After roaring out of Canada in the early 2000s, it didn’t take long for Alexisonfire to reach legendary status.

15 years, four studio albums and countless tours later, the band has become a staple in many a record collection. Ahead of the North Americans’ 2017 tour Down Under, we have a chat with vocalist, founding member and all-round good bloke, George Pettit.

“Australia is a very, very easy place for us to come to,” says Pettit. “Not getting there – getting there is actually a bit of bollocks – but once we’re there it’s the easiest place to tour for us. We always have the best possible time. I think there’s some sort of weird brother-from-another-mother scenario between Canadians and Australians.”

Pettit’s words are no surprise given the band’s epic touring history, which has included more than a few cheeky Aussie jaunts. “We both have this gigantic country without a lot of people in it,” he says. “People are friendly and in for a good time. There’s something very similar about coming to Australia for us.”

This is a pretty impressive compliment from someone like Pettit, who has travelled to most corners of the planet with his music. “There’s a lot of really wonderful places in the world,” he says. “As far as being wildly different from anything Western or English-speaking, Japan is a very awe-inspiring place to go to. It’s just so different from any other city. But there’s lots of cool cities around. We always enjoyed going through Europe and even across Canada. Our country is so big, even getting to the other side is very different.”

Despite Alexisonfire’s sizeable following these days, Pettit still remembers the times they were decidedly grimier, crafting their songs in their first rehearsal space. “It was an insulation factory in St. Catharines and we had a room in the back of it,” he recalls. “There were all these chemical smells kind of going on – it was just a dingy back room in this place. But you could just make a lot of noise and it didn’t really matter.”

Pettit also has a few tales to tell from the touring side of things. “We’ve done all sorts. We’ve done a lot of dirty stuff, a lot of sleeping in the van. The first US tours we would do, we’d ask people onstage, ‘So like hey, if anyone could put us up, that’d be great,’” he laughs.

One can only imagine the kind of reaction this would elicit at a show these days. “You’d go to the crowd and see who seems the least crazy, or judge who had the best living arrangement. Then you just go and stay with them. And we did that for a long time, because you’ve got to save money on the road, you know?”

It’s safe to say, however, that Alexisonfire’s impending visit to our shores will be nothing short of colossal. Pettit is looking forward to playing all kinds of stuff from the band’s short but sweet discography, which was interrupted by a break-up in 2011 before a 2015 reunion tour.

“I get excited for all of [the songs], and now especially,” he says. “There was a period toward the end of the band… we were playing so much that I could have those sorts of opinions. But now it’s that I play so little with Alexis that really just getting up onstage again feels really good.”

These days, Pettit enjoys a decidedly more chilled lifestyle outside the band. Music is still in his blood – as evident with his new band Dead Tired – but that five-piece is on a smaller scale to Alexisonfire. “That’s the more kind of weekend, hobby band that just keeps me on the stage,” he says. “It’s just a fun little side thing that I do with some friends.”

When he’s not playing music, Pettit can often be found attempting to school his seven-year-old son on the virtues of punk music. “I’ve done my best to shelter him from top 40 pop music,” the singer laughs. “But he goes to daycare and he goes to school, so he hears the Frozen soundtrack. And like ‘Whip/Nae Nae’ and all this stuff. It’s all just so immediately gratifying. All of a sudden he wants to come home and hear those songs. For a while, though, he was doing pretty good, and into stuff like The Velvet Underground and Suicide – all this weird stuff that his dad likes.”

Still, remembering his own parents’ music taste from when he was young, Pettit hasn’t totally given up hope on his offspring. “I remember a lot of long car rides with my parents listening to Roy Orbison and wanting to jump out of a window. Now I love Roy Orbison! I really do, more than Elvis. He’s incredible.”

Pettit has also done his research on Australian music, and not just so he can talk it up ahead of his forthcoming visit. “I am among many people who find Nick Cave to be one of the greatest artists of our generation,” he says. “I’m [also] a big fan of the first wave of Australian punk and garage music. X, Razar, Boys Next Door, The News. I traded some rare Alexisonfire records to a gentleman online once for a copy of Ball Power by The Coloured Balls. You’ve also got Eddy Current Suppression Ring, My Disco, Royal Headache – those are the kind of bands that resonate with me the most, but I’m sure I’m forgetting something.”

Pettit is particularly keen to share Australia with his son, whom he’ll be bringing with him for the tour. “It’s going to be really fun. He came out once when Alexis played in Hamilton one time, when he was really young. Then we brought him out to Riot Fest last year, but he has no recollection of it [laughs]. I’m hoping to kind of blow his mind. Every time I think I’m going to be like, ‘Hey, look how cool your dad is!’ he’s completely unimpressed.

“There’s a local magazine that Dead Tired was on the cover of. I was walking around with him, and was like, ‘Hey buddy, look at that right there.’ He looks over, and is just like, ‘Oh yeah. That’s daddy,’ and keeps walking!”

Hopefully the tour to Australia will impress the youngster, though Pettit doesn’t seem overly optimistic. “I think what’ll happen is, we’ll play some big, crazy show and he’ll be excited about that for a second, and then I’ll get a picture of him with a kangaroo and that’s all he’ll talk about forever!”

[Alexisonfire photo by Vanessa Heins]

Alexisonfire play on Thursday January 19 at the Hordern Pavilion, withThe Dirty Nil supporting.

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