Category: Interviews

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with The William Street Strikers’ Andrew Matters

The William Street Strikers are on the up with their debut album set to launch soon and an extensive Aussie tour lined up to promote it. I caught up with the band’s lead singer Andrew Matters before the madness begins to talk about the new release, the upcoming tour, and that quirky name.

Your band’s got a really interesting name. How did that come about?
We got our name for a few reasons. Firstly, we just wanted a name that would last the test of time and not date. We also wanted a name that could mean something or nothing, the reason being so we could release a number of albums under its banner and grow artistically without the name impeding that process by meaning something too genre specific. Then we also wanted a name with a bit of grunt and “urban decay cool” to it, which I think the name has. And finally, two of us live on William Street and we thought “OK, we live on William Street, we jam in the shed, so the William Street … ummmnnnn hey strikers!? Yeah , right on! Let’s go with that. I’d like to say we’re left wing socialists with an egalitarian ethos championing the rights of the down trodden but not just yet.

How would you describe your music for the uninitiated?
Our music is essentially designed to work in a live setting, to deal with the Australian pub punter who, in our experience, has a short attention span and demands to be entertained. So we are straight to the point without much excess. We road test our songs in this arena and if we go out and play a song and people jump up and down and clap then it makes the cut.

You’ve just finished recording your debut album. What can you tell me about it?
Our album has been a watershed moment for us. We have been working towards it for three years, and with hindsight it seems like in logical steps but in reality it came about because of someone else’s faith in us and their willingness to fund it. Having not to worry about financing it ourselves allowed us to really focus on the art of making music, as trite as that sounds it is a truism I think, to just worry about the essence of what music is all about.
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Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with The Fearless Vampire Killers’ Al Marx

The Fearless Vampire Killers have currently left the stakes at home and packed up their touring van for shows in Victoria and New South Wales. I recently caught up with band’s lead guitarist Al Marx to chat about his band’s unusual moniker, their new single “For You and Me,” and the album to come.


I love your band’s name. It’s got to be one of the most creative in the music industry at present. Where did it come from?
Honestly, we stole it. It was a bit of a throwaway title to begin with, but I think we’ve all grown to love it. The only real aim at the time was to have an obscenely long name to dwarf others on bills.

You weren’t worried about the wrath of a thousand young Twilight fans at all?
It might get a little bumpy, but we maintain it’s just a phase.

I’m sure most people won’t forget your band’s name in a hurry, but can you describe your sound for the uninitiated?
The closest we can get is bluesy-western-surf-rock.

You’re touring your home state at present, and you’ll end up in Sydney in July. How are the shows going?
We haven’t had so much fun since the ice-cream mountain.  That was a happy day.

I hear that your last Melbourne show generated some major buzz. What is it that makes your live shows so special?
Our live show has always been our focus. If we’re in a good mood you’ll have a good time.  If you have a bad time it was the sound guy.
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Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Emery’s Toby Morell

Next week South Carolina rockers Emery promise plenty of attitude as they bring their We Do What We Want tour to Australia. I recently caught up with the band’s vocalist Toby Morell to chat about the upcoming shows, the new album of the same name, and why he loves Australia.

You’ve visited our shores before but this is your first time in Australia as the main attraction. How does it feel to step up out of  that supporting role?
It feels great. We love getting to headline. We get to play more songs  and really get to give the crowd our all. It is a little intimidating to do this in a different country but Australia always treats us really well.

This will be your fourth trip to Australia. What makes you want to keep on coming back?
It’s so fun. You guys have great sites, food, and the shows are always really fun to play. It could never get old.

You’ve got a pretty hectic schedule. Will you get any time to play tourist?
I hope so. We have seen a lot on our other trips but it is always nice to see things you’ve only gotten to read about in books or seen in pictures.  I wish we could actually go to the Outback once, but we are scared we will die.

One of the more interesting stops on your tour is EasterFest, which has one of the most eclectic festival line-ups I’ve ever seen. There’s everything from metal to pop to gospel on the bill. Are you looking forward to taking part in such a diverse event?
Yes! We have heard about EasterFest and cant wait to play with all the amazing bands. I think it’s more fun when the bands are so diverse. There is a different kind of music happening all the time. You can’t get bored. It’s impossible.

Given that diversity there’s likely to be a lot of people at EasterFest who aren’t familiar with your music. Why should they check out your set?
I hate to toot our own horn but we really put on a crazy live show. We want to bring the music to life and always try to create a show that you will never forget.

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Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with The Trews’ John-Angus MacDonald

Canadian rockers The Trews clearly love our country. They’re currently enjoying their second visit in 12 months with four solid weeks of local shows. I caught up with the band’s guitarist John-Angus MacDonald to chat about these gigs, The Trews’ new album Hope & Ruin, and why he loves Australia.

