How South Summit Found Their Groove

Perth indie rockers South Summit are riding high after the release of their long-awaited sophomore LP, RUN IT BACK. Ahead of its release, the band took some time out to chat with The Note about their new record, working with Marlon Gerbes (Six60) and the joys of touring Europe.

Words Tobias Handke // Image Brendan Cecich

It’s been a big couple of years for South Summit. Your debut album The Bliss dropped at the tail end of 2024 and the band toured extensively across Australia and Europe. How crazy has the experience been up until now?

Every year has been crazier than the last. It just feels like it’s getting busier and busier, in a good way, of course. The shows keep growing, and so does the adrenaline. There hasn’t been enough time to get used to any of it, but that’s the best part. I’m very grateful that every tour so far has brought more and more new experiences to enjoy.

What have you learned about yourselves or the music industry over that period?

About ourselves, we’ve learnt so much about how to stay sane on tour. It’s an unforgettable experience, but it can also sometimes be very overwhelming. It really helps to know where your limit is and what you need to be able to bounce back and do it all again the next night.

About the music industry, we’ve definitely learned a lot about the inner workings and processes associated with playing and releasing music. But it is a huge and unpredictable industry, so no matter how much you think you know, you can never really predict whether something is going to be a huge success or failure.

South Summit have spent the last six months in the studio working on RUN IT BACK, the follow-up to The Bliss. Do you think your sound has evolved from your debut to RUN IT BACK?

Our sound has definitely evolved from then till now. I see this album as picking up where we left off at the end of recording The Bliss, like we just had a taste of this new style. And by the time we got to the start of recording RUN IF BACK, we already knew we wanted to dive deeper into that rabbit hole.

The band had writing sessions with Marlon Gerbes (Six60). How was that experience, and did he help shape or change your approach to songwriting?

It was a fun experience for us, it felt like something in between us, making demos at home and recording in the studio. There was a mixture of us bringing ideas in to flesh out and also us creating something new from scratch. Marlon is an amazing producer and collaborator, and I feel like it’s very easy for us to write with someone like that because of how collaborative and open we like to be with each other in our own writing.

The band has released four singles from the record so far. My favourite is the latest single ‘HEARTLESS’, a groovy tale of heartbreak. Do you take direct inspiration from your personal lives when writing songs like this, or is it more general?

They are both, I'd say, sometimes more one way than the other. They’re definitely mostly rooted in personal or shared experiences. But because we all had very different lives, sometimes someone might relate very strongly to a song, and another one of us won’t at all. With ‘HEARTLESS’, it’s one of those themes that I think anyone can remember or imagine how it feels, which makes it generally relatable, even if it started from personal experience. I think just like the genres on this album, it’s all a bit of a mix, it depends on the song.

I’ve got to mention the film clip for ‘HEARTLESS’, which was filmed atop Western Australia’s iconic Bluff Knoll. It’s got some incredible shots. I read you guys got up super early to hike to the top to make sure you caught the sunrise. Talk to us about filming the clip and the experience.

The idea for this video came from our friend Rob, who suggested it a couple years ago. For whatever reason we decided to give it a go for ‘HEARTLESS’, it just felt like the right song for it.

We got up at 1am because we wanted to make sure we didn’t miss the sunrise. None of us knew what we were getting into, and only as we rocked up did we start realising this actually might be tough, and we’ve done absolutely nothing to prepare for it.

The climb was definitely not easy, but we made it to the top and immediately huddled in between rocks to get away from the freezing cold wind. We didn’t waste a minute once the sun came up, and got straight into filming next to ledges that we could now see and went so, so, so far down. By the time we made it back down the mountain to the car park, we’d spent over 10 hours on Bluff Knoll.

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Your musical videos, in general, are quite captivating. How important is the visual element to what you are trying to create with South Summit?

Visuals are so incredibly important in this era of the music industry, and if you don’t do it right, you can easily fall behind. But I think honestly, we just love making music videos that excite us, like we’re making a little movie to put out. And by the end, then we know if we’re excited by it, then somebody else out there is sure to be excited by it too.

I’m also digging ‘TOP OF THE HILL’. It’s got a real, carefree summer vibe. The track was produced by Dave Parkin (Old Mervs, Spacey Jane), who worked with the band on the album. What impact did he have on that song in particular, along with the album?

By this point, Dave is basically the 6th member of the band. From the start, we’ve loved working with him, and as we’ve been growing as a band, he’s also been growing with us.

‘TOP OF THE HILL’ was a song that had an obvious direction and feel from the start. We knew it was going to occupy that space of a catchy/feel-good tune. One of Dave’s superpowers is having a really good understanding of what a song does and doesn’t need. So in the case of ‘TOP OF THE HILL’, we worked on really making it feel the best it could without over-crowding the song with admittedly exciting ideas that sounded good, but didn’t necessarily add to the song.

When people listen to RUN IT BACK, what do you hope they take away from the experience?

I hope people listen to RUN IT BACK in its entirety. No two songs are very similar. Because of the scope of genres and styles of songs in the album, I really believe there’s a song in there for everyone that could be your next favourite song to chuck in your playlist. Even in the band, we have completely different favourites and least favourites. So if you’re starting from the top of the album, I'd encourage you to listen through it. You never know if the next song could be the one you’ve been missing.

To coincide with the release of RUN IT BACK, the band has announced a five-date national tour. How much of a thrill will it be to play your new songs for fans for the first time?

As quickly as we could, we got into the process of putting together a live set for the tour. There’s just so many songs we’re excited to play live that have never been heard before. At this point, the set is the longest one we’ve ever played, purely because we wanted to play as many of the new album songs as possible. I honestly have no idea which one will make the most impact live, it’s completely new ground all over again, which is very exciting.

You’re also heading back overseas for a run of shows across Europe. What do you love most about international touring?

Meeting people around the world who may barely even speak English but like your music enough to learn the words is unbelievable. We’re still the same guys who started the band and never knew it would take us this far. So when someone who’s lived their whole life in Germany comes down to see a band from the pretty small city of Perth across the world, it’s pretty crazy to wrap your head around, and we’re so grateful for it. Plus, being able to travel around, seeing the world and playing music is always a pretty huge “pinch me” moment.

Any good stories you can share?

For one of the Europe tours we’ve done recently, the Euros, which is a huge soccer/football tournament between the top European countries, was happening. By some absolute miracle, we happened to be in almost every country on the same night they had a game. It was such a once-in-a-lifetime experience to watch those games right there with the hometown crowd.

The best and also the worst for me was when we were in Barcelona watching Germany play against Spain for the Semi-Finals. I support Germany, and they played so hard, but by the end of the game, Spain managed to win it. At every Spanish goal, there were shouts and screams throughout the streets. And when they won the game, the city went crazy with the loudest screams and trumpets. It felt like the whole country was watching my team get beaten.

Lastly, where do you hope South Summit will be in five years?

You can never guess where you’ll be or how long it’ll last in the music industry. So all I really hope for is that we’re still making the music we want, and we still get to travel around the world performing it. That’s all I want.

Catch South Summit at Lion Arts Factory on Friday 17 July. Tickets on sale now via moshtix.com.au.