The incestuous world of indie rock knows no bounds – instead, band members of one band crop up in another, as friends collaborate with mates.

Matthew Aulich is a case in point. He’s been there, and done that – as part of the Paradise Motel, he decamped to England to try and ‘make it’, and for a while there it seemed likely to happen. Feted by other bands and the likes of influential DJ John Peel, and then it all went pear-shaped as the band splintered under record company pressures and mounting debts.

Now returned to Melbourne after a short time spent living in Adelaide, Aulich is a survivor. “We’ve got a bond made from down the years,” he agrees dryly. These days he has to combine a full-time job, a two-and-half year old daughter, and the burgeoning sounds of Small Sips, a collaborative effort fellow former Motel member Matthew Bailey and Sodastream frontman Karl Smith.

“It’s tricky,” he says of the time juggling. “You find the old saying ‘you want something done give it to a busy person’, and you just learn to organise your time a bit better and make the best of the time that you’ve got. There are compensations, and this project has been rewarding and any time that I put into it I get a lot of satisfaction back.”

After guesting with Drugstore in the UK, Aulich had amassed a huge amount of music, which he then recorded upon returning to Australia. It was while working a dead-end day job that he gave those experiments to Karl, who then gave it back to him. “It was like, my god, I wrote these songs for you, and I’d never even met you! I think I met him at the right time in his personal live, and there was plenty of inspiration.”

The Morning Ripples dates from the time between Sodastream’s A Minor Revival and this year’s On Reservation. “If that gap hadn’t have been there then maybe this would never have happened,” Matthew ponders. “There’s been no gap since, let’s put it that way, and it’s been a prolonged gestation for this record. By some unfortunate circumstance our record, Sodastream’s record, and Gaslight Radio’s record have all come out within a month of each other, and Matt [Bailey] plays on Gaslight Radio’s record as well. So Matt’s involved in three records in three consecutive months, because he plays with Sodastream as well when they play live.”

When it comes to playing live, Small Sips are going to try and drag anyone and everyone who played on the record – which includes members of the Drones, Ninetynine and other Melbourne indie rock luminaries – on stage at some point. “It could get a little bit crowded at times,” he confirms, “but hopefully that will work. For the interstate shows it will be the three of us, plus Campbell who plays guitar, who’ll be doing a few different roles, and hopefully Mike Noga [drums] will be able to get some recreation leave from the Drones, but otherwise we’ve got another guy on top of the wishlist.”

Given that it took so long for Small Sips to see their album come out, it’s no surprise to find that their recording sessions for the bed instrumental tracks with Leah Baker, from ABC Studios in Melbourne, occurred almost a year before the release. The vocals stretched out for some time after that, with recording taking place at Karl’s house. A sense of frustration must have crept in for Aulich, with many of the songs written many years before that. “Look,” he begins, “there has been frustration and maybe if I was ten years younger I wouldn’t have been handling it so well, but most of the reasons that it’s been delayed have been because of Karl, Matt, and I, and not for reasons of others mucking us around. I’m cool about it, and after you wait a while it doesn’t matter if you wait a little longer.”

As most musicians do, Aulich has returned to writing new material. Fingers crossed this will result in a second Small Sips release, as The Morning Ripples is a great beginning for a group that promise so much more, and can most certainly add something else to the Australian music community. Although he’s not fussed about it at this stage: he just wants this album to get out there, and for the group to tour to support it. “We’ll see where we’re at. Matt would like to do a solo record, and I would like to see him do a solo record, because the world deserves it as he’s a great talent and a great writer, and I wish we’d known what a voice he had in the Paradise Motel, as it would have been a great resource.”

The Paradise Motel’s vocalist, Merida Sussex, always sounded amazing, but combined with the dark baritone of Bailey, the Paradise Motel may well have had an extra arsenal in their repertoire. “Wouldn’t it have been great?” he agrees.

Matthew lets it slip that after their incredible second record Flight Paths, the band did indeed record a follow-up. “Maybe it will come out,” he hints, “but who knows. We live across three different countries and it’s pretty difficult for us to convene to discuss these things, and we feel in two minds about it, as the record wasn’t finished – it’s not properly mixed – so we’re not entirely confident about putting it out. We did talk about doing a best-of and maybe releasing it at the same time, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.”

Small Sips’ The Morning Ripples is out now. Dates:
Thursday 17 August: Northcote Social Club, Melbourne
Friday 25 August: The Hopetoun, Sydney
Saturday 26 August: The Troubadour, Brisbane