When 28 Days and Area-7 [above] announced they would be doing a run of dual headline shows up the east coast throughout June and July, we grabbed the chance to speak with two founding members of the veteran Aussie bands. As it turns out, it was also a chance for two great mates to catch up on old times.
“We enjoyed our glory days around the same time as the 28 Days guys, and we did a lot of tours together early in the piece,” says Area-7 frontman John ‘Stevo’ Stevens. “We’ve been mates for a long time, like a lot of Melbourne-based bands. Everybody sort of knows each other.”
“We all get along really well,” agrees 28 Days bass player Damian Gardiner. “At the start of last year when Area-7 were playing at Soundwave, they did a secret show and I was speaking to Stevo then about this tour. So it has been a year and a bit in the making.”
“We talked about doing almost like a mini-Warped Tour sort of thing,” says Stevens, “where we’d get a few of the bands that did Warped back in the day to come together and play some shows. Unfortunately it’s not always possible to do that, so we thought at the very least let’s put two of the bands together and then pick up some local supports for each city. And that’s what we’ve done, and it’s something we’re very excited about.”
The Roll The Dice tour arrives at The Bald Faced Stag on Saturday July 23. “We’ve been dying to put these shows on,” says Gardiner. “We’ve been waiting so long to go on tour with Area-7, because we’ve done tours with Bodyjar, Frenzal Rhomb and all those kind of bands that are the new vintage, but Area-7 is the only band we haven’t been on the road with in years.”
Something that sets this tour apart from the rest is that the set times are literally decided by a roll of the dice. “This tour will be great because we’re not sure who will headlining on each night, hence the name,” Stevens says. “You’ll notice on the promo posters that the names swap around. That was done quite deliberately. We will simply roll the dice on the night and see who goes on first.”
Fans are also being treated to a hand-picked support band, unique to their city. “We really wanted to support local bands and give them a chance to play in front of a room full of new people,” says Gardiner. “We always love to support younger bands. Some approach us at shows and we steer them in the right direction. We’ve got age and years of experience, so that’s something we’ve always done and will continue doing, I hope. Frenzal Rhomb gave us a hand up back in the day, so we’ve got to pay it forward.”
“I have a lot of love for the up-and-comers,” Stevens adds, “and I have a lot of hope that they’ll get to do some of the things that we got to do, because any band that’s playing live and doing it, I absolutely respect.”
Despite ruling the live music scene in the late ’90s and early 2000s, Stevens and Gardiner both sympathise with aspiring Aussie musicians today. Dwindling numbers of music venues, the growth of streaming services and ongoing fierce competition have left cracks in a once-thriving industry.
“I’m a bit older than most of the guys in the band these days,” Stevens says. “I was around in the ’80s and I remember that I was in bands that were playing four or five nights a week to full houses right across the state, and that just doesn’t happen these days. I think the music scene is really in a sad state at the moment. I hate to ever think it would die.”
Regardless of the health of the live scene, Gardiner says Sydney’s Roll The Dice show will be all killer, no filler. “We’ve got very cool, loyal fans, and we want to keep them happy and give them what they want. We’ve never had a problem with playing our hits. We will definitely play ‘Say What?’, ‘Kool’, ‘Goodbye’, ‘Sucker’, ‘Rip It Up’ and ‘What’s The Deal?’.”
“It’s going to be hits and memories for us too,” Stevens says. “We’re not trying to get a new record deal or anything like that, so it’s just fun for us.”
“Yeah, both bands don’t take ourselves too seriously,” adds Gardiner. “A lot of people who grew up with our music are married now with kids, so it’s a good excuse to get out of the house, let your hair down and have a bit of fun – and remember how it used to be back in the early 2000s.”
“We never made a lot of money out of the music thing. We sold a lot of records and someone made a lot of money, but it wasn’t us,” Stevens laughs. “But that’s alright. I mean, you never join a band to make a lot of money anyway, right? Especially a seven- or eight-piece band, that’s for sure. It’s always been a labour of love for us, not to make a pocketful of money.”
28 Days & Area-7play The Bald Faced Stag on Saturday July 23.
