1. Growing Up
My early music memories include Pink Floyd and Guns N’ Roses from Dad and Fleetwood Mac and Paul Simon from Mum. Besides my dad’s blistering rendition of ‘Blue Moon’, I was the only one in our family of six who took an interest in playing music. Actually, Mum was learning piano on the side but gave up her lessons so I could have them instead. Top parenting.
2. Inspirations
I asked the guys their favourite bands and garnered immediate responses of Iggy and The Stooges, Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Strokes and Nels Cline. I’m stalling because this question is hard and my answer tends to change. I guess if I filter all the more recent obsessions away, a band that’s been there since childhood and still lives in my record player is Crowded House. Songwriting doesn’t really get much better.
I finally got the chance to see Neil Finn at Golden Plains this year but was obstructed by an arrogant giant with no shirt, a cowboy hat, and a flailing VB. He’d crawled out of this tent to hear “that weather song”. I’ll never forgive him.
3. Your Band
Shane and I met in 2007 and got married last year so our musical brains have basically melted into one by now. We’ve been playing music together in various projects the whole time. Add Liam on drums (when we can steal him away from The Teskey Brothers), Elliot, our pop darling, on bass, plus Jon with his moody, vibey, enigmatic guitar and that’s us. We have a lot of fun with our combined influences in various moods.
4. The Music You Make
We get ’90s Britpop quite a bit, which we aren’t consciously doing. It certainly doesn’t bother us. We’re also pretty influenced by Brian Jonestown Massacre, which helps chip off the polish. Malcolm Besley of Northeast Party House has recently recorded our split seven-inch and it sounds gritty and big, which reflects our live show. Rough-around-the-edges pop.
5. Music, Right Here, Right Now
The current Australian music scene is both inspiring and disheartening. Having spent some time making music and touring in Canada, where grants are readily available, there’s a multitude of venues and a much bigger support network, Australia can seem a little… closed off. It’s a shame as we have so many talented bands that really struggle to make it over the line. Having said that, the camaraderie between local musos is defiant and resilient.
We are actually playing Sydney for the first time on June 30 and we are so excited! It’s at Waywards with some top folks. There are so many incredible Sydney bands we’ve had the pleasure of playing with already – in particular, Australia, Big White and Borneo. We’re also pretty obsessed with Flowertruck.
Smoke Rings play Waywards on Friday June 30 with Shearin, Aegean Sun and Christo.
