No, not me! The band ME. This lot are a very theatrical guitar outfit, with a nod in the direction of Muse. Signed to Lizard King, the UK home of The Killers, their album’s almost completed and will be with us early in 2012.
A stunning live band, they have played some rather odd shows, including playing at London’s Kings Cross St. Pancras Station on 6th October. They have played both acoustically and as a full-on live band; trumpets, big band drums, and dry ice included! The band are on tour with Evanescence now, and have just confirmed dates with Kasabian. We interrupted their busy schedule to throw a few questions their way.
The sound of the band is unique, who are your influences?
We mostly love the classic British supergroups; The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Queen, etc. As a 4-member musical appreciation committee we love Tchaikovsky and other dramatic classical film soundtracks e.g. Danny Elfman, chorales, requiems, and musicals. Modern stuff we love is Rufus Wainwright, The Mars Volta, Radiohead, System of a Down, and loads of other artists that have got their shit together.
OK, what’s all this about Damian and Mikey meeting at a “spiritualist nudist festival?!”
Well, it wasn’t exactly a nudist festival…though there happen to be a lot of nude people there. It’s a pretty “out there” festival in the Australian bush, by a river, in summer. Really good vibe though, like your Shamballah Festival or Secret Garden Party but with those extreme alternative elements pushed much further (too far for some), much warmer weather and minus a lot of clothing and any historical context. It is a supreme place to jam and make new friends/lovers.
What are the musical tastes of the individual members of the band?
We’re all into the music listed above, though Luke loves classy vocal stuff like Edith Piaf and Judy Garland, Damian loves heavier stuff like Deftones and Mastodon, Mikey likes groovier stuff like Grizzly Bear and Bonobo, and Spike is a smooth motherfucker who likes Miles Davis and Buddy Rich.
What is the current musical scene in Melbourne like?
Healthy as always, though we’re not there to experience it. There are lots of venues, lots of people going out midweek for a city of that size, and lots of different genres alive in Melbourne. Mikey’s sister is doing very well there, she’s getting some great gigs and supports. Hiatus Kaiyote, her band is called.
Are you predominantly studio rats or a live band?
We would love to have been studio rats in the past but they do cost or require favours unless you actually are a member of the rodent species. So, we’ve built up our live show and when we do launches we aim for them to have elements of the ridiculous. We bring guest brass sections, drum troupes, choirs, extend our songs and have performance art between bands. In the studio we’ve recently been recording our debut album with Barney (Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, Placebo, The Music) – an experience from which we’ve learned loads about live performance. We are happy being a live band but I would like to spend more time in the studio. I also love live recordings.
Vinyl, CD, or MP3?
Mp3 for me, but I think Luke would say that he likes vinyl. But then again, he makes mp3 copies of his favourite vinyl. The four of us care about artwork, so it will be a shame when the CD moves on as a format – I haven’t seen many CD playing devices in stores lately…
Tell us about the best moments in your career so far.
It’s getting better all the time! We’ve had a lot of good news over the past few months, and coming to England in general is a massive highlight for us because we’ve always wanted to be here. Airplay is always a great moment, I will never tire of that honour. We’ve also done some cool tours and shows in Australia. A single launch we did was a particularly good memory because we were unmanaged and pulled off a huge event by ourselves. We’ve filmed it and put some of it on YouTube…
And the worst…
We had a pre-drummer period where we could only perform our songs acoustically. We soon grew to hate it as we’ve always wanted to play big, crazy, theatrical rock shows. We ended up getting a session guy until we found Spike. Since then I haven’t minded challenges and I like to keep a steady outlook. We’ve had our share of disappointments, and there are some places where we just can’t win, such as Canberra. But these are all temporary things and you’ve just got to snap out of it and stay focused on where you’re intending to get to.
Is the album dead? Your thoughts please gentlemen.
Nope! Like most people I know, I’m very rarely interested in individual songs compared to a unified “body of work.” There’ll always be payoffs for hard work aligned by a common thread, just like a film or a thesis. It takes a whole crew to make, produce, promote, and tour an album, just like a film. It really is something to celebrate and get naked for. And plus, I think people can consume a song quite quickly; it takes longer to find your favourites on an album and to work out which songs last the test of time. It’s not always the singles that do.
What are your plans for the future?
We’re loving being in England. For November we’ve scored supports with two large bands taking us around the country and into Scotland and France. Our debut album is being mixed and we’re extremely happy with it so far. We recorded lots of songs and have lots more unrecorded, so for this album we’re spoiled for choice. We plan on touring a lot next year and playing a lot more festivals, as well as getting ready to record again as soon as we can.
