1. Growing Up
My first concert was The Beach Boys (who I loved, and still do) when I was nine, but the most impactful memory was my dad taking me to the Big Day Out when I was ten to see the Ramones play.
2. Inspirations
Black Sabbath – Sabbath Bloody Sabbath was the first album I bought. The Beach Boys’ first album was constantly on repeat in the car as a child. Nirvana were the first band I loved that were ‘mine’ and current. The same thing happened with Radiohead when I bought Kid A. Brian Jonestown Massacre’s music blew me away in Dig!, so I bought all of their albums that week. I didn’t get The Beatles until I bought Sgt. Pepper’s in high school; the song construction and sonic possibilities blew my mind. ‘A Day In The Life’ is a masterpiece.
3. Your Band
There’s only two of us, which is great in some ways, not so great in others. It’s pushed us so much further musically, even though it seems like a restrictive format. We’ve developed a musical telepathy which Dan [Sugars] calls our “phantom third brain”, which allows more spontaneity and sonic interconnectivity. Of course, if we don’t agree on something, there’s no third person to defuse it, so we have to be mature, sort of.
4. The Music You Make
’70s rock, ’90s grunge, ’60s psychedelia, ’80s nothing, rad rock. We’re a two-piece, so it’s nice to be in the same ballpark as Royal Blood, DZ Deathrays, The Black Keys, The White Stripes and Simon & Garfunkel (jokes, but still). You can expect awesome riffs, bombastic rhythms, and a journey of mutated dirty pop-rock explosions till we’re about to pass out.
5. Music, Right Here, Right Now
There are hundreds or even thousands of great Australian bands out there that many people won’t have heard of (us included), so it’s just a matter of persistence and doing it ’cause you love it, regardless of accolades and fanfare. If you build it, blah blah. It’s all so inspiring, and every new band I see or hear spurs me on. This will be the second time we’ve played Frankie’s, and there’s nowhere else we’d rather play – I mean, they’ve got pizza, beer and killer pinball machines. We’re playing on a Sunday, so of course we’ll be checking out as many bands on Saturday night as possible. Any suggestions?
Kill City: Switchblade byGo Van Gois out now independently. Hear them live atFrankie’s Pizza onSunday October 25, with Blackbreaks, The Ugly Kings and The Balls.
