Ahead of their appearance at BIGSOUND, we caught up with rad five-piece Any Young Mechanic to ask them seven burning questions. Made up of Luka Kilgariff-Johnson, Thea Martin, Allan McBean, Jay Eliot Mee and Sam Wilson, the alt-folk outfit dish up some curious answers – including the reason why the modern shoe is ruining the foot (they don’t know), how filmic worlds have inspired their sound, and why the heck there are so many ripper bands coming out of the City of Churches.

How did you all meet? Thea Martin: We met through the local music scene in Adelaide. Sam and Jay were already making music together at uni. I met Sam in a creative writing class, but we then all became aware of each other through the multitude of bands we were playing in. It’s a small music scene so there’s lots of bandmember overlap. Sam invited Luka and Allan to join the band in 2023, and we got to rehearsing our album shortly after – The Modern Shoe Is Ruining The Foot – which has just come out.

Rumour has it that Any Young Mechanic used to go under a different name that was also a filmic reference. How important is cinema to the music you make? Sam Wilson: We used to go by Wake In Fright, but we had to change it because the people that own the rights to the film wouldn’t grant us what’s called a co-existence agreement (meaning they didn’t promise they wouldn’t sue us for infringement if we made any money as a band). At the time it felt like a setback, but it feels right that The Modern Shoe is the “debut” record for this band. We’ve all made lots of records individually and in various collaborative configurations, but this is the first album to come out of this exact equation of people. It’s definitely the start of something.

I find cinema very useful in songwriting. The two haven’t always been consciously correlated for me but I started to connect the two mediums more around 2021. I loved Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine’s album A Beginner’s Mind, and I learnt that each song on that album was based on a film. Sufjan and Angelo would hang out in some upstate NY house, watch a movie and then try to write/record something based on what they’ve seen. “Lady Macbeth In Chains” (beautiful song) is based on All About Eve, for example. I remember writing a song based on The Graduate soon after that record came out. 

I don’t write directly to films that frequently now, but that pursuit taught me a lot about how I write about my own experiences, and how I try to render things from my own head. All of it is like sculpting a scene. What details are essential to conveying an event or a tone or a realisation? And what gaps should you leave for a listener to fill in? 

We work with an SA film collective called Moviejuice quite a lot, too. We played their Summer Film Festival at the start of the year (we improvised a set based on our favourite movie reviews), and we co-hosted a screening of our music videos and Robert Altman’s ensemble classic Brewster McCloud. We’re keen to organise more screenings soon. Catch a movie with us sometime!

Why is the modern shoe ruining the foot? Jay Eliot Mee: I don’t know, but doesn’t it feel true? We hope that the statement resonates with people even if they don’t know why either. I was playing the drums in my socks when we made the album so there’s a fun synchronicity there, but beyond that and the folded shoes in “I Never Met An Engine Don’t Need Tanks” this is not really a footwear album. We’ve taken a clickbait headline, one of the more dishonest modes of communication, and presented it totally sincerely in order to uncover any truths that might lay dormant beneath such a salacious headline.

There are an absurd number of incredible bands and musos currently coming out of Adelaide. What’s in the waters there? Thea: Perhaps it’s the distance from the bigger Eastern Coast cities in Australia – I think there’s actually a bit of a sense of futility in Tarntanya/Adelaide for artists that can manifest itself in uninhibited creativity, as you’re not being watched by the same commercial or industry mechanisms, you’re free to make what you want. There’s not a huge amount of infrastructure in Adelaide to live as a musician, though it does seem that eyes and ears are on Adelaide a bit more now. It’s a tale as old as time really – scenes emerge in small towns and cities, at the corners, on the edges. I love that our little network of bands and artists is so enthusiastic about and collaborative with each other.

You’re playing at BIGSOUND in September. What do you hope to get out of it? Luka Kilgariff-Johnson: Two things we love: watching shows and playing shows. BIGSOUND is an opportunity to fit a bunch of both these things into a few days. We’re really keen to see some acts we love and some we’re new to. Similarly, we’re hoping to play to some familiar faces and some who’ve yet to see us. The valley isn’t ready! 

Describe the perfect scene in which to listen to The Modern Shoes Is Ruining The Foot. Allan McBean: You are very warm and it is very cold outside. You are near a swamp. You have recently completed a task which for a long time has been a heavy burden. First, you hear one frog, then two, and finally six frogs in total. Picking out each of their croaky little voices acclimatises you to subtle variations in frequency. Some are higher in pitch, some lower. You notice that some are more percussive while others are lyrical. Next you take your Modern Shoe compact disk carefully out of its sleeve and place it into the player. Now there is both music and the frog singing happening together, and you’re suddenly grateful to the frogs for making their sound first, so that all of us had something to reply to. At that moment your mapo tofu is ready and you eat it. The album ends.

Who are your favourite local bands (or musicians) at the moment? Thea: Swapmeet (Tarntanya/Adelaide) and Nika Mo (Boorloo/Perth).
Allan: Perfect 50 (Tarntanya/Adelaide) and Gilly & Bede (Tarntanya/Adelaide).
Sam: Resting Mind Flowers (Tarntanya/Adelaide) and Sevilles (Gadigal Land/Sydney).
Jay: Jamie Lena (Tarntanya/Adelaide) and Passion Pop Music (Tarntanya/Adelaide).
Luka: Ebop (Tarntanya/Adelaide) and Daisypicker (Naarm/Melbourne).

Feast your ears on Any Young Mechanic's The Modern Shoe Is Ruining The Foot this-a-way. For more rad music chats, spy our chinwag with Swapmeet or check out our chat with Ella Ion. Plus, sign up to our newsletter to stay in the loop.