Self quoted as sounding like “Cheap Trick, Wilco, and Weezer”, Step-Panther first kicked out the jams in late 2009. Starting in a conventional way, one dude is asked to play a gig, who is then joined by two dudes, they form a band and start making some fairly decent noise. They were championed early in their life by triple j Unearthed, through who they won a competition to play at the Come Together Festival. “They have been really supportive, we just uploaded a couple of tracks, and they liked what they heard. It’s a really good thing for local bands,” says Bourke.
Asked about the inspiration to start writing and making music, Stephen says, “I just like writing songs. [They’re] dumb ideas that I have, and [we] make them into songs, and then we just kinda muck around with it, put guitar solos in. Basically I think of things that are just so dumb, just ridiculous thoughts that come into my head, think about it for a few weeks or something, and come up with a few lines for a song. Then I will turn it into a song, and then form it into something that should be important, but it’s totally ridiculous. I just come up with these thoughts to make myself laugh.”
The band released the Surf EP in 2010 and on their Bandcamp page it states: ‘We wrote some surf songs one time. Then we put them all on this EP. Then we called it Surf.’ ‘Nuff said.
Their debut self-titled long-player came out in 2011, released on Speak N’ Spell. Stephen talks through the connection with the renowned indie label. “Our manager knew Dave who works there, and they were keen to put it out. It was just a nice little deal to put our record out. We didn’t put out that many copies of it or anything, but it was just good to just have that as a platform starting out”.
Step-Panther were recently named one of NME’s Top 100 Bands To Watch In 2012 and when asked if this led to any endorsements, sponsorships or top billings, Bourke laughs. “Not really, it gives the band some minor street cred, yeah, we definitely haven’t made any money.”
This brings up the topic of playing live, and specifically touring. “We played over in the UK in May, we applied for some festivals, like Great Escape, Liverpool Sound Cit – I think the NME definitely kind of helped with that. That was cool, and we had good slots, and it was really fun. We had a small tour [with a] fair few dates crammed in, [we] saw a bit of England.”
A brief discussion ensues regarding the prominent bands they have supported, highlighted by the fact Step-Panther did three or four shows with Yuck in Australia, hung out with them, and even caught up when they were in the UK. That leads to the next ‘tricky’ question. The band are inspired by legendary indie artists; Pixies, Magnetic Fields, and Jonathan Richman. Asked if, in a perfect world, Step-Panther could choose to support any of those acts, Stephen hesitates, obviously seriously weighing up the prospect of all three. “Um, I’d say Jonathan, probably, most likely. I just love everything he has done, all his solo stuff. It’s really beautiful, like even his more recent stuff.” Stephen is gushing with adoration for The Modern Lovers’ main man at this point. “Like, when I discovered him, it was like, a real turning point for me, it sort of validated everything, made me want to write more music, and it was really inspirational for me. ‘Why didn’t I hear this when I was a teenager?’ I only found him when I was like, in my early 20s.”
The new Step-Panther single Maybe Later has just been released on their Bandcamp page, soon to be followed by a music video. The song is from a forthcoming EP, slated for release late this year or early next year. This is also the reason they’re heading to Melbourne this week. Out comes a somewhat hilarious sales pitch (which by this point, is not unexpected). “We are in a really good headspace right now, we are going to bring it.” Followed by laughter. “We are over our precautions, we are going to bring a really good live show to you guys in Melbourne, you won’t regret it, we won’t regret it, no regrets.”
BY SCOTT NICOLSON
