Charlie Ash hit town this Friday May 16th at the Yellow Submarine hot on the heels of releasing New Zealand’s first ever 3D video. Mammoth talked to Rosie and Mailee from about the video and their upcoming debut album.

MM: How is progress on your debut album coming along – is there a release date set?
Mailee: Our debut album! I can’t wait. We are currently in the demo process, about to hit the studio in June to record with Jol Mulholland (Liam Finn, Gasoline Cowboy). Then we are in listing the talents and ears of Jeremiah Ross (a.k.a. Module) for mixing duties (He did a killa remix of ‘O’Baby’).

It should be good to go by the end of July. The release date hasn’t been set yet but we are planning on releasing our next single ‘Come Back Lover’ around August/September. Meanwhile we have dropped two new remixes for Ah-hA by Kobayashhi Synth Quartet and Hyperchild - they are total ear candy!

We’re pretty excited about your 3D video, it sounds like the biggest technological breakthrough in New Zealand music video production since Peking Man’s ‘Room That Echoes’. How did this come about?
Rosie: We love big productions (well me especially) and so we have made lots of ridiculous productions. We were working with this genius director (Ed Davis) who could make 2D look 3D and then i showed it to T Bones (who’s Djing with us in Hams) and he said “Wow it COULD be 3D!” So I asked Ed and he transformed it in post!

But we also drew most of our inspiration from ’Room That Echos’ and we covered the song for fashion week launch last year!

How do you plan on screening it? Is it something shown on C4 that will look fuzzy without 3D glasses, or will you have a special screening at I-Max? In any case, I’m sure it’s bound to beat the pants off the turgid U2 concert they’re currently playing…
Rosie: It’s on C4 now. We will also play it at our live show, so come check it out and get some handmade 3D glasses!

Are you excited about your first overseas tour in Australia next month? I’m surprised you haven’t played South-by-South-West yet – hasn’t Blindspott even played there?!
Yes! So excited about getting offshore, i recently met some Aussies and mentioned to them that we were on the Outrageous Fortune soundtrack, and they remembered the song and the scene and everything! So I have a feeling its gonna be awesome!

We wanted to get to SXSW this year but you really need to have an album etc - which we are only getting done now.

Do you think we’re at the tail-end of the current electro-fad? If so, how do you expect that would affect Charlie Ash?
Rosie: Fad schmad - Charlie Ash’s sound has morphed and evolved a lot in the 4 years we have been kicking - and hey, even the Mint Chicks have keyboards now (a nord like us!)- if you develop your own sound, which we have, then time isn’t a factor.

Mailee: The end of Electro? Funny I thought we were at the end several years ago! Didn’t it change into Nu Rave? Haha. Music is a funny beast molding and morphing into different sounds and shapes. If you try guessing what’s around the corner, how will you ever have the confidence to produce a piece of work? Charlie ASH will continue making pop music in its various forms, because underneath it all – that’s what we do!