Ararat and Stawell fans of alternative pop group IV League won’t have far to travel to see their favourite band, when it will play their second ever regional gig in Ballarat this week.
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Ballarat will be the group’s second ever show outside of Melbourne, supporting Ali Barter on her A Suitable Girl tour.
IV League launched their new single Sylvia in Melbourne just over a week ago.
The group will play Geelong before their Ballarat debut at Karova Lounge in Field Street, Ballarat, on Wednesday.
Hailing from Melbourne, Lachie Gilmour and Bella Venutti combine their interests in alternative rock and progressive pop to create a style that is refreshingly their own.
Lead singer of IV League, Venutti and guitarist Gilmour’s ethereal grunge won the group St Jeromes Laneway Festival Triple J Unearthed’s slot earlier this year.
“I think there’s been a huge boom in 90s revival alternative rock with a pop sentiment,” Venutti said.
The lead singer lists Pixies, My Bloody Valentine and Blur among her favourite nineties bands.
“I think at our core we write about pop songs with catchy hooks and simple structures but we like to grunge them up a bit when we go to record,” Venutti said.
IV League this month followed their 2016 hit Bleached with Sylvia, produced by Dean Tuza of The Rubens and Slum Sociable and mastered by Nick Herera of Hiatus Kaiyote.
Venutti and Gilmour recorded the band’s first demo as a duo in 2015 before adding drummer and bassist Millar Wileman and Jordan Hedington.
“We’d known each other for maybe six or seven months and we’d always toyed with the idea of making music together because we knew we were interested in the same kind of sounds,” Venutti said.
“Then one day we made a demo pretty much in the bedroom and then when we decided we wanted to play live we added a drummer and a bass player.”
Venutti says the release includes “a lot of falsetto”.
“I’m not so much going for the chest voice I think it’s pretty chilled out,” Venutti says.
“It’s definitely an upbeat and empowering song, so I really wanted it to have a really warm sound.
“Sonically, it came through in the recording and all matched up with aesthetic of the song.
“I think the structure is reminiscent of a Beach Boys kind of surf rocky sound.”
IV League will support Ali Barter at Ballarat’s Karova Lounge on Wednesday, May 3.
Tickets are $15 on www.karovalounge.com
Jessica Black
Ballarat journalist.
Ballarat journalist.
