The Seabellies found a happy medium between making music and partying during their time in Berlin. Their new LP, 'Fever Belle', is undoubtedly a reflection of this.

Sydney based five-piece Seabellies have been on the Australian alternative rock scene for years.

“We started maybe seven or eight years ago,” says frontman Trent Grenell.

“When we first hit our straps we did the V Festival tour with The Pixies and Phoenix. It was probably the best time of our lives, it was incredible. We've been lucky to play a lot with The Temper Trap guys and we've done some shows with Tame Impala back in the day.

“We've been around for a while now. We're probably one of the most stubborn bands in the Sydney scene. We just won't give up … Most of our contemporaries are gone. It's sad. We're the lone wolves, we're just too persistent to kick it.”

They have toured and they have travelled, and they aren't looking at stopping anytime soon.

“[We] really like how different crowds are around the country. It's really phenomenal how different people and different cities react to us and music in general.

A show in Melbourne is very different to a show in Brisbane  and it's just fun. The different dynamics, the different places and the different sets.

"We really like playing live because it's actually still fun for us just because it's so convoluted on stage and we have a lot of instruments and a lot of different sounds, so it's always a ball.”

Trent goes on to explain their most recent trip.

“We lived in Berlin for about six months last year and we spent two and a half of those months recording and mixing. The rest of our time there was spent partying. We'll call it a 50:50 ratio of music making to partying.

“[The recording process for] 'Fever Belle' was fabulous. We put all the big parts like the drums and horns and strings and all that stuff in the studios in Sydney.

"But then we realised we don't need to spend all our money on big studios now... and Berkfinger [Simon Berckelman of Philadelphia Grand Jury] has this wonderful studio set up in the middle of the city in Berlin.”

Seabellies were blessed to also work alongside Tim Whitten, who has worked alongside the likes of Powderfinger, Augie March, Hoodoo Gurus, and The Go-Betweens.

“[Whitten] is one of the most experienced guys in the game, the collection of records he has made is incredible. Berkfinger [was] being all crazy and rewiring and trying all sorts of weird recording techniques in one room with us and Whitten was making sure everything was chronically beautiful — which was a really fun process trying to make things crazy but also trying to make sure they stay cohesive.”

For those who may not have had a chance to see or hear the Seabellies, Trent attempts to explain their sound.

“I guess we’re... can I say ‘ambitious’?” he laughs. “We're all multi-instrumentalists. There's a lot going on in our sound, we've always liked trying to do really widescreen stuff.

"We've always been influenced by bigger bands like Broken Social Scene, The National, Arcade Fire, all those guys who have lots of musicians but still have really great, tasty songs.

“That's what we try to do. We try doing a lot of diverse stuff, a lot of different moods and a lot of different rhythms. I don't know if that's a really good explanation but that's how we look at it.”

Lucky for us, The 'Bellies are “kicking the ['Fever Belle'] tour off up [in Brisbane] at Alhambra Lounge. We're looking forward to it … We're trying out a lot of new stuff so it will be quite an ambitious show… hopefully it works out.”

For those who may have already had the pleasure of seeing them in action, their set is expected to be a little bit different this time around.

“These days our sets are definitely a lot less brash. We're quite diverse, and we'll obviously be playing our new stuff. So the shows have a lot more highs and lows, the dynamics are different — we all swap around instruments… and it's quite melodic and quite hard work for us.

"For me, it's ridiculous — I am kind of kicking myself because I have strived so hard on this album to really push my range so playing it live is quite difficult. But the last tour was really great so I think we're getting there.”

Other than touring, the 'Bellies next single is dropping next week.

Grenell says 'Berlin Horses' is “probably our biggest song on the album — it’s the biggest, loudest, most brash song, so we're looking forward to seeing how people take to that. We're also filming our film clip tomorrow, which is going to be ridiculous.”

Seabellies play Alhambra Lounge November 21. 'Fever Belle' is out now.