'When It Becomes A Pain In The Ass We Won't Do It Anymore'

Dorsal Fins, says singer Ella Thompson, "is like a whole support network in one band". The Melbourne collective was founded in 2014 by three "best buddies" — Thompson, Liam McGorry and Jarrad Brown — but their live combo has boasted up to 15 people and currently sits at a cool nine. They all play in other bands — Thompson as a solo act and in electro duo GL — and like it that way.

"Because we're all friends and all busy [with] other things, it's always been 'let's do this while it's fun, and when it becomes a pain in the ass then we won't do it anymore,'" laughs Thompson. "We wanted to do something with two singers, so there wasn't all this pressure on one of us to be the frontperson, and the 'face' of the band. No one has to take on all that pressure, it's like we're all in it together. If shit gets hard or annoying, you've got your friends there with you."

"No one's like: 'give me this much money, and a bottle of Moet, and then I'll turn up.'"

Before starting Dorsal Fins and GL at "roughly the same time", Thompson — who was named after Ella Fitzgerald and grew up dreaming of being a singer — had "never been in a band band". She'd only operated at two extremes: as a "gun-for-hire" singing with The Bamboos, and as solo artist, where all responsibility fell on her. "It takes a lot of strength to be able to do that on your own; being able to take the critique of your work, and being able to take on the financial burden and pay for shit."

Dorsal Fins put out their first LP, Mind Renovation, in 2015, and followed it up last year with Digital Zodiac. They made their first record in a week, knocking things out almost entirely live. For their second, the band hoped to make an album that was more of a studio creation. "The kind of music people respond to in a live setting doesn't always translate to what they want to hear in their lounge room," says Thompson. "I wanted to pull it back a little bit, make it a little less frenetic, less full bore all the time. To play with the waves of density and dynamic. At times on the record it's really just stripped-back to one or two instruments, and just the two voices. I wanted to make it as minimal as we could whilst still including everyone."

On stage, Dorsal Fins are more maximal, with many members crammed together. "We've played on a lot of stages where we can barely fit," Thompson says. "It's a different energy to a lot of stuff I've done before. There's no pre-programmed or electronic bits. Everyone is just doing it as it comes, and they all bring a lot of energy on their instrument... Everyone is so keen to play. No one's like: 'give me this much money, and a bottle of Moet, and then I'll turn up.' Everyone just really wants to be there, is excited about playing this music with their friends."