Combining forces to blend their unique outlooks on storytelling, Sydney’s Jeremy Strother & Bobbie Lee Stamper are excited to be announcing their project Racing Birds, alongside the release of their debut single ‘Rarely Never Loaded’. Drawing passionate vocals from Jeremy, to eloquently sit atop bluesy rhythms from Bobbie, the duo have combined to create an emotive sound that is fleetingly familiar, but uniquely Racing Birds. Reminiscent of late night drives through Southern California in the ‘60’s, the band capture a raw and honest edge that is on show throughout ‘Rarely Never Loaded’.
Having plied their trade for years separately, individually the Racing Birds members have a pedigree that lands them amongst the top songwriters and session players in the southern-hemisphere. Jeremy has contributed to acts across all scopes, including I Am Apollo & Stellar Perry (The Voice Australia), alongside a publishing deal with New York agency Frisbee. Whilst the USA originating Bobbie cut his teeth as a guitarist for Jon McLaughlin, sharing stages with Sara Bareilles, Colbie Caillat & Bon Jovi. Closer to home, he’s performed with Australia’s finest, including Guy Sebastian, Human Nature & Matt Corby to name a few. Coming together they create a raw and captivating sound, pulling listeners into their story, creating vivid imagery of neon signs, fading tail lights & California skies.
“I think we were still in Bob’s garage when we started working on ‘Rarely Never Loaded.’ I was playing back a voice memo of the writing session and I heard Bob’s swampy lead guitar hook that eventually became the biggest part of the song. Once we got our heads around that it all came together pretty quickly. Shakers, tambourines, kick drums, hand claps ect. I was reading about the Hells Angels in the 70’s and looking at some old photographs while I was finishing off the lyrics for the song. There was a particular photo that I found of a girl waving her hand around with a cigarette that inspired the character in the song.” Jeremy Strother, Racing Birds
“Everything was done with just the two of us, a couple guitars, a laptop and whatever we could find around the garage to bang on. I didn’t have a proper studio at the time so we set up in the front half of my garage, and there was a sheet hung up to hide the lawnmower . . . you could see daylight coming in through cracks in the walls, there were possums walking around in the rafters at night, and it was either boiling hot or freezing cold depending on the weather. But we used that DIY feeling to give the record a bit of edge and energy. I tried not to use many samples or edit the takes much.” Bobbie L Stamper, Racing Birds
Stomping their cowboy boots in the dust of an old mechanics shop, Racing Birds have drawn inspiration from dreams of midwestern American road-tripping to film the music video for ‘Rarely Never Loaded’. Writhing in the dirt and heat of an old industrial building, the band perform the track as if payment to mend their broken old Chevy. With style & vigor, you’d be forgiven for thinking Jeremy Strother & Bobbie Lee had just pulled off Route 66 with an overheating engine & a burning desire to make it to their next show.
“One of the themes of the record is road-trips, driving through the American West, and the idea was that we stopped in a random mechanic’s shop to get the car looked at and end up playing some music in the garage. We just wanted that heat, that dirt. It was there in the actual dirty garage where we made the record, so we wanted to get it on the video as well. It was tough finding a place to let us shoot, but once we found Bill’s we knew we’d be able to get something cool. He left us alone there all night with the video crew, let us move the cars around, make a bunch of noise and fill the place with smoke. It was a great vibe.” Bobbie Lee Stamper
Forgoing the familiarity and comfort of a high-end recording studio, Bobbie & Jeremy hunkered down in their backyard garage in Sydney, capturing the authentic, homegrown essence of the songs that would become their debut EP ‘Lonesome Blue’. With the energy of their own blood & sweat grafted into the songs, it was only right that the duo self-produced the EP to capture the honesty and evocative nature weaved throughout ‘Lonesome Blue’. Although recorded in an intimate setting, the EP sees Racing Birds dream of bigger moments – American ranches, all-night highway drives & falling in love in the dust and sun of SoCal.
The first song we wrote for The EP was Vampires & LSD. It’s a story about two lovers on the run, good at being bad. It’s Midwestern motels & desert highways. ‘She likes old cars & graveyards, distorted guitars . . . but I want you all to myself, start a family, made of vampires & LSD.’ The way it came together gave us a really clear vision of how we wanted the EP to feel and sound; the lyrics, the screams, the guitars, the rhythm and the colors. It was new territory for Bob and me. I think if we hadn’t written that song, and if it hadn’t come out the way it did, Racing Birds would probably not have become a band. So we started with ‘Vampires,’ which set the tone, then I think it was ‘Rarely Never Loaded.’ At that point we knew how to grab hold of the moment, we wrote ‘Silver Sun Bohemian,’ which definitely leans into the southern California mystique – fading tail lights, 70’s sunsets. Jeremy Strother, Racing Birds