Here's a Tuesday arvo challenge for you: just try to get through a track off Skipping Girl Vinegar's new album without feeling a week's worth of emotions overflow. Giddy joy, chuckle-making delight and devastating sorrow all weave their way through the heartfelt record, and we got in touch with the axe-wielding Mark Lang to find out more of its curious story.



So, what have you guys been up to lately? It has been a big month for Skipping Girl Vinegar, with the national launch of our new album, The Great Wave, at the epic Byron Bay Bluesfest, releasing into the US, and rounding out the last week of May with our hometown launch at Melbourne's beloved Arts Centre. After such a long break between albums it was a great gift for us to be able to start sharing this album in such deeply meaningful spaces.

We also just launched our skydiving nannas film clip for the track "Dance Again". It stars two fabulous nannas that live over my back fence! They are wearing two custom homemade gold jumpsuits, performing dance moves while falling to earth above the coastline where I live. It's pure joy watching them!

Describe your sound on The Great Wave in three words. Immersive, heartbreak to joy. (Sorry, technically that's four words...)

What was your inspiration for this new album? During the early stages of writing this new album I moved away from the city to a small Victorian coastal village. It is at the very tip of one of the most beautiful and dangerous sea entrances in the world. The force of water pushing through the heads alongside the everchanging moods of the ocean and the wind-swept landscapes found its way deep into the layers and stories of the album. It's been the most meaningful and painful album we have ever made. The last two years have seen us travel from the heights of things beginning to open up for SGV in the US to the joy of the arrival of my little boy, and the crashing heartbreak of my wife being diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

What was the biggest challenge in putting it together? It was a month into this move away from the city that my wife Sheridan was diagnosed. We put the record and everything else on hold, went to ground and focused all of our love and energy onto her. We are one of the lucky ones. Sheridan made her way through treatment and into remission. As you can imagine, this experience was a complete game changer. I found it very difficult to write during this period. What I valued and prioritised previously had now shifted. This experience affected the very core of how I wanted to communicate through music. I wanted to get to the root of an idea and make it inclusive and clearer with less noise. After the storm lifts there is euphoria that rings clearer.

I have heard the new album described as a testament to love travelling from joy to heartbreak and out again. There is a close relationship between both in the human experience. I hope these shared stories might be helpful to others.



The record was recorded in some pretty interesting places – could you tell us a bit about them? We recorded the album between Nashville and the little coastal village that helped inspire so much of the album. Legendary Nashville producer Brad Jones flew out to Australia and dived right into it. We recorded all of our coastal sessions in sheds and abandoned halls around the town. There was a beautiful authenticity in bringing a world-class producer and placing him in those environments. The natural sounds of the waves and winds whipping around halls we recorded in gave the album a great sense of place and a sonic backdrop beneath the recordings. Most of my vocals were recorded in an old abandoned hall next to the lighthouse. There is a haunting natural reverb in that room that you can't fake with digital reverbs. You can really hear the sounds of the waves and wind whipping up around the halls on the song "Lost in the Heads".

When are you at your most creative? Sometimes it comes hurdling down the road at random times, like when I'm riding my bike, walking along the sea wall, or washing the dishes. Over the last few years I have learnt to recognise when these moments are happening and open myself up to them. My notepad and phone sound recorder have been essential friends in this. It is rare, but I have had times when fully formed songs have fallen through me, like the last track, "Lay With Me" on the new album. In truth, for most creatives it's about showing up, being open and putting in work. Spending hours tinkering in the back shed, shaping, uncovering and most importantly getting out of the way when those sparks and gems fall into your hands.

What's your favourite piece of trivia? Walking along an ocean acts like a natural anti-depressant. I saw an ABC documentary on it so it has to be true, right? Either way it's a great excuse to take yourself down along the coast, slow down and breath the ocean air in deep.

The Great Wave is out now, and we have 10 copies to give away. To enter, email your name and address here, or if you'd like to send some dosh their way you can nab a copy over here.