[This interview was originally broadcast live via Radio Fodder on 30/08/24. The complete and unabridged interview can be listened to on Mixcloud.]

A “band of many members”, an “ensemble” or a “collective”—whatever you want to call them—Mouseatouille’s presence is truly one of a kind in Melbourne’s spirited alternative music scene. A sprawling group of 10 members with a rotating roster over the years, Mouseatouille emerged as early as 2016, initially as an alias adopted by the lead guitarist and frontman, Harry Green, to occasionally release his bedroom pop music. Today, their experimental folk rock has touched the hearts of many local music enthusiasts, a direct result from their hard-working nature playing gig after gig after gig. Accompanying me in the studio for a chat is Green, as well as their synth player, Chloe Dimitrievitch, and violinist, Erinna Lloyd, the latter a marked addition to the group after joining a couple years ago.

Nobody in the city is doing what they’re doing, and the people want to know more about them. “I sort of wish we weren’t as mysterious,” Green says. “People sometimes will talk to us like we’re martyrs and they’ll say like, ‘I love what you guys do and it’s so good that you do it, even though, you know, you’re never gonna be successful.’” He shrugs that off with a laugh, but in some ways it’s true—a 10-piece like them won’t garner traditional success. The metric must be adjusted: Mouseatouille exists for the love of music and community. So in that pursuit, they’ve made it.

Mouseatouille’s origins date back to 2016, when Green, aged around 15 or 16, was in a lo-fi pop band called Firstkiss. Still a learning guitarist, he’d write songs with now Mouseatouille vocalist Claire Osborn-Li for her to sing, which drove Green to write his own songs he could sing himself. Eventually, Green moved schools and befriended drummer Spencer Noonan (who’s now also in Mouseatouille) and asked if he could record his bedroom album with him, which became Mouseatouille’s 2017 debut: Fill the Bathtubs, Turn off the Lights and Brace for the New Millennium, all recorded on tape and inspired by the musical acts Beck, The Microphones and Neutral Milk Hotel. Their live act, though, emerged rather precariously.

Green tells me that he went to see Noonan’s band at a gig at Bar 303 in Northcote. They finished their set early because Noonan had a headache, but Noonan convinced the event organiser to let Green play. “I’ve never been to a gig where that’s happened before,” Green says. “I was playing songs, none of the people that were there were into it and from my perspective I was sort of dying up on stage.” Fortunately for Green, his performance was salvageable: “I just saw out of the back of the venue like a flash past me, then someone was drumming behind me, and it was [Noonan].” What sprouted from their spontaneous improvisations was a positive audience response and the desire to create much more music together. “I think ‘cause we were young and in this virgining scene of people where there weren’t many bands in our group of friends, we played a bunch more gigs,” Green explains. “It’s a very Melbourne thing as well. Even if you’re inexperienced and have no idea what you’re doing, it’s so easy to get gigs.”

Spontaneity is a recurring theme in the Mouseatouille narrative. For about six months, Green and Noonan operated as a two-piece playing their Fill the Bathtubs material but enlisted their musical friends for gigs and recording new material once they were sick of the project. Green recalls, “I would just say, ‘Who do I know that plays this instrument?’ I’d find them, they would come to my mum’s house and we would try to record their part.” At one point, they had three guitarists, a keyboard player, and Green’s sister on melodica. Alannah Sawyer, one of said guitarists, could play saxophone and changed roles on Green’s request. Lloyd lived in Ocean Grove and reached out as a fan via Instagram after catching the band play at Brunswick’s Retreat Hotel. To her dismay, she was rejected at first because they already had a violinist, but once Green asked her to do some recording, she was properly invited in as a member. Until very recently, they had a very loose definition as to who was in the band or not.

The flurry of recordings from all sorts of people were contributions to their most recent album from 2019, Out of the Hospital and Into the Morgue. Green acknowledges that everyone involved is very much the “music nerd” type, which bleeds into their output: “I really love big, unwieldy, concept sort of hard drive dump albums.” Over 30 names are credited on the record, with people coming in and out to do their parts (particularly the cheering at the album’s conclusion). Green also wrote every song except for ‘Cadaver’, which was written by Dimitrievitch. The final product is an amalgamation of Green’s unwavering, unflinching vision and welcoming collaboration with friends. Lyrically, Green partly writes from a place of fantasy, but more so from reality—cult singer-songwriter Daniel Johnson is especially a profound influence. “I was thinking about how it’s nice to write a song that means something to you because that’s cathartic,” Green says. “Then you write it in such a way that anybody who listens to it can—even if they don’t relate to it—understand what you’re talking about.” Indeed, Out of the Hospital is grounded in reality: it follows the true situation of Green getting surgery in 2016 for a collapsed lung. Being loaded up on ketamine for a week, it was a very harrowing and hallucinogenic time, where thoughts about death plagued his mind. Once he was discharged, the surgeon who operated on him was killed by a coward-punch outside of a doctor’s office. For Green, it made the whole debacle even more startling—he never even got his medical records sorted—and gave him more to unpack. The eclectic concept album spans over an hour with pretty interludes, progressive suites and hints of indietronica, chamber folk and noise pop. Above all, its morbid explorations come from a place of truth, indisputably making it a necessary listen.

