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Little Ice Age.
 Little Ice Age might have just crept up on the indie rosters here in Adelaide, but they're already setting their sights in some unusual places. Says Josh Versteegh: "I've always had dreams of playing with bands like The Church or the Go-Betweens, bands that are really established and have a massive flow-on following, with old and new playing together. That might open some new doors, because people who like the Church might like our sound, but they might be 50 years old. They're out there, in the town, right now, but we've got to get them."
Rebecca Burge agrees. "We definitely don't want to just pigeonhole ourselves to the indie crowd. I work in the family winery, and I was just chatting to a customer, saying I'm in a band, and he ended up buying our first CD. He e-mailed me and said, 'I really like the music. I'm worried, though, I don't think I'm the demographic'. And it's like, not at all! We'd be happy for anybody to listen to it!"
Versteegh adds, pleading, "Yeah, we're not calling ourselves middle of the road, but we're not offensive in any way... And there are a million people in Adelaide!"
Let me set the scene: I'm sitting underneath the back verandah of Tristan Hennig's house with four of the five members of Little Ice Age; drummer Hennig, bass player Burge, and brothers Josh and Tim Versteegh who both contribute guitars and vocals (apologies are sent from keyboardist Jamien Liston). A compilation CD is casually playing random cuts from the back room (at one point hilariously including an indie version of the Teddybear's Picnic). They're looking forward to releasing their second EP, the first recording to capture the band in their current format (they used to be a quartet called The Sunroom); they are all excited, but they do seem to have different ideas of where they might wish to go in the future.
For example, I pose the question of whether they might be interested in embarking on a comprehensive national tour. Tim Versteegh is hesitant: "It would be nice, but I suppose in real life, everyone's got different things that they're committed to..." at which point he is casually interrupted by both Burge and brother Josh: "Speak for yourself!"
"I'm pretty adventurous," says Burge. "I sort of have the mindset that life's too short. If it came up, you know, I'd be champing at the bit, loving the idea of it. You never know what you'll be doing in five years or ten years, you could be doing something completely different... It would also be cool to do a regional tour around South Australia and not just go to Melbourne, which is what everyone does."
Interrupts Josh: "Yeah, might get a few glasses over the head, but we'll take it."
Burge continues, chuckling, "We can always play at Mannum," referring to its place on a recent Killing Heidi tour. I suggest, should they be so adventurous, they might try Mount Gambier. Little did I know, the Versteegh brothers actually grew up there.
"I played at the Commersh [Commercial Hotel]," says Tim, "jam night, when I was 17 or something. We played Smells Like Teen Spirit - Jamien was in that band too, we were called Benjamin, and one of our main songs at the time was Teen Spirit. They really hated us down there. They were all playing blues..."
Versteegh is unsure of the possible influence of Mount Gambier on his music. "I remember every now and then bands would come from Adelaide, and I wouldn't know who they were, and I'd think, 'Oh, that's an Adelaide band, they must be good!'"
The latest EP was recorded onto a computer in this very house. When asked about whether it could be the scene for their debut album, again, the reactions are mixed. Burge, for one, screams 'Yeah!' enthusiastically, before being talked down by Tim. "We've talked about maybe just getting someone to record us. We enjoyed doing the last one, but we've realised that it would be really helpful to have someone with a really good ear and a feel for the music to put it together."
But at the end, what Little Ice Age truly want is for you, all of you, to come down and see you play. As Burge explains "You've only got so many friends, and it's really exciting to play to people you don't know. You want look into the audience, and [see] they're all strangers!"
Ben Revi
 | Little Ice Age launch their self-titled CD-EP at the Jade Monkey on Sat 12 Nov with Straight To Video. |
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