They have also toured/shared the stage with the likes of Shihad (whose drummer, Tom Larkin also manages and produces them, which itself is a very nice position to be in), Unwritten Law, Calling All Cars, Closure in Moscow and others. Affable vocalist Ben Britton called in to have a chat about the album, tour and some enviable future plans that they have as well.
“We’ve that tour coming up for the album,” he begins, “we get over to Perth, and back over to Melbourne and stuff. So we’re getting exciting to get back on the road again. We’ve had a good break, we’re just getting over the Christmas hangover. So it should be good, I’m excited!
“We’ve been writing new songs, we’re writing a lot, for a new record. And yeah, I think we might play a new one on the road, see how we go.”
And in another exciting development for the band, shortly after the Aussie run, the band are actually off to the other side of the Pacific for a series of dates across North America. The band are jumping out of their skin for this, a first for them.
“I think we’re playing some showcases in LA,” he explains, “then we go to Austin to do South By Southwest. I think we’re there for about a week, and then we go to Canada and do Canadian Music Week. And then we fly back to New York and do some showcases there. It’s going to be awesome! I’ve never been there, so we’re all pretty pumped on it.”
It certainly helps a young band to have a very supportive and motivated team in their corner, pushing national and international exposure for them. “I think our label wants us to release the album over there as well,” he informs us. “They’re over there, and they hooked it all up for us. Leigh, our label guy, and Stu Harvey, they run Permanent/Half Cut Records. It’s awesome, they’re such great guys for the band, they got us on South By. It’s great to have someone on the ground, pushing promo and that sort of stuff, and getting the word out. So it’s looking good, I’m really excited about it.”
Back to the upcoming Aussie tour, the band and their management have selected a bunch of excellent bands to support them in each city, so an excellent evening’s rocking entertainment is assured. According to Ben, the only difficulty has been selecting supports from the myriad great bands that there are out there in this great rock loving nation of ours.
“Yeah, (the lineups) are great,” he says. “The Dead Love, I’ve always been a fan of that band, they’re really good. And Further Earth, and some of the bands from Perth, there’s something about Perth. I was just going through my Facebook and listening to the support acts from Perth, and they’re all fuckin’ really good! It’s really tough to try and pick them out. In Perth, there’s so many great bands over there, and they’re all quite original. We picked those bands out of a few of them. It was really tough, but I’m really excited to get back over to Perth.
“There’s so many great bands out there across Australia, great rock bands.”
The Dead Love and The Pretty Littles are the bands on the bill for the band’s Melbourne appearance, at The Workers Club in Fitzroy, making that an exceptionally strong lineup of modern Aussie rock.
“Yeah, we can’t wait to get back to Melbourne, it’s one of our favourite places to play in Australia,” he states. “The crowds are always good, and yeah that lineup is great.”
Any parting words for your Aussie fans before you head off on the tour, and then jet across the other side of the world?
“Just looking forward to the shows,” he says in conclusion. “I mean, this tour’s going to kick some serious arse, we’ve got some cool stuff going on, good lineups, it’s going to be some party shows man. Looking forward to it!”
As are your fans Australia wide.
BY ROD WHITFIELD
