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.