You’ve just kicked off a month-long stint in Australia. How are your shows going so far?
Good. We’ve had some great crowds so far and I feel like it can only get better from here. It took us a few days to get in the groove – we played our first show the day we flew in from Canada – but we feel like our internal clocks have now been reset and we’re ready to rock.

How do Australian audiences differ from the ones back home?
Not that different really, especially due to the huge number of Canadians turning out every night! I feel like our two countries have a lot in common which one of the reasons that I think we could have a good career here.

You were only just here last September. What encouraged you to come back so soon?
Back in the fall we feel like we caught a glimpse of what could be down here and wanted to get back soon to explore it further.

You’ve enjoyed real success in Canada, so it must be almost like starting over to come here where you don’t have that profile. What inspired you to try to crack the Australian market?
True, it’s a little like going back to our early club days in Canada but we feel that in order for the band to have longevity we have to break a few other markets. We can’t just have Canada or they’ll get sick of us!

Since you’re here for a month, are you planning on doing any sightseeing? What do you want to see?
Our drummer Sean and I have taken up surfing which has been great. I’d also like to tour the Opera House, climb the bridge, go to the zoo, swim with sharks … you know, the usual.
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Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Oh Sleeper’s Micah Kinard

Texan metal gods Oh Sleeper are planning a return visit to our shores as part of the massive No Surrender tour. I recently caught up with the band’s lead vocalist Micah Kinard to chat about his love for Australia, his relationship with touring buddies The Chariot, and Oh Sleeper’s plans for world domination.

You were only just here in September. What made you want to return to Australia so soon?
Have you seen your country? We had an awesome time there. It was so much fun, and everyone we met and worked with down there was a total delight, so we definitely wanted to get back as soon as we could. The first offer that popped up we took, so we’re excited about it.

This tour’s traveling from the west to east of Australia. Are you looking forward to seeing a bit more of the countryside than you did last time?
I am! It was actually pretty surprising, when we went there last time, it was our first time ever and the shows were all great, we had an awesome time at them. But also Taperjean, the company that brought us over, they received a bunch of e-mails from other places that wanted us to come through there also. So that was a nice surprise. I think this time we’re trying to hit all those places that we got e-mails from and, like you said, see more of the countryside which I’m really excited about.

And it’s all happening in the space of just eight days. Does that fast and furious pace suit you, or would you prefer to do things a bit more leisurely?
You kind of just get used to it. We’ve been doing this for the past five, five and a half years and that’s just kind of the pace it’s set at, you know? I’m pretty sure anyone in a touring band, especially internationally, can relate. It’s just a lifestyle you’ve got to get used to. You start to realise that vacations for you are more just staying at your real house, sitting in your back yard in a lawn chair. That’s a vacation; not really getting up and going somewhere.

How do audiences in Australia differ from those back home?
Really they were super welcoming. The States are great. When you have a good show in the States, it’s definitely crazy and off the wall. But the thing that was really nice about going to Australia is that everyone had a genuine appreciation for you being there. Even if they didn’t come to see you, they still gave you the respect of watching and applauding and everything like that. The shows that we had over there, the vast majority of them got pretty crazy. And as far as the fans, they were stage diving and crowd surfing and everything like that. The crowds were good enough to get us thirsty to come back, so we’re excited.

You’re touring Australia with fellow countrymen The Chariot. Now you go way back with these guys and have toured America with them. Are you looking forward to having them on the road with you?
Oh definitely. The Chariot’s one of our favourite bands to tour with. We’ve done a number of tours with them over here in the States. It’s kind of a situation where everyone in the bands clicks with each another, with the respective members of the other bands and everything, we all mesh well and the second we get together it’s always a fun time, so thinking of touring the world with your some of your best friends is always a recipe for a good time.

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Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Kids at Risk’s Sep Caton

I wrote recently about my excitement about the release of Griff the Invisible, and the film’s soundtrack penned by Sydney band Kids at Risk. So I was thrilled to recently catch up with Sep Caton to talk about his band’s involvement with the movie, the lead single “Doing The Best That We Can,” and the upcoming tour.

Kids at Risk

You’ve just written the soundtrack for the upcoming Aussie film Griff the Invisible. Why did you want to be involved with this movie?
The filmmaker Leon Ford, who wrote and directed the film, and also the producer Nicole O’Donohue are friends of everybody in the band, and we had known about this film coming for quite some time. And anybody who had heard about it, no matter what sort of field you were in, you just wanted to be a part of this film. Every actor in town wanted an audition, anybody who’s on a crew just wanted to be a part of it. It was something special, and you could tell that by the very first time you read the script.

