Eddy Current Suppression Ring talk Tote, DIY and hiring a plane

Pandemonium is breaking out on Wellington Street in Collingwood as thousands of music fans protest against the imminent closure of their beloved rock venue, the Tote. Eddy Current Suppression Ring singer Brendan Huntley is on the phone in the pub's office, looking out the window at the protest and pleading with his bandmates to clear their schedules so they can play at the venue's final show the next day.

The band members comply. Bassist Brad Barry arranges to work two night shifts so he can play. Guitarist Mikey Young and his drummer brother Danny tell their dad they'll have to see him later in the week for his birthday.

Band booker Amanda Palmer arranges for them to open the show at 1.30pm, unannounced. As when they secretly opened for friends the Dacios at their EP launch at the Tote last year, they happily play to 30 people and play as though they are headlining Meredith.

Described by one of Victoria's biggest band bookers, Richard Moffatt, as the most punk band he has worked with in more than a decade, they are driven by the pure ethics of punk, without shoving it down the audience's throat.

Part of the reason they can afford to turn down big offers and only charge $10 for entry to their last album launch is because they have other jobs. Huntley is a successful artist, regularly selling out exhibitions; Mikey has three bands and is an in-demand producer (he produced albums last year for UV Race and Mirror House Antics, among others); Danny is a tattooist; and Barry works in printing.

''Maybe we could do more if we quit our jobs,'' Danny says, ''but we all love what we do. I wouldn't want to have to rely on a band as my job - it might make a difference [to integrity].''

''You might overthink things too much,'' Huntley adds.

It's also much easier to DIY when you know how to record and mix an album and all the machinations behind starting a record label.

''When I worked at [former Highett record-pressing plant] Corduroy Records, everyone had a label and we recorded records on the cheap,'' Mikey says. ''If I didn't run into those guys, I wouldn't know what to do. It's not easy for younger bands.''

It's now industry folklore that Eddy Current Suppression Ring's previous album, Primary Colours, cost just $1500 to make yet took out last year's $30,000 Australian Music Prize (AMP). If people thought that was funny, their new album Rush to Relax cost nothing to make.

The band headed to Revolver rehearsal studios in Prahran in August with their trusty eight-track recorder, planning to record a couple of songs in a ''shitty room''. But they recorded more than a dozen and when Mikey had a listen at home, he realised they had inadvertently recorded their third album.

Because the studio had double-booked their room, it let them have it free of charge; all it cost was a slab of beer to refresh themselves. Mikey mixed the album in his home studio over the next few months.

So what did they spend their AMP money on?

''We got a pretty expensive prop for the cover,'' Huntley says. ''We hired a plane and a pilot to fly across for the album's cover shoot in Avalon. In this day and age of Photoshop, people will just think we shopped it in but when you see the film clip, it will all make sense.'' (But don't worry, accountants, Huntley and his girlfriend Brianna made the sign from thrifty Spotlight cloth.)

The band is constantly surprised by how much people love them.

''We've gone from a house party to playing the North Melbourne Town Hall and Pony and now we're launching at the Palace,'' Danny says.

''I was just rapt when we recorded our seven inch - and we hadn't even played in front of anyone. Any other bits have been a super-cool bonus,'' Huntley adds.

''We've been lucky, so that's why we don't push it; we just let it happen,'' Danny says.

Patrick Donovan

EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING - RUSH TO RELAX TOUR 2010