Sure we’ve heard about you before, but we think it’s time for Tone Deaf to get to know you a little better. Slip in to something comfortable while we put on some music, pour us a couple of drinks and turn the lights down low. So, tell us about yourselves…Who are you – who who? We really wanna know….
Who are you and what do you do in your act?
My name is Jack, I sing lead vocals and sometimes do a bit of tinkering on a keyboard
‘Fess up. What records have you stolen from your parents’ record collection and why?
Dad has a few Lou Reed and Talking Heads LPs that I have taken possession of, he doesn’t have the most expansive record collection though. He used to have a whole swag of Van Morrisson CDs/Tapes that I used to listen to when I was younger but I wouldn’t say that I stole them…probably should have though as they seem to have gone missing anyway…oh and The Residents…Dad has a few of their records and he has been pushing me to listen to them for a while. I’m glad I did!
What’s on heavy rotation on your iPod right now?
I’ve taken heavily to some of Jon Hopkin’s new stuff. I strongly suggest you check it out. Four Tet did a great remix of one his tracks called Vessel which is really sweet. And Four Tet is getting a bit of play in his own right….Still giving the most recent Chemical Brothers album a good word out (not that I would call it recent anymore but you get the picture). The Horrors’ new album is pretty cool and the one and only Mylo album gets a fair bit of action too haha…and one of Still Going’s EPs gets a lot of play…it’s only 2 tracks long but it is fucking great.
‘Home taping is killing the music business’ was the catch-cry of the record industry in the 1970s and 1980s, but it managed to survive until now. What do you think is the difference between mates taping copies of friend’s records back in the 80s and 90s and file sharing now?
Wow. This could get blown out. Making mix tapes for friends definitely required a lot more time and thought than setting up a send space link does, for me that’s one of the major differences in terms of ‘behaviour’. The other side of it is the effect it is having on the record industry and there are both positives and negatives to file sharing. The positive of it is that bands like ourselves can actually get our music out to the world without having to sell our soul to a record label. It also means there is a lot more obscure content being created which is fantastic as in the 70’s or 80’s many of these left of centre artists would never have got any traction (obviously there are exceptions to this rule).
The downside of this is in my opinion is that a lot of people now take free music for granted and they have a lot less time for music in a general sense; i.e. the marketplace is so saturated that if someone doesn’t get into your song in the first 30 seconds then they will probably never listen to it again. This is particularly frustrating, especially when I look back at some of my favourite records…I didn’t really get into them until 5-6 listens in but from there it went on to become an obsession. There is a lot more I would like to say on this however for brevity’s sake I might end it there
You must answer this question honestly or we steal your rider. What was the first gig you went to? Where was it and what was the venue?
Umm. Powderfinger at Festival Hall. I think I was in year 7 and they had just released Odyssey #5…Not the trendiest band ever but I liked their music then and I still do (not a huge fan of their most recent work though)
What’s your favourite site to download music from and do you ever pay for it? Can we find any of your releases there?
I haven’t downloaded any music for a while actually. I have made a few purchases on iTunes recently (Sandstorm by Darude – definitely the best purchase I ever made)
What artist made you want to pick up an instrument and/or sing?
My favourite bands when I was in high school were: Powderfinger, Midnight Oil, Hunters and Collectors….oh and The Living End (massive fan back in the day haha….) – All these bands definitely influenced my desire to play live music.
Have you ever been arrested?
No. Nice and boring.
Do you have any particular ritual before you go on stage, or even a lucky charm you take with you?
Despite being fairly superstitious I don’t have any ritual/lucky charm for gigs. I don’t drink before I go on stage because usually setting up before we start playing is extremely stressful and so I need to be on my game to a certain extent…either a DI is not working or something weird is happening with a synth or maybe the fucking midi sequencer has stopped working…come to a show sometime!
Supposing you were to be playing sold out stadiums on your next tour, what outrageous rider requests would you submit?
Hmmm. I think I would probably be fucking nervous…going to a driving range is usually good for my nerves…so maybe I would ask for one of those crazy in door golf range machines where you hit the ball into a net and a computer tells you how far you have hit it….that would be pretty sweet.
Because it’s more fun to do things together, which living Australian artist would you most like to collaborate with? Tell us why?
Colin Hay is pretty amazing. He has a fantastic sense of melody and he writes some beautiful music. I think he would be right at the top of my list.
Right, let’s get really intimate. Tell us what releases you have that we can listen to with the lights down low, or even better, where we can see you play in person next. Naturally, don’t forget to give us the link to your Facebook fan page too.
We have just released the first single from our debut album called “Sense of Self”. As for playing in person, well we’re working on that. Up until May we had been playing weekly for about 3 and half years…we’ve just bought a whole lot of new equipment so we’re trying to it all working for a live show and we’ve spent the last three months writing for the record…so we’re probably a little way off from hitting the stage again (maybe 2 months???) but we’ll be sure to let you know when we get there!!
