Five Things with Thom Moore from WildHoney

My earliest musical memory would be learning to sing and how to play the piano with my grandmother. I guess that’s where The Sound Of Music entered my life: she loved the musicals of the ’50s and ’60s. I got my love and appreciation of melody from her for sure.

2.Inspirations

The first cassette I ever bought was Elvis Presley’s 20 Golden Hits Vol 1. I was about nine years old and it was 50 cents at a garage sale. A few weeks later I was doing ‘Jailhouse Rock’ at the year four talent show. That was the first time I was motivated to pick up a microphone and have a crack. Ever since I’ve been influenced by so many artists, from people like Brian Wilson and Bob Dylan to bands like The Kinks.

3.Your Band

We play live as a five piece. The lineup has evolved since I started the whole thing about two years ago. It’s cool because we have so much to work with, in terms of multiple voices and multi-instrumentalists. As our tour van playlist would testify, there’s a variety of tastes among us all, but I think the common thread is a love of guitar bands, old and new. Other than music itself, everyday life and experience are what shape the songs.

4.The Music You Make

I bring in songs I’m writing: we then work them up and go perform the ones that stick. We’re touring with the Lulu Raes at the moment – their song ‘Burnout’ is great – it’s all over Australia. After that we’re heading out again with Brisbane legends The Belligerents. So far we’ve released one EP and two singles, the latest of which is called ‘Spirit’. We recorded it with Jack Moffitt (The Preatures) at his studio in Sydney.

5.Music, Right Here, Right Now

For a while it seemed like no-one cared about guitar bands. Maybe we’re turning a corner again and there’ll be more opportunities for songs to get heard that don’t rely too heavily on production. It seems like there’re a lot of cool groups emerging at the moment: for example, just yesterday I was real impressed by the first single from a Newcastle band called Brightness. A few weeks ago I also saw a Sydney band called Hair Die that were awesome. I think Brighton Up Bar, Oxford Circus, and Newtown Social Club are your best bets in terms of venues to play and see other bands.

[WildHoney photo by Thomas Champion]

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