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.
Who are you and what do you do in your act?
Liam O’Brien – Guitar, Bass, keys and programming
Marc Dwyer – Vocals
‘Fess up. What records have you stolen from your parents’ record collection and why?
Gypsy Kings – Greatest Hits (Got me wanting to play guitar!), The Cure – Three Imaginary Boys (was a great alternative to the crap that was mainstream when I was 15), Roxy Music – Stranded (Honestly the cover art drew me in) Thankfully our parents were happy to lend us these works of magic and neither of us had to stoop to theft!
What’s on heavy rotation on your iPod right now?
Liam – Black Angels, Spindrift, Crocodiles, Scott Walker
Marc – Ice Age, Robert Rental, The Vaselines
‘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?
Perhaps the main difference now is that you can view just about anything online in lists, which gives people the option of honing their taste more specifically. Whereas back in the day you might have been confined to what was available in a 3-block radius to your house/school. For example, in year 7 before I had Napster my burnt CD collection consisted of Madball, Sick Of It All, Raised Fist and Hatebreed as I lived in a small beach town where the older dudes were psyched on the NYC Hardcore vibe.
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?
Funnily enough we both went to the Vans Warped Tour in January ‘99 but in separate states (marc- Sydney Liam – Noosa). I (Liam) was 12 and Marc had just turned 13. We both remember seeing Pennywise and Throwdown but I (Liam) specifically remember Less than Jake because during their set a 16 year old girl from my future high school got on stage and took her clothes off. It was the first time I’d seen real life Boobs.
What’s your favourite site to download music from and do you ever pay for it? Can we find any of your releases there?
iTunes and Bandcamp are great places to find music! You can listen to stuff on bandcamp and if the band has allowed you to download it they can either set a price or leave it up to the user to choose how much they want to pay http://mythandtropics.bandcamp.com/
What artist made you want to pick up an instrument and/or sing?
Liam – The Gypsy Kings ;)
Marc – Bryan Ferry
Have you ever been arrested?
Marc – Drink Driving
Liam – Attempted arson and Wilful damage to public and private properties
Do you have any particular ritual before you go on stage, or even a lucky charm you take with you?
Marc – Delay pedal and a beer
Liam – My original C3PO thumb ring and a shot of good anejo tequila
What’s been your most outrageous rider request?
We don’t actually play stadiums yet but when we do I’m sure it will probably be:
– Someone to go around every two hours to disinfect doorknobs.
– Rose petals in the toilet, peach colored toilet tissue to match our complexions, and 120 designer bath towels, also in peach.
– Must have a physician back stage to administer B-12 shot.
– Twelve local postcards with 1st class stamps.
– No distinct smells anywhere near the artists. A golf cart and a bedroom, which “must be kept in total darkness”.
– A plaque on the dressing room door that reads: “Al Jolson – World’s Greatest Entertainer”.
– A framed picture of Princess Leia from ‘Star Wars’.
Because it’s more fun to do things together, which living Australian artist would you most like to collaborate with? Tell us why?
In terms of shooting a video clip we don’t really like the idea of a performance clip so we’d like to get Nicolas Hope from Bad Boy Bubby and Simon Lindon who plays Jimmy Luffnan in Chopper to team up and work magic together.
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.
Waikiki ’71 can be downloaded from iTunes and steamed at mythandtropics.bandcamp.com.
Our next shows are this Friday 8th July with Tessa & The Typecast who are launching their single a the Oxford Art Factory Gallery Bar in Sydney and then the 14th of July at The Toff in Town in Melbourne with Damn Dogs.
