Alt Fiction are a Gold Coast act-on-the-rise, most recently indicated by their win at the 2023 Gold Coast Music Awards for single 'Why Are You Still Here.'
Alt Fiction are a trio of brothers who produce beach-ready indie pop with a vibe that's disctinctly their own. These talented siblings have gone from green to golden over the last five years they've been on the scene, selling out tours and signing to Island Records.
This year, the guys took out the gong in arguably the most hotly contested Gold Coast Music Award category: Song Of The Year. Their bright, hooky and thoroughly homegrown 'Why Are You Still Here' impressed the judges enough for this unassuming trio to beat out a truly impressive field.
It's hard to catch the guys, as they're becoming seriously in demand. But we did manage to shoot them a few questions about their win, and just to get the know them a little bit better.
Congrats on ‘Why Are You Still Here’: It’s super fun, homegrown and a solid piece of songcraft, all the things we love here at Blank. What inspired this story / lyric?
Thank you! This one is basically about bad gig etiquette. It’s pretty common to look around at a gig and see people watching stories or texting and it’s kinda sad. Or a band is introducing a song and someone yells ‘wrap it up!’. Or you’re in the pit but can’t see cause someone is filming the whole gig. We want people to have a good time, but if you don’t wanna be there, why are you?
The video is absolutely adorable. Do you have any memorable / funny moments from filming that you’d like to share?
We directed and shot this video completely independently on an iPhone. We went to the Gold Coast Show and made the most of the primary colour palette and bright lights.
Tbh running around the Gold Coast show with a selfie stick filming was mortifying – but we’re glad you think it was worth it. It took three days to shoot and even longer to edit – but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
Tell us about your June EP 'Enter Your Mind', the process of getting in all done, and how it’s been received so far!
Our EP, ‘Enter Your Mind’, was a long time coming. The first song we wrote for the EP was 'Winona'. 'Winona' came together in the shortest session we've ever been a part of. On the last day of a Sydney song writing trip in 2018, we got a call that Chris Collins had a couple hours free, if we were up for it. It ended up being one of the most important days for our band. It was the first time we'd worked with Chris, the start of a special friendship - as well as the moment we found our 'sound'. We talked about our shared love of 'Edward Scissorhands' and started to write lyrics as we pulled up some stills from the movie. The song came together unusually quickly – and once we discovered Johnny and Winona were a couple off-screen in the 90's, the song basically wrote itself. Five hours later we were in Chris' car on the way to the airport.
Since then we wrote a bunch of songs with Chris and also really knuckled down and wrote almost 100 demos at home. We really wanted to make a record that we would be proud of.
In the end, we ended up with a collection of songs that we love and we feel offers something a bit fresh for the Australian music scene.
Have any of you had any professional musical training?
We honed our skills on guitar hero if we’re being honest. And we owe a lot to YouTube tutorials and tabs on Ultimate Guitar. Apart from the classic school band days in primary school (Mitch on the trumpet, Will on the Trombone and Matt on the Bass) we never had professional training. After school I (Will) did a Bachelor of Popular Music where I learned how to record, produce and mix – which came in handy for the demos.
What does it mean to you to make music with your fam?
It must be so hard to be in a band with people that aren’t your siblings. The band literally started in the garage because we were bored one summer holidays and we just never stopped. Being brothers makes negotiations and big decisions easier and I feel like we can be more honest. Also not sure what we’d talk about if we weren’t in a band…
Tell us a bit about how the writing process works in the group
Our whole EP was produced by Chris Collins, so I’ll speak to that process. We would rock up to Chris’ house in Stokers Siding, ready for usually a few days of songwriting. Usually like 12 hour days if not longer. His house was surrounded by trees on a huge block – so it always felt so peaceful. The process doesn’t really feel like working - it moreso feels like hanging out with your mates – with some intense thinking about how to convey an idea through a song haha. We would usually play some demos, chat about what music we’re currently into and Chris would mash all the ideas together into a beat. That would essentially play on a loop for a couple hours, Chris tinkering away adding elements, picking up his guitar and adding a bit, and then going back to some synth. We would all be humming and murmuring nonsense lyrics trying to find an idea that we think is good enough to present to the room. Sometimes it happens super quickly and sometimes it takes a while. But we never settled for anything we weren’t sold on. Then we’d go on excursions to coffee shops or Gunter’s Pizza Truck down the road for dinner, and come back with some new ideas. It’s honestly very wholesome and it just feels so good to spend time with Chris, writing music and figuring out our thoughts in the process.
What did your win at the GCMAs this year mean to you?
It means so so much. We’ve been a band since 2008. We’ve been through several iterations, played shitloads of gigs, written over a hundred songs and produced most of our music videos. We’ve put a load of energy into this band and being recognised for song of the year is something we still can’t fathom. We are so grateful for the recognition.
Who are the Gold Coast acts that you’re really jamming to at the moment?
DENNIS is always on our playlists. Super underrated! Definitely hanging out for her next release.
What’s next for you this year?
It’s been a huge journey to the release of ‘Enter Your Mind’. We want to regroup. Gather our thoughts. Figure out how we level up for the next one. The GCMA’s win has lit a bit of a fire.
Is there anything else you’d like people to know?
We shot a music video for all six songs on our EP. Maybe check those out?
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Well, what are you waiting for? Follow @AltFictionBand on Facey and @altfiction on Insta for more.
