Trying to find these punk rockers from Canberra on the Internet can be nightmare as there are a few bands around with similar names. It’s was just one of the many things I spoke to the Gaffers (the band’s drummer) recently.

“We’ve been playing this kind of music together since we were in high school, which was about 10 years ago now! Nothing really too exciting about the name, we just had a big list of names and we nearly chose ‘No Excuse’, but after saying it a few times we thought it sounded lame – hence ‘Lamexcuse’. We decided to spell it as one word so it would hopefully be unique, but alas there is a ‘Lamexcuse’ from Austria who spell it the same way! But they’re cool with it all.”

So how would you describe your sound? “If we had to explain to someone what we sound like……….we would have to say if the Swellers singer mated with the Hot Water music drummer, and they had a child and that child mated with the Bodyjar guitar section and had another kid, that kid would be us I guess!!!”

What has been Lamexcuse’s career highlight so far? “We just signed a deal in Japan with Radtone Music (The Swellers, A Wilhelm Scream, Lost In Line) which will see our album released over there in December this year. We are all stoked about this, so that would have to be the biggest highlight so far.”

What can people expect from your new album? “It’s our debut album titled ‘Life. Like. Wild.’ and folks can expect to hear 14 tracks of melodic punk rock which explores the genre and tries things a little bit differently!” And how was it putting the album together? “It was quite a long, drawn out process which involved tracking the instruments and mixing in Wollongong (NSW), tracking vocals in Canberra (ACT) and mastering in Colorado, USA. ‘Life. Like. Wild.’ was produced by Murray Adamson and Adam Jordan at Main Street Studios, and was mastered by Jason Livermore at The Blasting Room (NOFX, Descendents, Rise Against).”

You can grab a copy of ‘Life. Like Wild’ from the usual places. Lamexcuse do have a gig coming up in Melbourne really soon so check out www.myspace.com/lamexcuse for further details.

Dave Griffiths

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You probably think that you’ve never heard of these guys before, but with gigs such as the Sydney Olympic Games Opening Ceremony behind them chance are you have… and that’s just the beginning.

So guys tell me a little about yourselves. “We’re 2 brothers who live in the blue mountains. You would know us from singing the ‘Home and Away’ theme or working on ‘Australian Idol’ as the backing singers or even if we’re lucky you know some of our past singles???? Geoff is the older brother he plays guitar and piano, Ben plays drums and guitar.”

As brothers who perform together have you had any Gallagher brother style moments? “We have been playing for about 12 years now. sometimes it’s difficult being brothers everything is bens fault though cause his the youngest.”

Your album sounds great, how do you describe your sound? “(gay) Hee hee. Very 70′s Bee Gees, America , Seals n Croft , Doobie Brothers”

So tell us about your new album. “It’s called ‘Flight 1974’. We have written a bunch of songs in the style of the 70′s. We tried to make it sound like it was recorded back then.” What was the process like putting it together? “It was long but much fun. We ended up in  Nashville writing and we recorded the whole album with a great producer song writer call Bobby Boyd. He has had many American number one hits including ‘Bless This Broken Road’ for Rascal Flatts.’

You’re band has already found success, you regularly play to large crowds overseas. What goals do you have left? “Number 1 short term goals number 1 long term goals to be rich. Hee hee. Na just kidding. To be able to do what we love for a living. It’s a hard game.”

If you need any more information on The Robertson Brothers check out www.robertsonbrothers.com.au

Dave Griffiths

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When you listen to Victor Stranges’s brilliant new album ‘Hello Me To You’ you get the feeling that he is what is best described as ‘musically educated’ so it’s hardly surprising when I ask him who his influences are he answers ‘Any writer that has added to the richness of the popular song form is what is most exciting about music to me. People like Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Brian Wilson, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, Elvis Costello, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Larry Norman and Ray Davies. I know some of these writers have been thrashed on radio and various media over the years but they have truly made a difference in my opinion.’

