“Bring back rock ‘n’ roll!” I pleaded to the heavens one lonely night. At last, my prayers were answered at the Large Mirage show at Perseverance, Fitzroy.
The Sydney/Eora-based foursome takes the concept of late-60s, early-70s rock revival on board to create an era-accurate sound, drawing inspiration from the likes of The Who, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac and The Doors.
So, on a warm Friday night, my friends and I donned our vintage-est dresses and our danci-est boots to witness the resurrection of fun Aussie rock. From the very first song, my friends and I were mesmerised by the sheer talent displayed on stage. Large Mirage made executing melodies and inter-instrumental relationships that dripped with technicality look easy, a feat which put the crowd at an awe-inspired ease by extension. It was immediately evident that the band was having a great time on stage, plastering a smile on my face throughout the whole performance.
The spirit of rock’s golden age was truly alive in the group’s costumes, with flares abounding across the stage and the crowd cultivating a time capsule of early 1970s energy in Persa.
Lead vocalist, Malia, remained perched atop a stool for much of the performance and left the stage on crutches, but she didn’t let a broken foot stop the groove for a second. Instrumental sections of songs were accompanied by dancing, regardless of injury.
The day after this gig, Malia did go to the hospital and get a cast to replace Friday night's cowboy boot moon-boot. The band then headed straight to play at Chopped music festival—commitment to the music that I can only aspire to.
Something that stood out to me as refreshingly unique about Large Mirage’s performance was the seamlessly concocted balance between every instrument. I loved that the songs’ instrumentals were split equally with lead vocals, which really served to platform each member and each instrument completely during the performance. This adds to the sense of the band as a bonded unit and ensures you are slapped across the face with talent from every corner of the stage.
After the show, I sat down with Malia, Kolya, Blake and Dan to speak about their process as a band and some of their influences.
Large Mirage have spent five years assembling the perfect quartet, and perfected it they have. The group was started in 2019 by guitarist Kolya and bassist Blake, with Dan and Malia (on drums and lead vocals, respectively) jumping onboard since. Malia shared that as soon as she started singing with the band it “felt right”, which truly comes across when they perform together.
“You have some great guitar riffs and impressive, sprawling instrumental sections in your songs, are you meticulous when it comes to crafting those or are they just born from playing around and having a good time?”, I ask the band.
“Yeah, it’s different every night,” Dan tells me. “There are some standard riffs and sections that we plan or repeat…but that sort of improvisation is very of genre.”
It certainly adds to the effortless, 70s style of the group’s music and stage presence, letting the influence of artists such as Led Zeppelin and The Doors shine through with a highly unique and personal twist.
“I’ll give a nod or a look,” Kolya reveals, which tells Dan and Blake what he’s about to do. Kolya’s guitar solos were utterly mesmerising to observe, and so to learn that they are primarily improvised was incredibly impressive. The way that Dan, on drums, and Blake, on bass, follow the contours of the guitar melodies so effortlessly confirms a level of connectedness that exists within the dynamic of the band. They are entirely in-tune with one another.
“Why Large Mirage?”, I pose to the group. “What was the inspiration behind that name?”
“Well, we started with Mirage,” says Blake. “But we couldn’t just be called that, so a few variations were cycled through.”
“We had Sargeant Mirage,” Kolya pipes up. But Large Mirage is memorable because it sort of rhymes “in an Aussie accent”.
Dan shares with me his Band Name Golden Rule: “if you say your name to someone and they say: “Huh?” more than once, he says, then it’s not a good name. Large Mirage usually passes that test.”
Discussing influences, I asked the band whether their Australian-ness gets incorporated into the music despite the heavy British and American dominance during that era of rock music. They responded to me with a resounding and unanimous “no”, but Dan offered that any Australian influences he has are mostly from modern musicians. He cites the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets as one of those sources of inspiration.
Large Mirage is incredibly excited to be opening for the Screaming Jets’ Life Blood Tour in November at the Forum, Melbourne. As of now, Large Mirage are shacking up for a stint at the Perseverance in October, so make sure to check out a show on any Friday night this month. The band guarantees that “no two Large Mirage shows are ever the same”, so look forward to a unique and mystifying night! Large Mirage’s newest EP ‘Be My Guide/Be My Friend’ is also out now on Spotify.