So at first I was at a party with Leon and he was talking a little bit about the music and just some songs by some other Australian bands that he wanted to put in there, and I said about one of the songs he wanted to put in there “Hey, I do a really good cover of that! How about I whack something down for you, you can have a quick listen, and if you like it you can use that; might be a bit cheaper” and yada yada, it just kept going on and on.

And eventually we went in for a meeting with the filmmakers, and they showed us the set and everything. We were just so excited. And they said “Well we also need a score” and we said “We’ll do that!” “And we need some other songs …” “Oh we’ll do that!” And by the end of that meeting we walked out with the soundtrack in our hands basically. So yeah, it was a great opportunity.

Is there any difference approaching writing a film soundtrack compared to a regular band recording?
Oh definitely. When you’re doing something for yourself you basically write for you, but when you’re writing for a film there’s a certain part of you that says “I need to put myself into the head of that character,” and that’s what we did. We basically with this movie approached it “What would this character, what would the song be in his head as he’s walking down the street?” or “What would she be hearing and humming to herself as she’s going about her business?” And that’s what we sort of did; we put ourselves in the minds of the characters and that’s where it came from.

The first single “Doing the Best That We Can” sounds great. Was it as much fun to record as it is to listen to?
It was. It was fast and furious, I’ve got to say. I think we did the whole recording for that song in around 45 minutes, at the very end of the recording process. It was just something we went “Here we go” whack-whack-whack-whack-whack. It didn’t have a place in the film at the time; it was just something we’d been working on that sounded great. We just had a lot of fun with it. Originally it wasn’t going to be a single or anything but it was one of those songs that if anyone’s heard it, 10 minutes later you hear them humming it, then an hour later they’re still humming it, then the next day walking down the stairs still humming it. So we went “Oh right, hello, we’d better do something with this song.” So yeah, eventually it became the single.

This movie’s picking up some real global buzz after being accepted into film festivals in Toronto and Berlin. Are you guys hoping to capitalise on that international attention and take your music overseas?
We’d be crazy not to, wouldn’t we? We originally had plans to go to Berlin; not to play or anything but to be there for the film. We were really just so proud of it, we wanted to be there for the filmmakers. But we’d like to capitalise on this however we can overseas, and here at home as well. We’re certainly hoping to make the most of it.

You’ll be appearing at local film festivals and premieres to promote the movie and your work with it. That’s a very different scene for musicians. Are you looking forward to it?

Yes, we are actually. They’re related worlds, but they’re certainly a bit different. The funny thing is with Kids at Risk, is that many of us have a film or television background, whether in front or behind the camera. So it’s not exactly a new world to us, but it is fun to collide our two worlds together.
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Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Silent Feature Era’s Greg Cathcart

With an “antiquated sensibility” and healthy sense of humour, it’s safe to say that Silent Feature Era aren’t like other bands. With their debut This Old Leather Heart ready for release on March 4 I caught up with the band’s Greg Cathcart to chat about the album, the band’s upcoming launch, and what the future holds.

You’re officially releasing your debut album This Old Leather Heart next month. What can you tell me about it?
It was a studio experiment really in the very beginning. It started to take more shape the more songs we wrote and recorded. There were recurring themes popping up lyrically and musically, and I guess that’s when we realized we were actually making a record, not only just experimenting with some songs.

I say officially launch, because the album has actually been available to listen to on your website for some time. Why did you decide to make it so accessible?
At this stage, the more people that hear it the better. I don’t think it does any harm to let people have a free listen.

I hear there are more than 20 musicians on the album. What’s it like to share that creative process with such a large group?
It was actually quite humbling that so many people took an interest it what we were doing. We certainly felt loved. I don’t think we ever recorded all 20 all at once though. Maybe we can hire some caterers and do that for the next record.

You’re going to launch the album in front of your Brisbane home crowd. Are you looking forward to getting out and playing for your local fans?
Yes. I think it’s going to be a great night. Everyone will get a free pony.

What can punters expect at the launch?
The plan is, a 44 gallon drum, a trash rack loaded with things that clang and smash, a small horn section, handsome Luke Sullivan, a chainsaw juggler and several clowns on unicycle … oh and a Rolls Royce.

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Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Go/No-Go

Go/No-Go are a Sydney five-piece with a big future. After cutting their eye teeth performing with bands like Spod, Devoted Few, and 78 Saab these lads have found the right combination. I caught up with Tarek Darwish, Dan Arena, and Steve Claxton ahead of the launch of their new single “Lost in Berlin” to talk about the song, their recent time in the studio, and what the future holds for this exciting new band.

