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ON THE COUCH WITH: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

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ARTIST INTERVIEW

Access All Areas.net.au: Let me just start by congratulating you on Baby 81 Peter, it’s a great album from start to finish!
Peter Hayes (BRMC): Thanks man, Appreciate it.

Access All Areas.net.au: To a new listener, how would you describe Black Rebel Motorcycle Club?
Peter Hayes (BRMC): (Laughs) Well… I’d say we are a Psychedelic Rock and Roll band.

Access All Areas.net.au: Where did the title Baby 81 come from?
Peter Hayes (BRMC): It came from a story that Nick (Jago-Drummer) came across on the Internet about a child that survived a tsunami (2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake). They did not know the child’s name so they named it Baby 81. 13 different parents tried to claim Baby 81! They eventually found the rightful parents.

Access All Areas.net.au: Do you ever get asked if you’re a real motorcycle club?
Peter Hayes (BRMC): No, not too much (laughs), but there has been motorcycle clubs coming down to shows! I guess thinking that we are another club from out of town or something? They come down and check the show out. Never had any trouble though.

Access All Areas.net.au: Some critics have labelled Baby 81 a return to the past for BRMC, was this direction a conscious decision?
Peter Hayes (BRMC): All we tried to do on Baby 81 was blend our previous 3 records (B.R.M.C 2001, Take Them On, On Your Own 2003, Howl 2005) and I think we did Ok! But I think we could do it even better. The last thing we wanted to do was go back to our first or second album (Laughs). We were trying to step forward!

Access All Areas.net.au: My favourite line of Baby 81 is “without passion it’s a fashion” on Track 9 “Lien On Your Dreams”. Was this line having a dig at the abundance of trend bands floating around today?
Peter Hayes (BRMC): (Laughs) I take it that way. Robert (Levon Been-Vocals-Bass) came up with that line (Laughs).

Access All Areas.net.au: In hindsight, do you feel that producing the album yourselves restricted you in any way? For example, not having somebody outside the band’s opinion?
Peter Hayes (BRMC): Well…yeah sure. But we had people helping us out in the studio. We had Robert’s dad Michael (Been- vocalist and guitarist for popular 80’s band ‘The Call’) help us out. Anybody that was in the room with us while recording had opinions… But you know, that’s the way that we are trying to do this band, it’s all coming from us, as much as possible anyway.
Access All Areas.net.au: Is this the most rewarding way of recording in your opinion?

Peter Hayes (BRMC): Yeah (Laughs), you get all the blame, and you get all the credit (laughs). Although that’s not what we are looking for, I mean, I have a hard time listening to other bands because I’m always wondering how much of it is really them. I wonder if they came up with that awesome part, or if it’s some other guy in the studio telling them what to do. I want to know how much came from the band? I mean, I want to know how much actually came from the Beatles? (Laughs)

Access All Areas.net.au: Onto your upcoming Australian tour! It’s been 3 years since you were last here (Livid-2004). Are you excited about coming back down-under?
Peter Hayes (BRMC): Yeah man! We were not sure if we would ever be able to do it again (financially). We couldn’t do it on Howl, well, we couldn’t do it the way we wanted to do it. We were gong to come over and do it with acoustic guitars but we decided not to do that. We wanted to bring the full band. I have six guitars tuned differently, and I need them all. I just can’t rent 6 guitars and then just play them on the night, I’m not good enough (laughs). We kind of have to sell a few records to get to places (laughs).

Access All Areas.net.au: BRMC are one of the headliners at the Falls Festival. Have you heard much about Australian festivals from other bands?
Peter Hayes (BRMC): No, not really, a lot of bands talk about Big Day Out and how great that is though.

Access All Areas.net.au: Is this going to be the first time that BRMC will be performing on NYE?
Peter Hayes (BRMC): (Pauses) No, we did one other at a place called ‘The Purple Onion’ in San Francisco. That was a long time ago though. (laughs)

Access All Areas.net.au: What can Australian punters expect from a BRMC show?
Peter Hayes (BRMC): Hopefully a show that’s as loud as possible. That’s the only thing to expect that I can think of right now.

Access All Areas.net.au: What are you looking forward to seeing in Australia this time around?
Peter Hayes (BRMC): Last time we were in Australia we went to the aquarium, wasn’t all that exciting. This time I want to see the beach; I’ll go for anything outside the city you know. I’m not sure if we will get much time though?

Access All Areas.net.au: Well, after four albums, you seem to be keeping it real. Thanks a lot for the chat Peter.
Peter Hayes (BRMC): That’s very nice of you man, that’s what you have to do. Thank you.

Interview by Adin Constan

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Fourth albums usually aren't peaks for bands, far from it, but Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have silenced their critics and are back to their pissed off indignant best.

Sparse, literate and full of deeply hypnotic killer tunes, ‘Howl’ was always going to be a hard act to follow. Not fazed, Black Rebel Motorcycle has come out swinging and have never sounded more self assured. ‘They have evolved past expectations into a newly intriguing proposition’- Mojo

‘Baby 81’is a masterful work of sonic soundscapes, dark edges and low, simmering sexuality. The down and dirty swagger of Peter Hayes is in full tilt making “Black Rebel Motorcycle Club seem invincible; or back to their searing best, at any rate” – Uncut

Delivering potent, intelligent, memorable melodies with a noisy cohesion and howling passion, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have never succumbed to the safe path or released records to please the suits.

www.blackrebelmotorcycleclub.com

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MY FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE

My Festival Experience
The Living End

I could probably go on for hours, but the one stand out for me was in 2003 at the Auckland Big Day Out. It was the set of the Queens Of The Stone Age & 2 songs in the gear blew up & they had to stop playing, everyone was pissed & the band was so bummed out. At about 11pm at night however, an announcement came out stating they were doing another set on a smaller stage & everyone just scrambled to get there. This set was just so energetic, so aggressive & so impressive & it really stood out as just one of the best shows I’ve had the privledge of witnessing while on tour.

Ideal Lineup?
Well for me it’s straight up ACDC as I just love them so much, I would also say U2 once again they’re really great live & play great music. I suppose the only other band I could think of would be Cog, 5they have a great live show & just fit a festival no matter where they play. So yeah, those 3 for me.

Tips for attending Music Festivals?
Well the biggest tip I can definitely give is either take or get as much water through the day as you can as it will help you so much, of course people may not take that advice as there’s other stuff to drink at festivals. Make sure you have a plan so you don’t get lost or lose time of the day & ensure you have things mapped out to know where to go for all the essentials. For me the essentials are the bar & the toilets & then the stages, so once you have the plan & the water, it’s all good.