Aside from this wonderful release Victor also plays live with Victor Stranges & The Methinks, so what does he play and who are The Methinks? ‘I play a few instruments. I have played drums for many years and I play rhythm/lead guitar (main emphasis on rhythm!). In the last 2 or 3 years I have taught myself piano and I have found it useful for writing too. I also play bass. The band is a four piece, made up of Darren Aquilina on drums, Alex Reoch on bass, Matt Swanton on keyboards/backing vocals/guitar and myself on guitar and lead vocals. The band is a live project but will possibly record together in the near future. ‘

With such an interesting name I couldn’t help but ask where the name The Methinks came from. ‘I’d like to have an interesting story about the origins of our name but methinks it just popped in my head. The band has had a couple of incarnations over the years. We were a three piece in the late 1990s and we called it a day in about 2002 when we released our first album, Heading Back To You. The new line up occurred in 2008 when I was recording a new album at my home studio. I figured I wanted to play these songs live so I contacted Matt who played with me in a retro rock ‘n’ roll band a couple of years earlier. It sort of developed from there. Matt co wrote one track on the album and played on one or two tracks. I met Alex through a Melband ad and we had a lot of musical common ground. He is English so we loved the same bands like The Smiths, Pretenders, a lot of unknown U.K. bands from the late 1970s. Darren was the last piece. I hadn’t seen him for a few years but I twisted his arm and he was back in.

There is no way I could put Victor’s beautiful sound into words so I let him describe his sound. ‘We are a rock band with some heavy leanings towards a late 1970s/early 1980s sound. Lots of classic guitar sounds, piano, organs and the occasional cheesy synth. We love to use harmonies where we can. I grew up eating the Elvis Costello Singing Dictionary (both volumes) for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I suppose we invest a lot of emotion in the songs whether they are slow or fast.

If you want to check out where Victor Stranges & The Methinks are playing next so you can grab a copy of this great album, make sure you check out www.myspace.com/victorstranges.

Dave Griffiths

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Made up of Victor Finkel (vocals/trumpet), Cass Allan (bass/vocals), Doug Hind (guitar/vocals), Aaron Ronaldson (guitar), Cameron Hicks (bass) and Leigh Baines (drums) The Solomons have burst onto the Melbourne music scene with a brilliant Double A-Side that features tracks ‘Some Kind Of Aid’ and ‘Rise And Fall’

      I caught up with Doug and asked him how long The Solomons have been together. ‘The original lineup, of which only myself, Victor, and Cass are left, existed between 2007 and 2008.  I went to school with Victor and Cass is a friend of the original drummer. There was an intermediate period late last year, then this year Aaron and Cameron joined along with Leigh after that. The name comes from the country, The Solomons Islands, aka The Solomons, where I used to live when I was very young.’

So who would you say are your influences? ‘There are many with six of us, but primarily the English bands of the 60s, and all that came after, from The Stooges to The Stone Roses, or Oasis to You Am I.’ And have you been gigging much? ‘Our only two gigs in the last few months have been a support for British India at The Hifi, and our Double A-side launch at The Curtin with The Hovercrafts, The Hondas (Little Red sideproject) and High Fangs.’ And what do most people go away remembering after they see a Solomons’ show? ‘Hopefully to see us again. I rarely see a bored face when we perform, but people often don’t bother looking up bands that they see when they’re out if they haven’t already heard of them. Hopefully they do for us.

Your Double A-Side sounds amazing, for those that haven’t heard it, what can they expect to hear on it? ‘Two songs from our EP we’re hoping to release by the end of the summer. One side 60s via The Who and Small Faces with female vocals, the other early 90s via The Stone Roses and Ride.

Make sure you check out The Solomons’ website at www.myspace.com/solomonsband for their gig dates as they will be performing with Evermore in October. You can also grab a copy of their Double A-Side at Greville, Pure Pop, Polyester, Off The Hip, and Red Eye.

Dave Griffiths

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