SALONISTAS

‘Take Me Home’ has such a cinematic origin story. How did the experience of writing a song specifically for the film KABOOM shape the emotional direction and storytelling within the track?

This is the first time I’ve written a song to spec. I needed a hook and the main character Rex really appealed to me. She’s an ‘interdimensional bounty hunter’ who’s sick of her job and wants to go home. I wrote ‘Take Me Home’ as her song, so I tried to get inside her head and write from her perspective. What would she be thinking and feeling? Although she’s a character I think there’s something universal about the experience of getting into something that seemed like a good idea at the time, then finding it’s no longer what you wanted.

The videoclip blends sci-fi concepts with the grounded atmosphere of places like Scheyville National Park and the Gasoline Pony. What drew Salonistas to that contrast between the surreal and the deeply familiar?

The video riffs off the KABOOM ‘universe’ where Scheyville and the Gasoline Pony represent alternate dimensions in which the characters and band find themselves. There’s something compelling about pretending to be in another world and also just really fun! It was very surreal carting instruments around in the bush very early in the morning, especially Stu’s double bass. And we were stoked to get to use the Pony. It’s like our second home and its shabby chic vibe translated perfectly into the fin de siècle aesthetic we were after.

Rivkah, you wrote ‘Take Me Home’ in just a week after that conversation at the dojo. Did the pressure and spontaneity unlock something creatively that may not have emerged otherwise?

Well it might have taken a bit more than a week! But yeah, definitely. I tend to overthink things and this process meant that I couldn’t. I got the opening line ‘I had a yen for adventure, a yearning to be free’ and just let myself follow where that took me. The filmmakers wanted a spaghetti western vibe so musically I went for that classic ‘train song’ feel, and the lyrics and structure are pretty straightforward which is refreshing for me! I’m told it’s a bit of an earworm (which as a songwriter is great) so maybe that’s a lesson about keeping it simple.

The video feels both gritty and otherworldly, which fits Salonistas’ ‘insurgent country’ identity perfectly. How important was it for the visuals to reflect the band’s unconventional take on alt-country?

Thanks to the filmmakers we got to work with two amazing DOPs, Jess Milne (Scheyville) and Antoine Mikeo (Gasoline Pony) who really got our aesthetic and the look and feel we were after. We’re all ratbags to some degree (as musicians and as people!) and our music isn’t ‘pretty’, so a pretty video wouldn’t have worked for us. But I think there’s real beauty and richness in the space that we occupy, and the video really captures that.

Working with director Margaret M. McDonald and the cast of KABOOM must have brought a unique energy to the shoot. Were there any memorable moments on set that captured the spirit of the song or the band?

There’s a scene about halfway through that’s my favourite. The idea is that we’re trapped in this bar at the end of the world. We’re sat at the bar and I’m annoying our guitarist Andrew who doesn’t find me amusing at all. Our bass player Stu is building a castle out of coasters (badly), our other guitarist Michael passes out and falls off his stool and our drummer Jamie swipes his drink. The scene was Margaret’s idea but we got to improvise what we did and it’s exactly how we would behave if we were stuck in a bar at the end of the world.

‘Take Me Home’ explores themes of wandering, belonging, and returning home. Themes that seem deeply woven into Salonistas’ songwriting. Why do you think those ideas continue to resonate so strongly in your music right now?

Yeah, these really are recurring themes for us. For me I think it’s a life stage thing. I’ve been more settled these past few years than I’ve probably ever been, but that comes with its challenges! Home is a really layered concept. It’s not necessarily the place you live, and even when you want to be settled you can want to be somewhere else, or even just crave that feeling of movement and space that comes with travel. There are places I’ve lived that I miss and places I’ve never been that I’d love to go but I really appreciate the life I’ve made and don’t want to leave it, so maybe it’s about trying to reconcile those things.