but it all worked out and here we are, still making sweet, sweet music."
What's their sound
Melodic indie pop, ranging from the atmospheric, dubby ‘Into The Line' through to the perky strumalong that is Triple J favourite ‘Vintage Books'.
Who's been giving them props?
Well, not to put too fine a point on it, we have: Time Out Sydney invited the band to headline the launch of our ‘Sydney Songs' issue last year, so enamoured were we by their self-titled EP. Aside from that honour, "the closest we've come to stardom was Rick Mayami of the Brian Jonestown Massacre telling us he totally dug our stuff, man."
Belles Will Ring are also from the Blue Mountains. Is there some sort of a 60s-tinged indie revolution brewing in them hills?
Apparently not. Lenffer puts it down to "coincidence; although there is definitely something special about the mountains. But no, we don't meet secretly at night and tune our instruments, scuff our shoes or carefully dishevel our hair."
Since you're from the mountains and raise the subject of ‘Vintage Books', what's with all the bookshops in Katoomba?
"Option 1: People like to read when they're cold. Katoomba is pretty damn cold," Lenffer explains. "Option 2: people like to read whilst drinking coffee. Katoomba also has a billion cafés."
Can a co-headlining tour ever be anything but a seething cauldron of egos and jealousy?
"No, we are all bosom buddies," Lenffer declares of current touring partners The John Steel Singers. "When we get together, we spend most of our time gazing fondly at each other and lamenting the fact that we weren't born back in '67. This tour is the culmination of many nights laying awake, them in Brissy, us in Sydney, scheming how we could spend more time together."
Where can I hear them?
They and the John Steel Singers hit Spectrum on Sat 10 and the Beach Road Hotel on Sun 11 May on their joint Flying High tour.