Prolific songwriters Jeremy Strother and Bobbie Lee Stamper team up to create RACING BIRDS
Combining forces to merge their unique perspectives on storytelling, Sydney Jeremy Strother & Bobbie Lee stamp are delighted to announce their project racing birdsalongside the release of their first single ‘Rarely never loaded‘. Drawing passionate voices from Jeremiah, sit eloquently to bluesy beats from Bobby, the duo have combined to create an emotive sound that is fleetingly familiar, yet unique racing birds. Reminiscent of nighttime strolls through Southern California in the ’60s, the band captures a raw, honest side that’s visible throughout. “Rarely Never Loaded”.
Having practiced their profession for years separately, individually the racing birds the members have a pedigree that places them among the best songwriters and session musicians in the southern hemisphere. Jeremy contributed to acts in all areas, including I am Apollo & Stellar Perry (The Voice Australia)alongside a publishing contract with the New York agency Frisbee. While the United States native Bobby cut his teeth as a guitarist for Jon McLaughlinsharing the scenes with Sara Bareilles, Colbie Caillat & Bon Jovi. Closer to home, he performed with Australia’s best, including Guy Sébastien, Human nature & Matt Corby to name a few. Together they create raw and captivating sound, drawing listeners into their story, creating vivid images of neon signs, fading taillights and California skies.
“I think we were still in Bob’s garage when we started working on “Rarely Never Loaded”. I was playing a vocal memo from the writing session and heard Bob’s swampy lead guitar hook that eventually became the biggest part of the song. Once we figured that out, it all came together pretty quickly. Shakers, tambourines, bass drums, claps, etc. I was reading about the Hells Angels in the 70s and looking at old photos while I was finishing the lyrics to the song. There was one particular photo I found of a girl waving with a cigarette that inspired the song character. Jeremy Strother, racing birds
“It was all done with just the two of us, a few guitars, a laptop, and whatever we could find in the garage to type on. I didn’t have a real studio at the time, so we settled in the front half of my garage, and there was a sheet hung up to hide the lawnmower…you could see the daylight coming in through the cracks in the walls, there were possums walking around the rafters at night and it was either boiling hot or freezing depending on the weather. But we used that DIY feeling to give the record a bit of edge and energy. I tried not to use a lot of samples or edit the takes too much . Bobbie L Stamper, racing birds
Trampling their cowboy boots in the dust of an old machine shop, racing birds were inspired by dreams of road trips in the American Midwest to film the music video for ‘Rarely never loaded‘. Writhing in the dirt and heat of an old industrial building, the band perform the track as if it were payment to fix their broken old Chevy. With style and vigor you’d be forgiven for thinking Jeremy Strother & Bobbie Lee had just left Route 66 with an overheated engine and a burning desire to get to their next show.
“One of the themes on the record is road trips, driving through the American West, and the idea was that we would stop at a random mechanic to have the car checked out and end up playing music in the garage. We just wanted that warmth, that dirt. It was there in the dirty garage where we made the record, so we also wanted to put it on the video. It was hard to find a place to let us shoot, but once we found Bill’s we knew we’d be able to get something cool he left us alone all night with the video crew, let us move the cars around, do a lot of noise and filling the place with smoke. It was a great atmosphere. Bobbie Lee stamp
Foregoing the familiarity and comfort of a high-end recording studio, Bobby & Jeremy hunkered down in their garage in Sydney, capturing the authentic, local essence of the songs that would become their debut EP “Lonely Blue”. With the energy of their own blood and sweat grafted into the songs, it was fitting that the duo self-produced the EP to capture the honesty and evocative nature woven throughout. “Lonely Blue”. Although recorded in an intimate setting, the EP sees racing birds dream of bigger times – American ranches, late-night freeway drives, and falling in love in the dust and sun of SoCal.
The first song we wrote for the EP was Vampires & LSD. This is the story of two lovers on the run, good at being bad. These are midwestern motels and desert highways. “She likes old cars and graveyards, distorted guitars. » . . but I want you all to myself, raise a family, made of vampires and LSD. The way it came together gave us a very clear vision of how we wanted the EP to feel and sound; the words, the cries, the guitars, the rhythm and the colors. This was new territory for Bob and me. I think if we hadn’t written that song, and if it hadn’t come out the way it did, Racing Birds probably wouldn’t have become a band. So we started with “Vampires”, which set the tone, and then I think it was “Rarely Never Loaded”. At that time, we knew how to seize the moment, so we wrote “Silver Sun Bohemian,” which definitely leans into the mystique of Southern California—fading taillights, 70s sunsets. Jeremy Strother, racing birds
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