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ON THE COUCH WITH: Butterfingers

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ARTIST INTERVIEW

Access All Areas.net.au: Hey Eddie, how’s It going?
BF – Eddie: Hey Ben, i’m doing pretty good, just got a heap of rain up here in Brisbane... wish it would go away, maybe tomorrow.

Access All Areas.net.au: Thing have been quiet for you lately, whats been up, been on a break or something?
BF – Eddie: Yeah, we took a bit of a break over the last 6 months or so, just to get some time to ourselves & take it easy, we’re back together now & are looking to work on some new material hopefully.

Access All Areas.net.au: Taking a break, do you feel it has recharged you guys to come back firing for the new material?
BF – Eddie: Yeah, definitely, we had been busy for a couple years straight after our record & singles we were just recording & touring, so to get the time out was really cool.

Access All Areas.net.au: With the new material, i take it you’ve been writing a bit, how’s it going?
BF – Eddie: Yeah, its been going pretty good, we’ve got a bunch of tracks together at the moment & things should be coming together sooner rather than later for the next butterfingers release.

Access All Areas.net.au: Any new approaches to writing with this new material?
BF – Eddie: Actually, we have, in previous records, i’d write 95% of the song & then take it to the guys to have their way with it & we’d get the track. This time, we’ve all written pieces & contributed to the material, so its got a real band feel to the release.

Access All Areas.net.au: You are a real blend of hiphop & rock, did you continue this or have you started in a new musical direction for this material?
BF – Eddie: Well we haven’t really changed, but i’d say so far we’ve had a lot more guitar based songs than more hiphop based songs, so it may be a change to the listeners who would be expecting another hiphop driven record, but hopefully people like what we’re up to.

Access All Areas.net.au: Over the years, you guys have had success with singles and your records, was this unexpected when it came together?
BF – Eddie: Well for a group that pulled itself together pretty much on the first night, to get a cd sold was success, so everything we had was a real blessing. We have had some really good success & it is a surprise, not in the numbers or anything, but seeing other artists who are really doing things hard & are working probably more than we do & we get more success then an artist like that... its just the listener i guess & if they like an artist they’ll pick up the music, so we appreciate everything & we hope it continues.

Access All Areas.net.au: You have had success with the singles on the Triple J hottest 100 over the years, was this something special for you guys to have entries in the countdown & is it always surprising how the tracks go?
BF – Eddie: Yeah, well Triple J has been the national support that has really helped us get to where we are, we got national airplay through them & its gotten us out to the people. To be in the Hottest 100, you know the people in Australia notice & love your song & we’ve had entries up to no. 11 i think & every time its been higher it was just amazement for us... obviously if one goes lower the next year its disappointing but we know there’s a lot more talented artists then us & people like songs more than others, so what we get we thank the people for & we hope with our next record we can get another entry in.

Access All Areas.net.au: With the band, you’ve been together for about 8 or 9 years, having pulled the band together essentially on the first night, being where you are now is it something you thought you’d be or have things been better than expectations?
BF – Eddie: We’ve really had the best opportunity, we’ve toured the country, played all the festivals, put out music to the country & we’re still here, so i think everything we could have done, we’ve wanted & thats all you can have really. We aim simply to release music... even though at one stage it didn’t look like it would pay off. I remember with our first record that sold, i had to borrow money from people i was close to & thankfully the record paid & i got the loans paid off, but we had that spot & we’ve come through & now we can make music without thinking where the money will come from, so its nice.

Access All Areas.net.au: Get up to much besides making music?
BF – Eddie: Well i don’t really do that much, i tend to be kinda lazy haha. I like to do things like everyone else, i play games... hang out with friends/family, get drunk & all that so yeah when i’m not making music i’m usually just chilling really.

Access All Areas.net.au: You are playing the 2009 Sounds Of Spring festival, you excited?
BF – Eddie: I am actually, i think this will be an awesome festival as the bands playing are really cool & the place where the festival is at is within walking distance of my place... so i don’t need to worry about driving my gear or anything & can drink up haha.

Access All Areas.net.au: With the festival, any bands you are hoping to see?
BF – Eddie: I’d say basically just The Hard Ons, great band & yeah just them... will check out some others of course.

