Australia, SONY BMG RECORDINGS

The Interview Page 2


What's the craziest thing that ever happened to you on a road trip?
Losing my passport in Ibiza and having to fly to Madrid to get a replacement whilst nursing a really bad hangover and unable to speak any Spanish and a year later losing all our passports in London and having to replace them and renew all our visas in 2 days. I guess its not so much a crazy story, more of a "what a goose" story.

Got any good groupie stories (come on we know you got some)?
We had an orgy once in LA with Paris Hilton, Kate Moss and that mini
me guy from Austin Powers. Which was nice.

Where you once ravers?
If by Raver you mean bright clothes, fluffy shoes, pacifiers, whistles and soft toys then no, we weren't. We went clubbing a lot in Sydney and we played at lot of raves around 94-95 before they started jacking the music up to 190bpm. Straight water, orange juice and great music around clubs at that time provided many an amazing evening.

How many hours/week do you spend together jamming and producing?
It depends on our touring schedule. We have a pretty limited amount of time at home usually so we do a bit of demo-ing on our laptops and then take it into the studio when we get home but hours producing in the studio per week can range from 10 hours to 60 hours. It also depends on remix workload and things like that. We don't really jam together- we never rehearse anything we do live unless we are doing a show with our guitarist and bass player in which case we have to go through tracks to show them the parts and what-not and that's usually a couple of days work in the studio before the gig.

Can you describe your current Album to people that didn't hear it yet? Maybe someone will buy it after reading this?
It's an album of music made by three guys that like to make music using every option available and drawing upon all influences and levels of inspiration. We spent a really long time making it and experimenting to do something that hopefully stands up on it's own as a good album in it's own right. It's not an album of thumping club tunes because you can get those as singles and there is a lot more to making good music than limiting yourself to just that. We like to listen to what other people make of the album because to us, it's just music that the three of us made without any constraints. The perspective needed to describe what you have made is hard to get from the people that make the work itself. We have some good songs, some soundtrack-like pieces, dark, grooving bits andS I don't know. It's funny- any other "traditional" band never really gets asked to describe the "sound" of their album, just question about what prompted them to make it and what the songs are about and so forth. Most bands can get away with being eclectic but electronic music critics seem obsessed with categorisation and definitions. We have never been that way inclined. We'd hope that anyone who's broadminded about the music they listen to might give it a listen, more than once, all the way through just as most proper albums are meant to and just enjoy it for what it is as a body of work. Hmmm, sounds a little pretentious,
doesn't it?

List some of your favorite breakbeat producers (past/present):
Evil 9, Adam Freeland, Timo Maas, Hybrid, Santos, Meat Katie & Elite Force and too many older ones to remember right now.

Are there any other upcoming-breaks collaborations you'd like to let us in on?
Nope. But we just did a remix for Meat Katie and Elite Force but neither the original nor the remix is breaks.

Can you describe a few of the differences between the scenes in Australia and England?
Both are pretty healthy in various cities. Some cities in Australia are stronger than others from our point of view and the same goes for England. It all depends on what kind of music you like, the kind of clubs you go to and how
much bitching is/isn't done.

Can you guys perform when you are COMPLETELY wasted?
No, we are never close to being wasted when we play. It would be impossible to perform like that because you have too many elements to look after and you're there to play the best you can in front of people that have paid money to see you at your best. We have a few drinks before we play to calm nerves and help us relax and have fun but could never consider being wasted. At the end of the day, it's a career and as much fun as it is and as much as it's the best job in the world, it has to be taken seriously as a job. We have to be able to give it our best every time we play. And no, I'm not a parent! We
like getting wasted as much as the next person, just not on stage.

Did any of you ever go to a music school or take classes to learn an instrument and if so do you think it makes your write music any better?
Manuel and Frank learnt music. There are definitely things we've done that couldn't be done if Manuel didn't have his classical training, especially when he's playing the keyboard live. Frank's also great at coming up with cool melodies but I think that's just a natural talent he has. I learnt music just from playing by ear, playing along to records. There is a lot of music on the album that I'm sure couldn't have turned out like that if some of us didn't know any theory. The trick is to not be TOO clever sometimes!

Do you use music theory in anyway when writing your tracks for this album and if so can you please give us an example?
An example would be something like Invisible or Daylight Hours. The vocal harmonies Manuel came up with on Daylight Hours just took the track to another level when we recorded them. It's just the knowledge of how harmony works that made that track more interesting. Both Frank and Manuel can come
up with pretty unusual chord changes, like in Invisible that I think would have been pretty hard to conceptualise without that knowledge. With the more club-orientated tracks, the theory has to be pulled back a few notches because it doesn't seem to work as well with the kind of atmosphere and energy that we want to create. Sometimes in cases like that, the simpler the better.

What do your parents think of your music and did they ever come see you live?
My parents came to our first ever rave gig in 1994 and have been to countless gigs since then. They love electronic music and actually are very open-minded which is awesome. My mum actually loves the Bassment Jaxx live show. Manuel's parents are also into what we do- his mum is actually a choir teacher. I think Frank told his parents a few weeks ago that he's in a band.

Do you have any advice for aspiring live acts?
Aspiring live acts? Find a way of playing where you can take risks and give an audience something to remember. Actually perform! If you're a live act, standing in front of a laptop with a mouse is a) not interesting and b) not very interesting. Sometimes people who do that sound great but in reality, most people find it boring except for those who spend 40 hours a week on internet forums. I guess it depends on what kind of sound you want to make and who you want to play to. Just experiment, don't do it to become a "star" and try and make it fun and exciting. At the end of the day, it's entertainment so just
try and be really good at it and think "would I want to watch what we're doing on stage? Would I go back and watch us next time we were in town?". Be original, have fun and don't be more concerned about what's in your rider than the people you're playing to.

Tell us some words of wisdom that you live by?
Not really words of wisdom but we try and appreciate what's going on as much as possible. It's great that we have a lot of people who like what we do and can keep doing it and get to see most of the world at the same time. It's an awesome learning experience and you have to appreciate everything that having this life provides.

Shout outs?
Ahhhhh!!!

WWW Links?
www.infusion.net.au

Jamie Stevens
infusion booking enquiries visit
www.infusion.net.au

For music for vinyl info visit
www.musicforvinyl.com
 

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INTERNATIONAL LIVE ACT Coverage:

INFUSION

Record Label Affiliations: Sony & BMG recordings

Interview Oct 2005

Interviewed by Somsay.