This month we interviewed Steph Lees of "Pear and the Awkward Orchestra" about the release of her debut album “Smocks!”

People of the world, meet Smocks!, the highly anticipated debut album release from Brisbane's folk-pop darlings, pear and the awkward orchestra. The album moves between sweet, luscious alt-folk in let's hide and it's dark all the way through to first single and pop anthem Oh Katrina and a slight punk/indie pop vibe with second single Bigger Than You. Quirky, emotive and surprising, this album was a year in the making and marks this Aussie songstress's move to the international stage.

Who Is Pear And The Awkward Orchestra?

pear and the awkward orchestra is my solo project. It is quirky, juicy folk/pop featuring my original compositions, which I perform with the support of a five-piece band of some of Brisbane’s best musicians. I have been performing as pear with my awkward orchestra for about five years.

The band currently includes double bass, vibraphone, two electric guitars, drum kit and four backing vocals, as well as my lead vocals. Members of my band can also be found in: Laneous and the Family Yah, Hannah Macklin and the Maxwells, Banawurun, Kooii, Kafka and the Kelly Gang.

I have a strong environmentally sustainable ethos to the project, creating handmade merchandise out of recycled and up-cycled materials and printing flyers and posters on recycled paper. My two EPs have been presented with a series of handmade covers, any printed covers have been produced with recycled cardboard using vegie/soy ink. The upcoming album will be no different in that respect. We also car-pool to shows and offset our carbon when flying.

Recording And Production

This album was a very different one for me, I really took my time in selecting the songs (always two more than you need, or in my case four – sometimes songs don’t transfer to recordings very well); recording and choosing instrumentation carefully and most unusually of all, working with several talented arrangers to bring the songs new highlights, which was amazing. I also added a lot of extra vocal parts, mainly my own, on this recording, to add texture and warmth, which is something I used to do more with previous projects and hadn’t explored very much with pear thus far. The recording stage took about eleven months from the first stages of sitting with the songs to getting them down, so it’s great to get it out there!

Artwork And Printing

A local Brisbane artist, Holly Leonardson of pannikin designs, is creating the artwork for the album packaging. She has a beautiful style which really complements the sound I am going for with this album. Once she has painted the images, graphic designer Claire Renton will digitize them and together we will work out how to achieve the packaging I would like – it is always a little bit too complicated!
I will get the discs and packaging printed with recycled card and vegetable-based ink.
I recognize the difficulty of capturing the attention of the general public with CD packaging when downloading is so fast and efficient. For me there is something very precious about the physical product and that is part of the reason for my effort-intensive handmade offerings, as well as really using the packaging as another opportunity to reach out and connect.

Promotion And Distribution

I am going to do a bit of the promotion myself (radio); there is definitely a time to hire a publicist, I believe that is when you can really maximize their skills with some strong momentum–this album is that time for me and I will be working with the talented folks at Mucho Bravado.

The album will be distributed worldwide through a very friendly Sydney label, Creative Vibes, who are very supportive of my growth as an artist. As an independent self-managed artist thus far, distribution while maintaining my independence is the ideal situation. While I released the single through Bird Fire Records, a rad Brisbane independent label with the perfect combination of awesome and indie, I will be self-releasing this album as an outward expression of the time and effort I have put in to it – it has definitely been a process!

Contact Details

Contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or catch up on news, listen to our tunes and find out about gigs at www.pearandtheawkwardorchestra.com www.facebook.com/pearandtheawkwardorchestra and www.myspace.com/pearau
Our debut album Smocks! will be available in store and online from July 11, 2011

Debut Album Smocks! Available July 8 and on tour:
Sydney Oxford Arts Factory 8pm supported by Skritch (Mary Trembles)
Melbourne Wesley Anne 8pm supported by Yeo and Killbot Kindergarten
Brisbane Bardon 5pm supported by Mckisko and Skritch (Mary Trembles)
address on ticket purchase, available from www.oztix.com.au