Access All Areas.net.au: What can be expected from your set... some new songs possibly?
BF – Eddie: Well... this is the hard thing, you know as we don’t get that big a set cause of time its difficult to know what to put in. The punters generally want to hear songs they know which they can dance to, so maybe we’ll stick to that, if we have a good dancy new song we might do that... we’ll see.

Access All Areas.net.au: With festivals, do you have any high points or memorable times?
BF – Eddie: Yeah... probably doing the Big Day Out... we did that in 2005 & got to play the mainstage i think & that was incredible... all those people & yeah we had a great set that tour.

Access All Areas.net.au: Any tips for attending festivals?
BF – Eddie: Yeah... take a good hat, have heaps of water... keep track of the day... just have fun really with care & you should be fine.

Access All Areas.net.au: With festivals, any favourite artists you’ve seen perform at a festival?
BF – Eddie: This would be the big day out tour we did, i got to see the Beasty Boys who i’m a massive fan of & they were awesome... i even got the opportunity to meet one of them & was cool, but didn’t realise it was him til after i’d left haha.

Access All Areas.net.au: Favourite music festival to have played?
BF – Eddie: I’d say big day out as its the big one, but livid from the Brisbane days as i’m a Brisbane boy... loved that festival here in brassy, but we got sounds of spring now so its cool.

Access All Areas.net.au: In the near future, whats coming up for you?
BF – Eddie: Well i’m working with the boys on the new butterfingers record, i’m doing some work with a friend on a collab record which is kinda quiet at the moment & then i’m soon starting work on a solo record... so if all goes to plan there should be 3 new records out in the next 12 months.

Access All Areas.net.au: Well Eddie, thanks for the chat, all the best with the recores.
BF – Eddie: Thanks Ben, nice chatting, bye.

Interview By: Ben Coby.

January 7 2007
Eddie from Butterfingers

Access All Areas.net.au: How did the band come together?
Butterfingers: Butterfingers is kind of a collection of old Brisbane bands now since they all disintegrated or whatever. I’ve been in few bands with Dave, our bass player, actually all of them at different points and I hadn’t been in a band for a little while and had accidentally booked myself for a gig and only had a short time to get a band together, so I rang the most reliable and good musicians and had that gig and we’ve stayed together ever since.

Access All Areas.net.au: How do you describe your sound?
Butterfingers: I don’t really know, I don’t really put us in to one category of music, I couldn’t say it’s hip hop or anything. It’s probably an ecliptic mix of everything – all things good!

Access All Areas.net.au: What can we expect from the upcoming album that you're collaboating with Magoo on?
Butterfingers: More of the same really, there will definitely be a lot of different styles on it. Topically, I don’t know, we’re sort of working on two albums at once at the moment so we haven’t sorted out what’s going to go where. Probably a little bit more grown up and not as stupid.

Access All Areas.net.au: The band has spent a lot of time touring and playing live; do you prefer this to the recording experience?
Butterfingers: I don’t prefer… I like both things. I enjoy recording where the songs come to life on paper and then you hear back and you work on things. The creative process is really cool but at the same time though touring is wicked too and playing songs live. It’s a rush in itself as well. I couldn’t say which I’d rather do… I don’t know.

Access All Areas.net.au: Do you prefer to play the festival gig atmosphere or your own gigs?
Butterfingers: Same again, there’s good things about both. I prefer the actual show and at playing a smaller gig because the crowd is so much closer. It’s cool because you can see everyone direct and give energy at every single person in the room. There’s so many people at a festival and they’re all so far away because you are up so high on the stage. It’s like performing on TV, like you know people are watching but can’t feel them there so much.

Access All Areas.net.au: What is your impression of the Australian music scene and how do you fit into it?
Butterfingers: My impression of it is it’s good at the moment. There’s lots of good bands and so much support for Australian music in general. The general public aren’t rejecting it anymore and the fact that independent artists John Butler and The Waifs are doing so great as well it’s good to see people can do it by themselves and make a career out of it.

