Fans of Melbourne band, Fire Underground are in for a surprise the next time they see the band in action. The band who have found success by being voted by fans to perform at Pushover as well as have one of their songs selected to be the theme music for a television show is made up of Dan Valentine (vocals/guitar/paino/clarinet), Doyle (drums/vocals) and Ben Hall (bass). The band have undergone some massive changes over the last twelve months and I recently caught up with Dan to chat about it.

I put it to him that the band’s once near-punk sound has been replaced by a piano-driven sound and asked him how it came about, ‘I only started playing the piano really in the last year or so, I guess I just gravitated towards the sounds of two of my favourite bands who use piano, Ben Folds Five and Queen.’

You’ve also been a two-piece for as long as I can remember, why did you feel the need to bring Ben into the fold? ‘With the new songs we’d been writing we realized they needed something extra than guitar and drums to fill out the sound.  Ben writes awesome bass lines that fit right in with what we’re doing.’

Of course I’ve always been a believer that you haven’t really seen Fire Underground until you’ve seen them live, but what is it like for you guys to play with bands such as Youth Group, Midnight Juggernauts and The Black Keys? ‘It’s really cool because it makes you realize they’re just like you are, people playing music they love, and so far we’ve found the more successful ones are the nicest, more down to earth people who don’t make a big deal about it.’

So do you get to hang with them backstage? ‘Yeah the drummer from the Black Keys was really nice, Doyle had some drum issues and he came up after and was asking him about it and sympathizing.

Pushover was obviously a big deal, how was it for you guys? ‘Pushover was amazing, we had a great crowd and got to see lots of other great bands like Trial Kennedy. Didn’t meet Silverchair, but there’s still plenty of time for all that.’

Fire Underground have also just released a sensational new EP, I asked Dan to tell everyone about it. ‘It’s called Seize The Day, and it’s much more important lyrically than our first two releases.  It’s about the idea of dreaming big, sticking with it regardless of what other people say about it and having confidence in yourself,  realizing that there’s no one else like you out there and that what you have to say is important.’

So what can fans expect to hear on it? ‘A bigger sound, definitely, it’s our first recording with bass on it as well as piano, synth sounds and vocal layering.’

You have had so many great EPs now, will there be a full-length album in the future? ‘Absolutely, although at the moment it’s really fun just releasing a song every now and then, and keep things happening rather than put something out once and leaving it for a year or more.  I’d love to do something which keeps people interested more often, like releasing acoustic songs, experimental songs and demos every month, it’d be great to be constantly putting out new material without any pressure.’

If you interested in purchasing Fire Underground’s EP or wish to see them live, make sure you check out www.myspace.com/fireunderground or go to www.fireunderground.com.

Dave Griffiths

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How interviews come about can sometimes be strange. I ran into Rob from The Thieving Gypsies at the Cardinia Cultural Centre and we soon got into an indepth conversation on all things music related and we learnt we both shared a love for The Tea Party. Such was Rob’s passion for music I simply had to find out more about his band.

Thieving Gypsies is made up of Dani Capron (guitar/vocals), Rob Lloyd (bass) and Justin Hall (drums). Dani tells me how the band got together and was named. ‘The idea of putting a project together had been there for a long time, it was just a matter of actually getting to it. As for the band name, it came like most; “Band name? Oh.. umm.. Got it!’ Then Rob quickly adds, ‘I was guilty for creating the name during a spree of insomnia which turned out fortuitous as we were very close to being named The Giant Jeffersons.’

They describe their sound as ‘prehistoric rock’ and say they are influenced by ‘Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, The Tea Party, Led Zeppelin and The Doors’.

Rob says Thieving Gypsies career highlights so far are ‘creating and playing music with two of my best friends’ while Justin says it is ‘the fact we write our own stuff’.

I couldn’t agree more with that sentiment; so a band as promising as Thieving Gypsies must have an album or EP coming out soon… right? ‘We’re planning on putting together and EP very shortly. We are currently in pre production so it’s just a matter of time really.’

Where can people see Thieving Gypsies live? ‘We have gigs coming up at The Tote on the 10^th of June with Shades Allure, the Cardinia Shire Battle Of The Bands on the 27^th of June in Pakenham, and at Xscape Nightclub Traralgon on the 25^th of July supporting Bellusira.’

So Dani, do you guys have a website people can check out for more info? ‘Sure do. www.myspace.com/thethievinggypsies . It’s a necessary evil.’

Dave Griffiths

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It’s always great to get addicted to a new bands album/EP. For the past couple of months Little Athletics’ ‘Autumn Giants EP’ has been getting a massive workout on my stereo. The Melbourne-based trio is made up by Ali Edmonds (vocals and guitar), Megan Sheehy (backing vocals/guitar/baritone/bass) and Brad Rusbridge (drums). I recently spoke to Meg to find out all there is to know about Little Athletics.

I was a little surprised to discover how they exactly got together, ‘We have been playing together since mid-2005. We found each other on an internet dating site and the name Little Athletics was Brad’s email login name – we just used it so we wouldn’t have to get a new email address. It has stuck.’

