1.Growing Up
I think as a band we’ve all come from musical backgrounds in one way or another. All of our families consisted of people either being musical themselves, or just having a love for great music. We grew up listening to the likes of Hendrix, Zeppelin, The Doors and Stevie Ray being played in our family homes. As a child I always remember my dad and his brothers playing guitar and singing Beatles songs up at our family farm. I think that being surrounded by music from a young age has a profound impact, and for us, played a big part in our musical discovery.
2.Inspirations
Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, Clapton, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, Rage Against The Machine, Silverchair, Radiohead, QOTSA, The White Stripes, The Strokes… and the list goes on. I think I was about nine years old when I first heard RATM and it absolutely blew my mind!
3.Your Band
Andy, Ben and I have been mates for years. Andy has been rocking the bass since we formed The Desert Sea back in 2012. We were originally a three-piece but as our sound evolved we decided to add another guitarist – that’s when Ben came on board. When we found ourselves in need of a new drummer, my brother Will put his hand up for the job. He is an insane guitarist so his drumming skills had gone under the radar a little, but he came down to rehearsals and just blew the set out of the water. We really had no choice but to let him join [laughs]. I think we are all creative minds and share a real passion for making music. When you combine that with each individual’s different perspective, it provides a really cool dynamic.
4.The Music You Make
We bring a mix of grungy blues rock and draw our sound from bands like Queens of the Stone Age, The Black Keys, Zeppelin and RATM. We have a new single coming out soon, which we recorded at Szyslak Studios in Avalon with Hell City Glamours guitarist Mo Mayhem. He’s a great engineer and did a really great job of helping us get the sound we wanted.
5. Music, Right Here, Right Now
In recent times people’s engagement with discovering bands has definitely changed. With more ways for people to find and stream new music, the old days of going down the pub to check out a new band seem to be fading. I think now you’ve really got to engage people on all the social media and streaming platforms, on top of regular gigging, to really boost your following. As far as music right now, our management SEG look after some great up-and-coming acts like Aureus, Chico Seeds and The Shadez and it’s really inspiring to see those guys rock it live. I think in recent years there have also been more Sydney bands getting national attention, which is really cool. It’s great to see hard-working bands like Violent Soho and Sticky Fingers doing well.
The Desert Sea, along withThe Shadez and Avelna, Aureus, play at the VanguardThursday February 25, and they also support The Fumes at Mona Vale Hotel on Saturday February 27.
