Sydney indie-rock outfit Expatriate have been based in Berlin for about two-and-a-half years now. Since then, they’ve worked tirelessly on the European music festival circuit, and this year toured as the main support to Placebo as well as doing sell-out shows headlining in clubs around the continent.
They named themselves after their shared experience of being somewhat culturally displaced. The drummer is Christo (he goes by the single designation) who brings a Greek background to proceedings. He was born in Sydney, but his parents migrated from Greece in the early 1970s.
“I was born here, but my connection with Sydney is through Greek glasses,” he says. “I spent quite a lot of time in Greece when I was growing up, immersing myself in the culture, learning the language and the dancing. I love so many things about Greece.”
Expatriate have just arrived back in Australia, home for a few months before what is shaping up to be a fairly rigorous 2012. Their new album, Hyper/Hearts is due for release early next year, which means the band will enter a new phase of touring to promote it. The first single, Miracle Mile, is already being played on the radio here.
“I’m really excited to be releasing some music, and it’s being played so we couldn’t be happier.”
They’ve already had their share of highs and lows. When they left Australia in 2008, things were rosy, but the deal they had collapsed and it looked dire for awhile.
“We got there in the European winter and things fell apart really quickly,” Christo says. “Suddenly we were just four guys unemployed in a foreign city.”
But they backed themselves and the lull proved to be temporary. After re-grouping, they began touring, playing big European festivals like Rockwave in Greece.
“Rockwave was just phenomenal, such fantastic natural beauty nestled up against the hills. And the fans were amazing. To finally play a show there and to connect with the people, it’s kind of a dream come true.”
Hyper/Hearts is an album that has grown out of the band’s experiences touring, set against the broader background of a world with growing pains: widespread political unrest has augmented their personnel sense of development.
“Doing all these festivals and rubbing shoulders with all kinds of people, it just felt like we were in a hyper state,” he says. “Then going into recording, the backdrop was all these uprisings happening around the world. I think it [Hyper/Hearts] is an attempt to try and put a stamp on what it’s been like being alive in the last couple of years.”
Expatriate will do one show in both Melbourne and Sydney before Christmas to road test the new material and “put a toe back in the water”. They’ll probably stay around till April, perhaps do some more shows, before really gearing up for the album release next year.
In the meantime, they’re settling back, enjoying being home.
“The first thing I noticed were the jacarandas, and the amazing light. It’s great to be back. There’s a lot of things you take for granted.”
Expatriate play in Sydney at FBI, Kings Cross Hotel, Saturday 17 Dec. Tickets from Oztix www.oztix.com.au or 1300 762 545.