A big turning point in the band’s history is opening for the prolific UK indie ensemble Black Country, New Road (BCNR), which Green wholly acknowledges wouldn’t happen under normal circumstances. Their chance to perform fell into their hands very casually: Dimitrievitch recounts that she, Green and Fergus Menner (of Gluepot, whom Green is a member of) first met BCNR in America, all drunk, after their gig. When BCNR announced their 2024 Australia and New Zealand tour, Dimitrievitch sent them a message asking if Mouseatouille could open for them—BCNR saxophonist Lewis Evans replied, “it’s already in the works.” However, Mouseatouille nearly didn’t take up the opportunity. “It was very scary,” Green tells me. “I remember we had a bit of a talk internally when we first got the offer to be like, ‘How do we say no politely?’ ‘Cause like we can’t, we can’t do this.” The insurmountable dread of scarily lofty expectations or something going wrong troubled them, but they thankfully talked themselves into playing and it became an experience they’ll never forget. Green assures: “In Auckland, we’d walk onstage and these guys in the crowd have never heard of us before. They didn’t pay to see us, but they were clapping and cheering—a very rock star moment walking out to that. I’ve never seen that at a show and that was the same for every single night that we played. The fans would get right at the front of our set to support us so much.” It’s that “music nerd” personality that vehemently shone through both bands and their audiences. The crowd that BCNR draws in is obviously very appreciative of the music, so there’s a genuine sense of pride for Melburnians to celebrate this miracle. “Shout out to Charlie Wayne [from BCNR] for doing the nicest shout out for us on stage,” Green adds, “in the middle of the set, he’d tell everyone to buy our t-shirts.” BCNR loves music and making friends and despite their acclaim, they are exactly as they seem: down to earth.

Outside of that momentous fanfare is their curious connection to a particular scene emerging online: fifth wave emo. Borrowing the emo genre’s typical complex arrangements, post-hardcore sensibilities and poignant lyricism, this new wave borrows from a wider pool of influences—be it queerness, gender identity or the use of twinkly (and at times noisy) synthesised instruments. Essentially, anything goes. It might not make sense at first, given the indie folk Mouseatouille creates isn’t necessarily rapturous with anger like the scene’s contemporaries, but they carry that same impassioned DIY spirit as its figureheads. In fact, I was surprised to learn from Green that they’re friends with Asian Glow and Weatherday, early trailblazers in the scene who quietly popped up on Bandcamp and RateYourMusic, and have now amassed a larger internet following. Their Thornbury Bowls Club show held earlier this year (which we wrote about for Farrago) featured a bombastic line-up: Your Arms Are My Cocoon (YAAMC), Blind Equation and Katie Dey. One thing I praised it for was its convergence of internet culture with real life, which Green said was intentional: “That sort of thing we were going for—internet music and community in person—it’s kind of a gap everywhere, not even just in Melbourne. Some people were surprised when we announced that show. Charlie Wayne was like, ‘That’s awesome. Those guys are the best, Your Arms Are My Cocoon.’” The choice to play in the suburbs was inspired by the final Brave Little Abacus show at the Vic Geary Center for seniors, where the US group tricked the promoter into playing their hardcore music there. The normally quiet, cosy spot transformed into a place for celebrating impassioned internet music and a chance to say “I was there.” At Thornbury, it was the same deal—the music came first. Green notes that while YAAMC’s lead guitarist and vocalist, Tyler Odom, lost money, he didn’t care because he knew that there’s people out there who would kill to experience their show after watching clips on the internet. Green says exactly what I’m thinking: “It was crazy to be there and be like, ‘Damn, this is happening in my city.’”

Knowing all of this, friendship, then, is the vital element that keeps Mouseatouille alive. Those who have been—and still are—along for the ride are their real friends—that is, everyone who has watched them perform or helped out in some capacity, all playing a tiny yet crucial role in the band. This then lends itself to a very intimate metric of success. “I think DIY is quite romanticised, but then the reality of DIY is very expensive and unrewarding in how unrewarding it is,” Green admits. “It’s rewarding to do something that feels completely selfless. If you’re passionate about something as well, it doesn’t really matter how much money you put into it. I think with touring and stuff, I’ve put my whole savings into it—and the return is great.” They also contributed a track, ‘Song for Growth, Pt. 2’, to the compilation Through the Soil, which features cover art from The Microphones’ Phil Elverum—even that is another milestone and full circle connection to one of their primary influences. Green says it himself: “No matter what happens to us, we can say we’ve made this, and we can listen to it when we’re old and show our children and be like, ‘Look at this thing that we made.’”

Mouseatouille have a new album they’re working on, which they say is nearly finished—being so close to completion is a first for them. They’ve also been more diplomatic about the writing process, with Green no longer being the sole songwriter. He jokes that they want to drop a Mediafire link or put it on Soulseek when it’s done, but it’ll properly be released when the time is right. For now, they’re continuing to play shows, hopefully bigger ones, and are eternally grateful for the appreciation they receive. Green emphasises the band’s gratitude: “I think we just kind of do whatever comes along and we’re so happy to be there.” Clearly, Mouseatouille’s communal artistry places them as homegrown, independent heroes. They’ve rightfully deserved that title and they’re only going to keep on pouring their hearts into their music—and with so many attuned to their passion, what more could they ask for?

Mouseatouille will play their next gig at Northcote Theatre with their friends Floodlights and Spike Fuck on Saturday 12 October. You can keep up to date with all things Mouseatouille over on their Instagram.