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In just a few days Aussie musical movers and shakers from far and wide will descend on Fortitude Valley in Brisbane for four days and nights - yes fellow music lovers, BIGSOUND, aka one of the biggest events on the Aussie music calendar, is back for its seventeenth year!
Notorious for launching of some of the country's most successful artists in the past (including Flume, The Temper Trap, A.B Original, Gang of Youths and more), BIGSOUND has been instrumental in uncovering the stars of tomorrow and shaping the future of the industry, and this year The Soundcheck will be showcasing some of the hottest heavy acts who will be slaying the stages at the BIGSOUND 2018 festival showcases.
Join us as we get "hot and heavy" with some epic up-and-comers in the lead up to this awesome event! And with just a few days to go until kick-off, today The Soundcheck chats to Sydney spunky punks ARSE.
Bombastic Sydney trio ARSE pack a biting punch of witty punk and Aussie spunk. Their 'Primitive Species' EP has garnered props at home and abroad, landing them triple j Unearthed Feature Artist and a European vinyl release.
And while their heaving brand of self-assured rage is set to melt BIGSOUND this year, before it all kicks off the ARSE boys got "H-O-T-A-N-D-H-E-A-V-Y" with The Soundcheck, chatting babies, being nice to soundos and not eating korma before a gig.
H - HEAVY AND ALTERNATIVE MUSIC IN AUSTRALIA: Describe the Aussie heavy/alternative music scene in three words: Too. Many. Boys.
O - OPPORTUNITIES: What made you sign up for BIGSOUND 2018? What opportunities are you hoping will come out of playing at Bigsound? If we expect anything from it we’re probably expecting too much. We’re just stoked to not be at work. At the least, BIGSOUND is two really great shows in Brisbane. That’s as good as it gets. Some fantastic people work extremely hard to make BIGSOUND happen and we’re thankful to be included. Everything else is gravy.
T - TELL US A SECRET: What’s something no one else knows about your band? Our drummer Tim is expecting! You gotta see the baby!
A - ADVICE: What’s one piece of advice about the music industry you wish you knew when you first started out? Say ‘no’ more often. Also, business is important but it’s not the reason why you play. If you care about the stuff you do control (your music), business will take care of itself. Also be good to sound people. If someone smashes your mix, get their number and stay in touch.
N - NECESSITIES: What are some of your must-have necessities when you’re touring? Your head. Keep it on. Play the shows first and play. You’re a nobody who needs sleep, vitamins and fuckin minerals. Stretching! Water! Coffee!
D - DAY IN THE LIFE: What does a usual day in the life of your band generally consist of? On show day… if working then wake up and go to work. Drink coffee. Deal with fools all day. Drink more coffee. Miss load in and soundcheck because you were at work. Luckily Jon has gotten to the venue early and checked all your gear. Skip dinner because playing after you’ve eaten korma is weird. Accumulate all feelings of worthlessness and misanthropy, shove em all up your fuckin arse, light up the tubes and become everything God said you could never be. Lose voice. Eat korma. Sleep. Back to work.
H - HEROES: Who are some of your band’s heroes and musical influences? Iggy, Kim Gordon, PJ Harvey. Uncle Nick, Uncle Warren. Vale Bowie.
E - EVOLUTION: Where do you see the future of Aussie heavy music heading in the near future? DIY forever. Most people don’t care about the weird shit.
A - ABSOLUTE MUST-SEES: What band(s) are you most keen to check out at BIGSOUND 2018 and why? East Brunswick All Girls Choir. One of our old bands played with them like 8 years ago and they were fuckin great then. Haven’t seen them since but that new record is sick.
V - VICTORIES: What’s been your biggest win as a band so far? E.g. an epic gig, great response to a release, or even just band members showing up on-time to rehearsal? Erstetheketontraeger Records in Germany upgraded our cassette tape to a 12-inch vinyl and put it out in Europe. Awesome label putting out some high quality stuff… like The Coneheads from Australia and Krimewatch from the states, to name a few. Big win, massive honour.
Y - YEAR AHEAD: What’s your band got planned for the next twelve months? We’ve got a bonkers split 7-inch vinyl coming out in September with the invincible Party Dozen, also from Sydney. It’s called ‘Power Tripper’, two new tracks from each band plus the psycho title track, which is basically Kirsty from PD fronting ARSE. Pure fire. Our bass player Jon pulls double duty for both bands, and we put out both bands on our own label called Grupo Records, so it was a no-brainer. We’ve got launch shows for it in Sydney at the Unicorn Hotel on Sept 7 and an in-store at Beatdisc Records on sept 14. all of us have played in different bands together before, done a lot of cool shit but this is definitely a high point. Fuck on.
ARSE WILL BE SHOWCASING AT BIGSOUND 2018,
YOU CAN CATCH THEM HERE:
Tuesday 4th September - The Zoo - 9:40pm - 10:10pm
Wednesday 5th September - The Zoo - 8:50pm - 9:20pm
FOR ALL YOUR BIGSOUND INFO, HEAD HERE.
AND FOR ALL OTHER ARSE INFO, CHECK OUT:
BY TIANA SPETER
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