For Oliver and Louis Leimbach of Lime Cordiale, performing with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra is a full-circle moment.

Speaking to CityMag outside his studio in Sydney, where the rock band is putting the final touches on its upcoming album, Oliver said it had always been a “dream” to play with an orchestra.

The brothers grew up surrounded by classical music, with their mother an accomplished cellist and pianist. She inspired Oliver to pick up the clarinet while Louis played trumpet in school.

“We did play with orchestras in high school, and I went to the con and played in orchestras, but now it’s with the symphony orchestra behind us, and we’re standing in front of them – that’s pretty insane,” Oliver, who counts tango composer Astor Piazolla as his favourite, says.

This June 11, Lime Cordiale will be joining forces with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra for a special performance at Festival Theatre as part of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, which will be the last show on an Australia-wide tour.

Expect to hear hits from across the band’s career, including ‘Robbery’, ‘Temper Temper’, ‘Hanging Upside Down and ‘I Touch Myself’, given orchestral treatment.

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“If you like Lime Cordiale, then this is an opportunity to see, definitely, a very different rendition of it,” Oliver tells CityMag.

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“If you’re a lover of classical music and not so much the pop world or something, I think this will be right for you and everything.”

Lime Cordiale was formed in 2009, with Oliver playing bass guitar, trumpet and kazoo, while Louis plays guitar, clarinet, with both brothers also singing.

“I always wanted to be in a band, so I turned to my little brother, who was playing bass and singing in the shower. I could hear him – he just had a great voice, and I was like, ‘Maybe, you know, we should start writing songs together’,” Louis says.

When asked why the band is a good fit for orchestral music, Oliver says Lime Cordiale arranges its music with a classical mindset.

“We’re not really a band that gets into a garage and just like jams it out, turns up the volume – we tend to sit down and arrange each part a little bit more as classical composers do,” Oliver says.

“Maybe that influence of the classical world with the melodies is in there somewhere. I mean, it feels like that more so now that we’re hearing these parts played on orchestral instruments – some bits do sound quite classical.”

Oliver says Lime Cordiale was “100 per cent” involved in creating the arrangements alongside Alex Turley, saying a key part of the brief was to allow the orchestra to shine through.

“He’s amazing, and because we had that classical knowledge, we didn’t feel intimidated by him or anything. We had these great conversations back and forth and worked together in a room, and then he’d go off and do his thing,” he says.

“We really arranged all of our parts that would normally be on a guitar or a synthesiser or a piano, and they’re on orchestral instruments now, so that’s what to me feels pretty special.”

“It’s really great working with someone where you come up with a bit of a wacky idea, and they just say yes to it, like that’s the key to creativity – really saying, ‘Yes’.”

Oliver says there was a lot of back and forth over choosing the setlist for the show.

“We had this Excel document with different tabs going, like, here are all of these songs that we think might be good, and then we nailed them down.”

As for his favourite moment during the performance, Oliver enjoys it when there is a transition from one song to another, with one of the band members breaking out in a “big solo” while the orchestra plays alone.

“I love those moments, because I can just sit back and watch and listen and not have to think about what I’m doing,” he says.

Lime Cordiale and Adelaide Symphony Orchestra will be performing at Festival Theatre on June 11 for the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.