TITLE- [ JOIN THE CLUB ] TIME OFF MAGAZINE INTERVIEW PUBLISHED: JULY 2003     WRITER: JULIAN PORTER

To say Soma Rasa have been quiet over the last 18 months would be a dramatic understatement. Once a staple of the Brisbane live scene, the three-piece have managed a total of one gig since New Years Eve 2002. But according to an unapologetic Dan Hazard, it’s all part of the plan.

“ Bill and I have been solidly writing tracks for the new album in the last 18 months,” he explains. “We’ve just been hibernating in the studio, working desperately away at it. We actually made a conscious decision that the finger lickin’ New Years show would be our last and that we weren’t going to do any shows until our album was totally completed. We did do one show at The Zoo last year but that was the only exception.”

So now, with a Valley Fiesta date scheduled this weekend the album mustn’t be too far off?

“ It’s really, really close so we’ve booked a heap of shows to fill out the rest of the year. I guess that’ll also help speed up the final elements! All the tracks are pretty much done, we’re just doing vocals at the moment.”

By the time Soma Rasa got around to releasing I Mix Therefore I Am in 2000 they seemed to have largely moved on from the ‘big beat’ crossover sound that first brought them to the attention of festival goers in the late 90s. Hazard says the new album ventures even further into pure club sounds.

“ At this stage it’s a lot more programmed and sequenced and a lot more electronic. We haven’t actually used any acoustic drumming on the album as yet. When we take it into the studio for the final stage there’s a couple of tracks that we’re going to beef up and give a bit of live flavour to, but really we’ve been so happy with the production as it is. The style has gone much more on the funk tip. It’s definitely changed, but it has been a while!”

One factor in the shift of focus is the emergence of ‘The Hazard Brothers’ DJ show, which sees Dan and brother Bill use turntables, sampler and sometimes live drums to create something special from the work of other producers, and occasionally their own.

“ That’s just been an awesome opportunity – to be able to test a few tracks at the Moon Bar or at Ric’s, to see how they go and see how the bass is sitting in the club. We didn’t get to do that with our last album and we can really tell the way it’s reflecting in the music. This album has just got heaps more of a clubby vibe to it and it’s kind of happened without us really paying much attention.”

Soma Rasa play the Valley Fiesta on Saturday Jul 26.

- JULIAN PORTER