Meg describes the band’s sound as ‘sonic waves of mutilation’ and have shared the stage with bands such as Screamfeeder and Children Collide. I just had to know what it was like to perform with bands like this ‘Yeah, it was good. It was at Pony, there was a fair few people, it was a while ago now so we can’t really remember. It is always good to play with interstate bands like Screamfeeder, but some of our favorite gigs have been with local Melbourne bands. We recently played a gig with Bob Log III at Ruby’s in Belgrave – that was good. He taught us how to eat deep fried cheese and bacon fritter sandwich things. We have photographic evidence.’

So what is Little Athletics’ career highlight so far? ‘Our launch of Autumn Giants at the Old Bar was heaps of fun—it is our favorite venue in Melbourne. Lots of good people there, the other bands who played, Sons of the Sun and the Bakelite Age, were unreal; we all got drunk (Brad didn’t). There was a free vege BBQ and Meg made a salad. Good times. We don’t ask for any more than that. Someone was dancing with a chair on their head.’

With talk turned to the Autumn Giants EP, I just had to ask Meg to tell us a little about it. ‘It has six songs. It has an owl on the front cover – it’s not a cat as some people might think. It’s rock n roll done the only way we know how. We have put it out independently and you can buy it through our MySpace page and from selected record stores.’

You worked with Loki Lockwood during the recording, what was that like? ‘Recording with Loki was really good. We recorded seven tracks in one day – well, it was really 20 hours non-stop of recording everything, all of the guitars, drums, vocals etc. in one session. By the end of it we were all about to vomit on each other. It was great. Then we all went in for another 16 hour session of mixing a couple of weeks later. It was recorded live to tape and Loki somehow managed to capture that vicious intensity even after hours and hours of squalling guitars and pounding drums.’

So what can fans expect to hear on the EP? ‘A journey of three musicians over the last three years narrowed to six songs on CD. Everyone seems to like something different about it, from the delayed intro of dinosaur bones, to the dual vocals on one wasp to the pounding outro of noughts and crosses, each to their own we reckon.’

If you need any more info on Little Athletics or wish to purchase their EP check out www.myspace.com/littleathletics.

Dave Griffiths

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Who are members of Youngbreeder and what are their roles?

Jason PC – Bass, Callan O’Hara – Drums, Craig Westwood – Guitar, Vocals.

How long have you been playing together? Can you tell us how you originally formed? Where did your name come from?

Originally since 1996 under the name of Dern Rutlidge, took a little hiatus from 2002 through till 2006 and reformed under the new name of Youngbreeder.

How would you describe your sound?

As “our” sound or failing that “rock polka”!!!

Who are your influences?

We are usually under the influence of alcohol but musically there are too many influences to name. Personally for me it’s not like when I was a kid that tends to be a total sponge to whatever is appealing to kids at any given time back in the day. Today I tend to write what ever song so happens to pop into my head and hang around long enough for me to flesh it out later. I don’t really make a point of going out and listening to the latest bands and music going around because honestly it’s all been done before. I tend to find myself going back and delving into older music more and more these days which despite being decades older still comes across as fresher than a lot of what I’m hearing these days including my own music!

What are some of your more memorable gigs?

Unfortunately the most memorable are often the worst ones which you really want to forget but the uniqueness makes them unforgettable. I would say that our Falls Festival appearance  fell under this category. The better ones though were opening for The Rollins band back in 96(i thnk), Monster magnet, The Hellacopters, Fu Manchu and of course going overseas and playing in a foreign country is always a blast.

If you could share a stage with any band in the world who would you choose?

Dunno, really never gave it much thought!? I guess we have already been fortunate enough to have already shared bills with bands that we like and respect as mentioned in the previous question/answer.

What is Youngbreeder’s career highlight so far?

mmm still waiting?

If a crowd comes to see Youngbreeder perform live what will they go away remembering?

That we didn’t suck!!! I can’t say really…I’m more concerned that on the night we can somehow hit the right notes that triggers the right response in the punter. If for what ever reason we manage to pull that off then i guess that’s what I hope they walk away with and remember!?

Can you tell us about your new EP?

It’s just a collection of about 4 to 5 songs that we recorded late last year which hopefully represents where youngbreeder are currently at now. Also we’re hoping to have it released soon (2008) on vinyl as well as being available for download.

What was it like recording it?

Tedious would be the best way to describe it because we took on a fair chunk of the production and engineering ourselves. In future I would rather distance myself a bit more from the process to prevent any delays on getting recordings finished and out. I know how to record etc but I’m not that good or efficient at it and really should be leaving it to those who know best i.e jason PC etc…

What can fans expect to hear on it?

Hopefully something that will motivate them to come to our gigs in vast numbers.

Are there any plans for a full length album soon?

I’d like to think that we are in a position to begin recording one by late 2008.

Where do you hope Youngbreeder ends up in 2008? What are you short term goals? What are your long term goals?

Ideally we would like to head back to Europe etc and probably to re-establish ourselves to a point where Dern left off back in 2002.

Where will people be able to get your single from?

I would hazard a guess that myspace or itunes my be in the mix somewhere but if it’s the physical product that you are referring to then all good record stores that most other music is sourced from.

Where do you play live so people can come to see you?

Who ever,and where ever is willing to guarantee to money that can coax our sorry arses out of our respective homesteads.

Is there anything else you would like people to know about Youngbreeder?

No, I figure we’ve already got all the bases covered but thanks again for approaching us for the interview.

Dave Griffiths

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