1.Growing Up
We grew up in a house bus travelling New Zealand so our childhood was an adventurous, story-rich one. We were taught everything through music, so for us music is closer to a language than it being a skill. It’s at the very core of our being and affects our music in every way. We are storytellers.
2.Inspirations
The biggest inspiration would be two artists: Coldplay and The Paper Kites. When Coldplay came out with the album Viva La Vida we listened to that religiously every day. We were at absolute awe of the sheer expressionism that came out of that album. It was pop, but unlike any pop we had heard before. It had heartfelt substance that we hadn’t seen anywhere in the music scene. The Paper Kites we heard about on a trip back to New Zealand. We were at a music festival called Parachute and we stumbled across this band completely by accident. We went to a stage early to get a good spot for the next band, and we sat in complete silence as they played. It is one of our favourite memories as a group.
3.Your Band
We have three members: Eze Walters (singer, guitarist, musical genius), Zech Walters (singer, guitarist, band mother) and Bowen Purcell (drummer, full-time smiler). We met at church and started playing together in the streets next to a sausage sizzle trying to raise money for an orphanage our church was building in Africa. We all have a passion for missions; that’s where we really bonded. The music came after that.
4.The Music You Make
Defining ourselves is a really difficult task. We write in many different genres from straight folk to alt-rock, pop and anthemic sing-alongs. The consistent element in our music is our storytelling. Everything we have ever released has always been a reflection of our lives. In our live shows we like to capture the crowd and take them on a journey; help them to feel the longing of missing someone, the assuredness of knowing yourself, the anxiety of the unknown. We like to make the experience more than just music.
5.Music, Right Here, Right Now
As musicians we are having to battle for space with DJs, and I think it’s a bit of a shame. Consistently we hear people talking about how DJs are getting more money, that music is dying, people are sheep. The fact is, music is changing in a big way. And change is hard. The best thing you can do is get out there and explore new music, regardless of whether it is DJ or live bands.
Woodlock, andThe Franklin Electric, appear atNewtown Social ClubonFriday February 3.
