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You don’t have to spend too much time looking through Melbourne’s street press and music blogs to come across the name Rat vs Possum, and the words ‘unique’, ‘exciting’ and ‘party’ are never far behind.

After my interview with RVP two things are abundantly clear: they are intensely passionate about their music, and they do not do things like other bands. Even my chosen interview location – a trendy inner-city café – appears to be too tame and conventional. “We were thinking a 1am interview at a 24-hour fast food place would be better…. Or a gaming lounge.”

It isn’t long into my talk with Matt Kulesza and Daphne Shum from the band before I realise I’m unlikely to find anyone in this city more excitable and enthusiastic when it comes to discussing music — not just their own but all music in general. Matt’s hands do not stop moving – either running through his hair or tapping out rhythms on his thighs – as he talks about the gigs he’s been to and what he loves, and hates, about the music scene today. It’s sometimes hard to keep up as both members frequently interrupt themselves midsentence to relate some other thought that just came through — perhaps something about the 10 greatest animal attacks they saw on the internet or why they have no time for certain “classic” artists touring on old glories and reading songs from music stands (“…isn’t it easy to remember if you’ve been singing them for thirty years?”) – It sometimes takes five minutes to get an answer from a simple question. The whole band obviously share this fervor, “we’re all musically obsessed people…. constantly trying to find new music and delving into the history of music”

This passion is clearly what drives the bands sound, as Daphne explains. “I think what we do is the inevitable outcome of five different people who come from vastly different backgrounds coming together and its kind of celebrating that mix.” While this is how a good chunk of bands would describe their sound the difference here is how truly diverse the influences of the band are. The topics of our talk range from experimental Japanese artists creating sound and light shows to how it would be a great idea for Homebake to create a 90s Aussie rock tribute festival. Attending a RVP house party would probably be a bit of an aural shock: “The stuff that we pump our fists to on a Saturday night is not like what other people would, it’s much more repetitive and like, fucked up sounding.”

RVP’s reputation has undoubtedly grown from their live shows where, amongst the chaos of guitars and vocals building loops upon loops and every member thumping on drums, you might find them playing in a venue covered in bubble wrap, handing out fruit or throwing glitter around. The inspiration for this comes from a “dedication to putting together solid line-ups that have a lot to offer… creating an element of inclusiveness with the audience.” As a result “people have fun when they come to our shows rather than, like, folding their arms. It’s quite positive music even when it’s heavy.”

Compared to the live show, however, debut release Daughter Of Sunshine is a very different gorilla. “We made a conscious decision from the beginning not to make it sound like a live show because it was impossible to replicate in a home studio… I don’t think an album has to be a replica of a live show.” Sitting down to record caused the band to consider their songs in a different light and noticeably it was the relentlessness of loops used live that didn’t quite fit in the studio. “The repetitiveness in a live environment was really overwhelming, but it’s kinda hard to have that on a recording.”

The recording process was more difficult than anticipated and it apparently took some time to get the sound right, as Shum recounts the horror. “I think I cried when I heard the first mix, I sat in my room and cried.” “Yeah it was really depressing,” Kulesza adds. But as we know, good things take time and the resulting recordings are fantastic, individual parts are given space to shine through and the depth and complexity of the songs are more fully realised. Before getting too deep, though, the album also has what you might tentatively describe as a ‘poppier’ sound. “We’re not so much of a pop band live, but it’s much more of a pop record.” Of course, this is no bad thing and after all who doesn’t like pop, Matt?

“Arseholes!”

The band have recently jumped up a level in Melbourne’s consciousness with their inclusion on the line-ups for Meredith and Laneway festivals, but they remain more or less bemused by their success — “It’s pretty hilarious.” What is particularly remarkable, however, is that RVP have remained completely autonomous throughout this process. “We’ve kinda done our own thing a lot, you know, we don’t have a manager or a booking agent… And my understanding was always, like, it’s fucking impossible to be involved with these type of things if your not at that next level… It’s been really exciting being totally independent and being able to do this stuff.”

The Meredith Festival holds a particularly special place in their hearts — as frequent attendees of that dreamy December weekend, playing there is a dream come true. “Meredith was a goal of ours to do… when we started it was like lets make some goals, lets make a CD and lets play at Meredith, if we do both those things then, my god… we’re done.”

Well, hopefully not.

Upcoming dates:

Workers Club – November 26, 2010
Meredith Music Festival – December 10 – 12, 2010
St Jerome’s Laneway Festival – February 5, 2011