“It’s gonna be really good, because we’ll be completely unknown in Australia,” he starts. “It’s gonna be like All The Young’s first UK tour, only in Australia. We’re playing the support slot to King Cannons, and they’re kind of like what All The Young are in the UK. I think we’re the second band on, or something like that. It’s really good, it’s like we’re starting again and building a new fanbase, so I’m really looking forward to that. It’s a big move for the band. It’s gonna be quite humbling because some of these guys are getting a bit too big for their boots, ya know what I mean!” he laughs.
In fact it happens to be the first time to Australia for all of the band members in any capacity and it begs the question of what expectations the band has of the country in general and more specifically, the crowds they will be playing to. “I expect that the Australian people are quite welcoming. I imagine we’re going to meet a lot of friendly people who are going to be interested in meeting us, and we’re going to be interested in meeting them,” he foresees. “I just want to be shown around a bit, and see the Australian way of life a bit. It seems like Australian people have got a lot of what I call ‘banter’, they like a laugh and a joke and a beer and stuff. I’m quite looking forward to meeting as many people like that as we can.
“I’m very nervous because there’s going to be nights where we’re going to be playing to an audience who is just there to watch a gig, they’re going to be just standing there. Then there’ll be the odd night where the kids are going mental! That’s kind of the beauty of it all.”
And so what do the punters get at an All The Young gig, since this will be the first time Australia experiences the show? “Our show’s quite a bit more intense than the CD,” he explains. “We just try to put as much attitude into half and hour, make it as rock’n’roll as possible. I think it’s important that a band’s gig is an extension of the CD. Our show is definitely a performance, we don’t stop between songs, we just carry on. It’s a high energy rock’n’roll show, the kind you don’t see much these days with the current musical climate, so we hope people take to it.”
After the Aussie jaunt the band still has a very busy rest of 2012, taking them into next year as well, with writing well underway for their next album and more strong demand from people to see the band live. “We’re currently writing and recording for album two,” he states.
“When we get back from Australia I imagine there’ll be a two or three week period where we don’t do too much, and then in October we’re going back over to Europe because we’re doing quite well in Germany as well, so we’re trying to branch out there a bit. Then we’ve got another UK tour, and then I imagine we’ll be at the stage we’re we’ll look at the next batch of songs, and see if we wanna carry on with what we’re doing now. We’ve got a lot of songs for the second album, so that should see the light of day sometime next year.”
BY ROD WHITFIELD
