Since the departure of frontman Tiki Taane in 2007, Salmonella Dub has journeyed back to its "core roots" and original lineup, guitarist and vocalist Andrew Penman says.
"It's made us all step up a bit more, whereas maybe in the past we were resting on our laurels a bit, letting Tiki take that front person role," Penman says.
"It was a great journey at the time but we got quite involved in radio mixes and other bits and pieces which can be a little bit limited in the creative process."
The band, of Penman, guitarist Pete Wood, bassist Mark Tyler and drummer David Deakins, today released their new album Freak Controller.
Of the album's name -- a follow up to June's Freak Local EP -- Penman says he wants to leave the meaning open-ended, but it may be a play on words.
"Being a self-managed band and needing a lot of management while playing and being within the band, from time to time I get called a control freak.
"And my reply is 'na, I'm a freak controller'." The main point of difference with Freak Controller was the collaboration with other artists -- including Whirimako Black, The Mighty Asterix, Paddy Free, Ants and MC Mana -- while the album was influenced by the need to play live shows due to the downturn in retail music sales, Penman says.
"One of our main motivators in this album was to reinvent ourselves and reinvent a set of material for the live stage."
Despite changes in the music market, Salmonella Dub still sells "platinum or more than platinum" in Australia and New Zealand, Penman says.
"The way it's affected us is it's limited our ability to invest in markets overseas, whereas five or six years ago, 10 years ago, we were heading to Europe a lot, and other places."
While the future holds more shows in the United Kingdom and Europe, the band is currently focusing "on home and what we know", Penman says.
"There's a huge market for touring Australia which we've built over the years and in that process introduced a lot of New Zealand acts to that market as well...
"We decided after a few trips that we'd rather take our mates as support. It started with taking Pitch Black and Shapeshifter and Fat Freddy's and Cornerstone Roots, Kora," Penman says.
"The point of difference is Australia is a constant touring circuit ... whereas New Zealand, it's almost like you have to reinvent the wheel each time you go out."
The band will play PHAT and New Year's Ever party Music Mountain Matakana next month and take time out in January, before Homegrown and an anticipated national tour in February and March.
And they're already looking forward to their next round of recording.
"Given the way things are going in the marketplace at the moment it's better to just keep churning stuff out and not be so precious about and not be so focused on the commerciality of it."
