It’s a delicate balance for an up and coming band – you need to gig to make a remote amount of cash but sometimes, you need to be careful of not playing to much lest your audience become complacent. So what exactly do Echo Drama get out of a residency and having done this before, is The Evelyn a home of sorts? “Yeah being back at The Ev’ for this residency is definitely like rocking home turf,” Schiftan says. “Between the last residency and this one we have been back stacks of times supporting our musical compatriots in their own residencies, not to mention that we all play there a fair bit with other projects. Neale [Lawrence] our guitarist the other week commented only half-jokingly that we would probably be wise to pitch tents out the back of the venue.”
“Good sound, good crowd, good consistency,” Sinks joins in. “It’s great to have a home base where you can really smash it confidently. It’s just a really good platform. Of course people don’t come to all of them but different people walk through the door every night which has its advantages. As long as there’s a room full of people enjoying themselves, I’m not complaining.”
“Yeah in terms of creating complacency, well I think the crowds each week are different, or fans who happen to like us so much they will happily come see us every week,” Schiftan says. “It is great to see a familiar face up front singing along, or to see some unsuspecting walk-ins at the back of the room gradually gravitate forward as the new sounds draw them in.”
Reggae and dub are fairly rigid genres that can occasionally fall victim to the demands of an audience of purists. Echo Drama embrace the notion of taking from the old to create the new.
“Purism in music? That’s always struck me as counterproductive, what room does that leave for creativity?” Schiftan says. “For us it’s about taking music we love and making it our own so we can express something personal, unique and inspired. I reckon that’s what drives the evolution of musical styles. The textures and grooves in Dub and Reggae have always really captivated me and I think they can move a range of audiences. Our aim is to bring the essence of this music into a setting which can appeal to all audiences, not just die hard reggae heads.”
Trekking along the path of being an independent can be both a philosophy and a forced choice as is perfectly demonstrated when the lads are asked where they stand on the issue.
“Independent to the grave!” Sinks exclaims before Schiftan chimes in.
“While I do admire and share Sinkies passion for the independent thing, I can’t deny how tough it is,” Schiftan says. “I think it’s awesome in these early stages to run the show and have full control over our direction. Eventually though I hope to be picked up by the right person who digs what we do and is keen to take the reins with all the behind the scenes stuff. I guess I would just love to be able to put more of the focus back into playing my instrument, which at the end of the day is why I do this music thing.”
Having enjoyed some impressive support slots, including Easy Star All-Stars, as well as slogging it out on stage of all sizes, Echo Drama plan on doing more of the same to feed their growing audience. “Next summer will hopefully be a busy time for us,” Schiftan says. “We are about to head in the studio to start working on our debut EP which is a really exciting project for us. We are on track to have that completed and released well before the end of the year and we are keen to take it up the coast with us when it’s done and unleash it on some festival crowds.”
BY KRISSI WEISS
