Architecture In Helsinki

Go on popping - By Matt Neal. Warrnambool Standard 4th Aug. 2005 - ©Copyright Warrnambool Standard  2005.  All rights reserved
 THE south-west connections of pop eight-piece Architecture In Helsinki will come in handy on the band’s national tour. The group has included Portland and Warrnambool in its round-the-country road trip to give punters their first look at the act. The unique op-shop-pop band will perform at The Loft in Warrnambool on Wednesday and at an all-ages gig at the CEMA Arts Centre in Portland on August 11. The shows are also a chance to catch up with family for members Gus Franklin Port Fairy), Isobel Knowles (Portland), Tara Shackell (Yarpturk) and the band’s sound engineer Haima Marriott (Portland). “We’ve got all the ports of call for relatives,” Franklin said, adding Albury, Melbourne and Sydney were on the bill for the other band members — Cameron Bird, Sam Perry, Jamie Mildren, Kellie Sutherland and James Cecil — to see their families too. The reason for a mass bout of homesickness could be the recent visit to the US and the UK, where the band played around 50 shows in about as many days. “We hired this really good made-for-band- touring sort of bus and pretty much drove around all of the US,” Franklin said. Among the many highlights, the band played two sold-out shows at the Knitting Factory in New York and watched the second and most recent album In Case We Die enjoy success on the college radio charts. The international touring doesn’t stop for the band — once the Australian tour is finished in two weeks’ time, the eight members get a short reprieve before heading back to the airport. “We go to the US in late September for three weeks and then there’s another two weeks in the UK and then on to Europe,” Franklin said. “We’re also playing a festival in Iceland, which should be amazing and weird, and one in Hong Kong on the way back.” All in all it’s been a big year for the band which started off 2005 on the Big Day Out tour and will finish off with a world tour. Architecture In Helsinki will be supported at the Loft and the CEMA Arts Centre by Adelaide band Clue To Kalo.

Building on a big year --Warrnambool Standard 4th Dec. 2003 - ©Copyright Warrnambool Standard  2003 All rights reserved
GETTING to perform at their first-ever festival will be the icing on what has been a tasty cake of year for Architecture In Helsinki. The elaborate eight-piece Melbourne band, which boasts south-west horn section, will at this year’s Meredith Music Festival from December 12 to 14. Former Yarpturk musician Tara Shackell said the band was excited about the prospect of joining the likes of Radio Birdman, The Sleepy Jackson, The Cat Empire, Augie March, Magic Dirt, Xavier Rudd and Tim Rogers And The Temperance Union the popular festival. Shackell said the festival would be the band’s last gig a while before the group takes a well-earned break. We’re hoping to go touring the end of February and maybe going overseas,” Shackell said. they do take their unique brand of pop abroad, their destinations will include Japan, where their debut album Fingers Crossed has already been released, Europe, the UK and the huge music industry convention South by Southwest in Texas, USA. “I hope it goes well — ours is the kind of music that’s never going to appeal to a wide crowd, but since the first time we toured Australia by ourselves the crowds have been much bigger when we go back,” she said. Despite the hectic year and growing popularity, Shackell said everyone in the group still had their head in the right place, including Portland’s Isoble Knowles and Port Fairy’s Gus Franklin. “We’ve all got day jobs and the tours are a great change.” New tunes have been filling their sets of late, she said, and a second album could be recorded early next year if the group’s studio was ready.

AIH album wait -- Warrnambool Standard May 28th, 2009 - ©Copyright Warrnambool Standard  2009.  All rights reserved
Architecture In Helsinki, which features Port Fairy's Gus Franklin, have been fine-tuning their new record Vision Revision , in their Brunswick Studio. But " the eclectic pop five-piece ventured out last week on the road with The Presets. Having wowed 4000 people a night for three nights in Melbourne, the bands are now headed up the east coast to complete the tour. On their MySpace, AlH said they didn't know when Vision Revision will be coming out: "it might be a month, it might be a year", they said.

It’s 5! is No. 56 -- Warrnambool Standard Feb. 02. 2006 - ©Copyright Warrnambool Standard  2006.  All rights reserved
CONGRATULATIONS to eight-piece opshop pop group Architecture In Helsinki (AIH) which grabbed the number 56 position in Triple J’s Hottest 100 last week. The south-west-connected band’s track It’s 5! made it into the countdown. In other AIH news, the band’s album In Case We Die has had a recent European launch, with the group planning to head back this year.