Oceanique Launch New Band at the Four5Nine

We had a chat to acoustic and twin sister duo Oceanique about their band extension and musical journey up until now. Maddy and Jess Larkman are originally from the sweet small town of Walpole WA. They take the beauty from the south coast and incorporate it in their sound along with their sibling intuitive harmonies and Celtic vibe, with hope they'll immerse the listener on a musical journey to the south west.

If you haven't caught these girls on the stage in Perth yet I would be surprised. The pair have been gracing the stages around Perth for 9 months playing at Mojos, The Sewing Room and The Four5nine almost every weekend. 

Joining them on the stage this week are a few new members 'Heaps Good Friends', enhancing their dreamy folk sound. Allowing them to tackle the bigger stages whilst still being able to play intimate shows as a duo.
The band met while studying music performance at Leederville TAFE and claim the experience has strengthened their musical knowledge as well as surrounded them with many talented musicians, making it easy to extend the band.

Tell us a little bit about the inspiration of your sound.
We grew up listening to a lot of Missy Higgins and she has been a huge influence on our music. Since being involved with the Perth music scene we listen to a lot of local artists such as Carla Geneve, Noah Dillon, Jack Davies and so many more which is starting to have more of an influence on our newer songs. 
The south west is also a huge inspiration for our song writing as most of our music is either created down there or written about our hometown. We are very grateful to have been brought up in such a beautiful place and we really want to share that experience with people.

If you could summarise the sound of your music in an ice-cream flavour what would it be?
This was a tough one! We both debated long a hard, but Jess came to the conclusion that it should be Hazelnut. Because you don’t really see it a lot but when you do its always a flavour you’d choose (well we would anyway) and it’s kinda chill, not too rich like chocolate haha.

Tell us about your band extension, who have joined you and how has this changed the dynamic of 
your writing process and performances?
We are so lucky to be joined with some talented musos; Darcy O’dea on drums, Isaiah Kovacs on bass and Hugh O’dea on lead guitar.
We all Study music performance at TAFE in Leederville and they are some of our best mates which made it really easy to have them work with us. After establishing a strong foundation as a duo we felt like the next step was to get a full band so we can have the beauty of both, duo and full band. 
Our music is definitely more enhanced with the full band which is really exciting to see and gives us more of a platform in the industry. As for writing, it is quite a personal process for the both of us so we both write the songs and then show them to the band allowing them to add their creativity and dynamic to our music. 

We see you play a lot of shows in Perth and are excited to see where you’re headed, what is your dream Perth venue and what bands would you love to have on that bill?
This is really sweet, thankyou! We aim to gig as much as possible. 
As for our dream gig, it would be a packed out Mojo’s show playing alongside Carla Geneve, Jack Davies and Moth. We listen to these bands a lot and to be on a line up with them would be a dream.
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When can we expect some digital releases from Oceanique
We have a single release in the works for November which is really exciting and has been a huge goal for us this year! Keep your ears peeled x


Oceanique are beyond excited to share the full band in action, this Thursday the 15th of August at the Four5nine with Chidgzey, Smol Fish and Angie Colman.

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