Your last album 'Lunchbox' was released mid June last year and now to follow that up eight months later with WHO IS IT, is impressive to say the least. What's the songwriting process like for Joe Saxby, is there a lot of collaboration going on in your house or is it a more solitary process?

Joe: It’s pretty solitary mostly. I sort the songs out as much as I can before taking them to Josh and Eddie, then they add their own parts without me interfering. It works well like that because I’m usually really sick of the songs by the time I’m finished with them, so they add their own fresh perspective and it just tidies up the vibe.

Josh: The process is very good because Joe is the guy, he brings a 3/4 track to Eddie and I and we sprinkle our sprinkles on it in the hope that it will enhance the end product. Joe trusts and believes that that’s exactly what we’ll do in a 'first thought, best thought' kind of scenario, and 99% of the time that’s exactly how it goes down.

WHO IS IT? sports a pretty eclectic variety of instruments and sounds, where was the bulk of this album recorded?

Joe: We recorded all the drums and some other bits and pieces in our good friend Alex L’Estrange’s studio Luv Basement, but I recorded pretty much everything else just at home in my room. Bedroom production is a really cool and unique form of recording that no one else has really started doing yet, so I’m pretty proud of myself that I invented it.

Josh: Yes 3/4 of the guitars were recorded in a marathon 90 minute session in Joe’s bedroom at Ferny Hills - straight into the box, as they say. Very little time was spent fart arse-ing around in QUT studios this time which reflects in an album that has a punchy, direct, non-laboured over vibe? For example, I spent the afternoon of Australia Day last week tracking the guitars for “Give Me A Buzz” and then the next day the track was being mastered - that’s the These Guy methodology for ya baby.

What do you draw a lot of inspiration from?

Joe: It’s hard to say really. In terms of other artists, I’m inspired by people who just make a lot of material and do it in their own very distinct way. People like Ariel Pink, Sean Nicholas Savage, Arthur Russell, Julia Holter, Panda Bear, Caribou, etc., etc. I had a bit of an epiphany while making this album where I realised that the artists I respect the most are the ones who just make what they want to make, when they want to make it. The rest sorts itself out. I was kind of worried about putting out another LP so quickly after the first one, because I don’t want to overload people with my shit, but it’s just the way I do business.A lot of different things inspired me to make this album though. I basically wanted to make the uncoolest music ever. I wanted to try and put the listener in a weird position where they’re hearing someone be so hyper-sincere and honest that it’s uncomfortable. The biggest inspiration for the first track, “Hey, What’s The Big Deal?” was a song by New Edition called “Cool It Down”. I tried to copy the really cheesy, fake-sounding drums and the obnoxious level of sincerity in the lyrics. But with the album generally, I just wanted to create a very uncomfortable yet HD space. It’s claustrophobic and weird, but definitely a pop album.  

Josh: Guitar-wise I am inspired by the style of session guitarists such as Michael Landau, Michael Thompson, Paul Jackson Jr. and other faceless guys (google 'em) whose job it was to find a place to contribute to the song without dominating it. But obviously in trying to channel what they did it can only be reflected through the lens of the wonky post-everything zeitgeist in which we find ourselves, which thankfully seems to suit These Guy just fine but mainly I’m inspired by the song that Joe has written duh?!

The artwork for 'Hey What's the Big Deal?' as well as a lot of your prior work like Suburban Restaurant is superb, is this something you've put together yourself?

Joe: Thanx. I’ve done all of the artwork for our stuff except for “Hey, What’s The Big Deal?”, which my girlfriend Alice did. I’d say pretty much everyone in Brisbane would be familiar with her work, she’s done all the stuff for her band Tempura Nights, for Good Boy and heaps of other posters and things for a bunch of bands and labels, etc.

Your older release 'That Fucking Guy' deals with some familiar archetypes and now in WHO IS IT we have 'Internet Gurl'. The relatability of these archetypes makes the song. Are you a silent observer or do you draw these themes from personal experience?

Joe: I guess a bit of both. “That Fucking Guy” was all about personal experience and most people would probably be surprised to know that it’s about looking at yourself very unfavourably. Someone asked me recently, “is that song about a drug dealer?” It’s not.“Internet Gurl” tells more of a complicated story I think. I don’t want to go into it too much because everyone should have their own interpretation, but it’s basically about trying to make money off people using the Internet. And that’s something I think we can all relate to.