leisure suite premiere + interview

Attention fans of break-up songs, sweet melodies, and gentle tuneage: Melbourne duo Leisure Suite have released a brand new track into the world – “Winter” – and we’re supremely proud to premiere it right here in the frankie-verse. But be warned, eager listeners: it just might break your heart just a tiny little bit. Scroll down to hit play, and read our chinwag with Leisure Suite’s Mitch and Bridgette, too.

How did Leisure Suite come to be? Mitch: Bridgette and I were placed in a performance group at university and our assignment was to write some original content to perform. The songs we wrote were pretty bad (really bad) and once the assignment was over we went on to do our separate things. I remember approaching Bridgette a couple months later with a song I’d written and once we finished that we wrote another, then two more and that’s how we made our first EP.

What’s the most unexpected thing that’s happened on your music-making adventures so far? Mitch: Personally, it would probably be being asked to perform at the NGV under an Ai Weiwei installation. It was a great memory. Bridgette: I’d have to agree with Mitch. I had been a fan of Ai Weiwei for a long time and to play underneath his installation was surreal.

What inspired this tune, “Winter”? Bridgette: The title of the song pretty much gives it away, but I guess “Winter” has always been a tough time for not only myself but the people closest to me as well. [It was] inspired by past relationships and witnessing ones that weren’t so healthy. I’d say it’s about the phase where enough time has passed that you can finally take yourself out of the equation, and admit that things maybe weren’t so great and see that sometimes things have to end in order for two people to grow.

Do you have a day job? Bridgette: I work for an audio company called Nura, who make incredible headphones. I also work in retail. Mitch: I work as a cook in the city. My current job allows me to listen to a lot of music, which is nice.

What do you cook when you want to impress someone? Mitch: When I’m trying to impress someone I’ll cook something that takes hours to complete. In my head, I feel it shows how much time and effort I’ve put in, however I usually always ruin the dish. Bridgette: I make homemade gyoza from scratch when I want to impress someone. It’s a crowd pleaser and it’s actually a lot easier than people think it is.

What’s next for Leisure Suite? Mitch: We’ll keep on writing, releasing music and working on our live set! We recently went to Sydney to support Anna of the North, and would love to play some bigger shows around Australia soon.

For more Leisure Suite listening goodness, skedaddle over this-a-way.