Canberra band Hancock Basement are ready to take Australia by storm with their catchy tunes and infectious energy. I caught up with the multi-talented Nick Beresford-Wylie (he sings, and plays guitar, keyboards, and saxophone!) to hear about the Canberra music scene, his love of vinyl, and the band’s upcoming Sydney shows.

You won the Triple J Trackside Unearthed competition last year. How many doors has that title opened for the band?
Winning the Trackside Unearthed competition has certainly been a great help as it earned us national exposure and radio airplay, which in turn have helped us in booking shows and reaching a wider audience. It’s also great to be able to say we’re a Triple J Unearthed band.

What was it like to play for the crowds at the Trackside festival?
Playing Trackside was a pretty great but slightly bizarre experience. Although we were on early we played to a pretty huge crowd of all ages, which was a lot of fun. However, halfway through our set the wind began howling and it started to pour with rain. Then the stage power cut out and our drummer Tom had to launch into an ad lib solo and our singer Craven did some crowd interaction dance moves. After a few nerve-wracking minutes the power came back and we were able to finish our set. The crowd wasn’t phased though and the soloing/dancing received some pretty loud cheers.

You’re from Canberra. What can you tell me about it the music scene there?
Canberra has a lot of talent at the moment although, sadly, this is let down by the lack of live music venues. We were very sad to see the Greenroom close last year (one of Canberra’s long standing dedicated live music venues). It makes it more difficult for local bands to get the chances they deserve. However, Transit Bar, the ANU Bar, The Basement and the Phoenix Bar are still great places to see local rock and indie music.