Gritty blues-rock hitmen The Delta Riggs spent parts of 2010 holed up in country NSW, writing enough songs to make an epic double album; they’ve managed to cut it down though, the absolute cream being squeezed into two EPs to be released this year. The first, Talupo Mountain Music Vol. 1, is busting out all over the place right about now, so we cornered them for the skinny.

FBi: Where is Talupo Mountain and how did you end up there?

DR: Talupo House is actually an old farmhouse up in the mountains of Peats Ridge. We were living on a 50-acre citrus farm for the duration of our stay up on the mountain. We ended up there after deciding that we needed to get out of the city, free ourselves from distraction, and work on songs for upcoming releases.

Five guys under one roof – how did that work out? Who was the shit-stirrer?

It worked out well. We all pulled our weight around the house and everything went smoothly. We didn’t really have any major dramas as we all get along anyway. Disputes mainly seemed to centre on an unfair allocation of food (which there wasn’t always a lot of), the best way to start and maintain the fire(s), or the unexplained / temporary disappearance of someone’s tobacco (a precious commodity in the house).

Is this EP what you expected it to be when you went to Talupo House?

We wrote a lot (about 35) of songs at the house and in spontaneous fashion, only decided on the final track-listing a few days before heading into the studio to record the EP. I guess the main thing for us is that we record in a really organic, live session, so the only expectation I had for the record is that it should successfully translate the performance and vibe of having a band playing live.

What creature comfort did you miss the most?

An abundance of food and central heating, it was damn cold up there in winter!

Why a two-EP split rather than a full-length album? How do the volumes differ?

We decided that although we probably had enough content for an album, that doing two EP’s suited us better at this point in time. Now that we have the freedom too, we really want to keep releasing new material as often as possible and that is a lot easier to achieve when you aren’t worrying about all of the creative and financial factors that affect the making of an album. We also felt that the songs that we had made during out time at the Talupo House sat better split over two releases, as opposed to being condensed onto one album.

Who did you listen to for inspiration while you were away?

There were a lot of records getting played out on the farm. It varied anywhere from the Rolling Stones, Otis Redding and Van Morrison to Them Crooked Vultures, Muddy Waters and Santana.

If you could choose anyone to tour with in Australia right now, who would you get to tag along?

I’d get Sydney band Howler to come along. They are a great young band that has put their own twist on a classic sound.