People outside of Sydney may be unaware of your music. For the uninitiated, how would you describe your sound?
Stirring, powerful, angular synth-rock. We play pop songs with an indie aesthetic, but we’ve got 2 drummers so it is a little more rhythmic and experimental than most bands perhaps.

You’re about to release your third single “Lost in Berlin.” What can you tell me about the song?
This one went through about a hundred different versions before we figured out how to make it work. It started off as this weird electronic thing with almost no live instrumentation. Now when we play it live, it’s a bit of a crazy jam. There’s a lot going on, lots of keyboards and samples.

You’re going to launch the single at the Sandringham Hotel, which is such a lovely little pub. What do you enjoy about playing those sorts of small, intimate shows?
The Sando’s in a really good spot, the refurbishment they did last year is a big improvement on the old stage. The new room is actually a pretty decent size; it’s just got a great vibe now.

What can music lovers expect if they come down and see you live?
We haven’t played many shows recently, so we’ve had the chance to change a few things around and tighten some of the songs up a bit.

We’re lucky to have a bit of flexibility on stage. Some songs have the double-drummer thing happening, other songs we’ve got three people playing keyboards; it’s a bit random at times.

Will fans in other states get to see you playing any time soon?

We’re always keen to play wherever we can, and I’d be surprised if we haven’t done a few Melbourne shows by the end of the year. Getting further afield is going to depend on everyone’s timetables lining up though.
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Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Avalon Drive’s Damion Page

Brisbane band Avalon Drive crushed fans when they split up in November 2008, but the time is right for a reunion. The lads will play one last show at the Hi-Fi Bar on February 5. I caught up with lead singer Damion Page to talk about the show, Avalon Drive’s heyday, and how the Queenslanders are giving back to their city after the recent floods.

You disbanded in 2008. Why was the time right now for one more show?
People change. I needed some time and a break to get back to basics with music. As much as it pained me back then to disband, I back my decision up 100%. I don’t think we should ever have to sacrifice our love for music for something you aren’t 100% happy with. Music is an extension of me and nothing felt right. Come 2011, everything is feeling great and we are pumped about everything that is happening.

How are you feeling at the prospect of playing together again?
Doesn’t feel like we ever stopped, the energy, ideas are all still alive. If anything we have more of an understanding of what we all need from playing music and embrace absolutely everything that’s put out there. Onstage is going to be electric, always has been.

You’re playing again in front of your hometown audience. How important were the people of Brisbane to your success?
My god how Brisbane backs their own bands. It’s simply amazing and still astounds me how alive Avalon Drive fans were and still are. It’s nuts. We are so fortunate and we are so grateful for it. We never ever truly got to thank everyone; this is our way of doing that. By bringing everyone into one room, singing the same songs. Without our Brisbane fans and friends behind us, it just wouldn’t have been the same.

I’m sure this show will be extra poignant considering everything Queensland is going through at the moment. Have you or any of the other members of the band been directly affected by the floods?
I think all of Australia has been affected. It’s certainly made me realize how fragile life can be and I think I can speak for most people out there when I say how important your friends and family are. We decided to give all our profits from this show to those affected by the floods and hope that Brisbane gets back to being beautiful Brisbane ASAP. A few members were caught in the midst of the drama but no story can compare to the tragedies some of our neighbours have faced with the loss of their loved ones. Too hard to put into words I’m sorry.

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Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Q & A with Daniel Lee Kendall

After releasing the gorgeous Lost in the Moment EP last year, Daniel Lee Kendall is preparing to leave the Central Coast and show Australia what he can do. As part of the One for the Road tour, Daniel Lee will visit capital cities and regional towns around the country with Old Man River and Passenger. I chatted with Daniel today about that tour, playing some of Australia’s coolest festivals, and what’s next for this promising singer-songwriter.

You’re about to hit the road with Old Man River and Passenger, which is probably your biggest tour to date. How are you feeling about that?
Yeah, I’m excited. I suppose it’s my first actual tour so it’s going to be good to get a string of shows in a row. I’m looking forward to going to a bunch of states and all of that.

Is there anywhere in particular that you’re really keen to see?
Well, somewhere outside of New South Wales I guess. That’d be pretty good I think.

I daresay many punters will be coming out to see the other acts, but they might not be so familiar with your music. How do you plan on winning them over?
I guess I can only do what I can do, be myself. Just sing my songs and be myself as much as I can, and if they like what they see, that’s great. I don’t actually have a specific strategy.

What can music fans expect if they turn up early enough to hear your set?
A nice, intimate, sort of story of my life in musical form I guess.

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