Operator Please play The Zoo Wednesday 7 November 2007.
Despite being barely old enough to get behind the wheel, Operator Please have become something of a worldwide revelation.
After winning an ARIA for Breakthrough Artist: Single, and playing some of the world’s biggest music festivals including Leeds and Reading, the band have recently finished recorded their debut album, Yes, Yes, Vindictive! with the help of Arctic Monkeys and Kaiser Chiefs Producer Simon Barnicott.
“It [the album] was a big deal to all of us because you only get to do a first album once,” says bassist Ashley McConnell. “It was a real eye-opener working with Simon. He had some really great ideas. He liked our music to begin with so he wasn’t into changing too much, but his aim with us was to bring out things in our songs that really complemented our style of music. He introduced distortion pedals and synths into our music, which I think was important for us. And those are things we’ve taken in to our live shows.”
Before recently returning to Australia to promote their new album, the band played a string of UK gigs during October for MTV’s Gonzo Tour playing alongside some of Britain’s biggest and most successful contemporary music artists.
“It’s been really great to play with such experienced bands on this tour,” McConnell says. “I think playing with Bloc Party was one of the most amazing things that we’ve done. I’ve loved those guys for, like, three years now, so that was really great.”
During Operator Please’s last Australian tour, McConnell says the band were a little star-struck in the presence of Alex Turner and company.
“Coming up to our first show with the Arctic Monkeys, I think we were all kind of freaked out. We saw them onstage before a gig just doing a routine sound-check and were like, ‘Oh my god, they’re right there!’. But our first two tours have probably been the biggest, production-wise, as well so I guess it was really good to just see how [Arctic Monkeys] operate and have grown as a band over time. And that was a good thing to see, and you know, we did get to talk to the guys a bit, so it was cool to meet them and talk to them about what it’s like when things start to escalate and stuff like that.”
Despite all the attention and hype surrounding the band, the young pop prodigies still find it hard to believe their recent successes and fame after being plucked from relative obscurity.
“I think it’s funny when we see people on YouTube lip-sync our songs. It’s like, ‘Wow, why do people do these kinds of things?’. There are also a lot of times we can’t believe where we are, and for festivals and stuff we’d just drive up to the venue and be like, ‘Wow, can you believe we’re in a different country playing the biggest festival around?’. It’s exciting but scary at the same time.”
Yes, Yes, Vindictive! is out now through EMI.