Butterfingers: We’re still Independent, we’re still signed to Road Trash which has been our label ever since the start but we’ve licensed to Festival [Mushroom Records] at the moment, so we’re kind of half way in between. We still do what we want and not we’re not restricted and they’ve got a bit more push… so we’ve got the best of both worlds.

Access All Areas.net.au: How has the band progressed in the time you've spent together?
Butterfingers: Our first ever gig was basically acoustic, maybe one hip hop track in the end and everything else was melancholy and slow and morbid and that’s completely different to what we are doing now. I definitely think that our musicianship has changed, and especially Damo, our drummer, he’s one of the only drummers that I’ve ever ever seen…. like we play with a sampler, right, and there is a whole bar loop that he has to play in time to but we don’t use a clip track. Like see drummers you would usually see with headphones on – whereas we’re all completely organic in the way that every sample get’s triggered by Olly. They kind of play together, and we just have to stay in time. Don’t think I’ve ever seen that ever!

Access All Areas.net.au: Any words of wisdom of your own which might be passed on to up and comers?
Butterfingers: The biggest question I always get asked is “how do you guys get where you are” and “we wanna do what you do” but I think the main thing is to be prepared to tour because we started touring when we had no airplay. We drove to Melbourne for a gig we booked and it was crap, no one was there, we didn’t make any money in fact we lost lots of money, we learnt the hard way but that’s what you have to do – go everywhere so everyone hears your name until you get to a point where you get momentum going. It doesn’t matter what city you live in you’re not going to get heard of unless you tour.

Access All Areas.net.au: How does it feel to have the support of Triple J behind you? How important has this been to your progress?
Butterfingers: It’s so important. The touring is one side but radio airplay is as much help to us as anything. If it wasn’t for them, we’d probably still be struggling so they’ve been crucial. If it wasn’t for them we’d still be no where.

Access All Areas.net.au: What can you tell us about the Figjam release?
Butterfingers: Yep its kind of like first verse of a recap of things that happened to me during our first album… my house burnt down, I lost my job and its basically looking back at that and looking at how now everything is going well at the moment for me. An into the chorus it’s like I get cocky at it to the point where the fans hate me and stab me [laughs]. I know it happens to lots of people where its really easy to let it get to your head.

Access All Areas.net.au: Finally, what inspired the name Butterfingers?
Butterfingers: I don’t know – I just had a list of band names that I thought sounded really cool and we had a band meeting and went through the list and that’s the only one we could agree on.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

After a manic start to the year with festivals, sacrilegious rock singles and record deals, Brisbane Hip Hop degenerates - Butterfingers, have dropped a new instalment of cheeky tunes that will keep you warm during a cold, cold winter in HELL! ‘FIGJAM’ is the star of the 4 track single with a lowbrow punch to the face and enough hooks to send Dr. Dre into therapy. This song is impossible to resist and provides a tempting little preview of the new Butterfingers album that is sure to blow some musical minds wide open.

Brisbane’s hip-hop trail-blazers, Butterfingers, comprising of members Eddie Jacobson: vocals, guitar, samples; Olly Thomas: percussion, samples, vocals; Dave Crane: bass, vocals; and Damien Green: drums, vocals; have already begun their assault on 2005, kicking off the year performing at the Big Day Out nationally.

From their humble beginnings in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley nightclubs, Butterfingers have been going from strength to strength as they forged a name for themselves with their infectiously manic and unconventional Hip Hop/Rock sounds

Butterfingers have been blazing a trail through the Australian live music scene for over three years now. An opening spot on the main stage of Livid 2003 earned Butterfingers a whole brand of new fans and kept their existing ones captivated with a selection of songs that would feature on their long player debut, Breakfast at Fatboys. The more consistent and widespread the touring became, the bigger and more responsive the crowds got and in 2004, life on the road became a constant.

Over the last 12 months the band has played alongside acts such as Spiderbait, Regurgitator, Machine Gun Fellatio, Koolism, The Herd and Downsyde as well as headlining the notorious 2004 Valley Fiesta where they were shut down after 3000 punters tried to make their way into the Valley Mall to catch a glimpse of Brisbane’s favourite new band. The bands 2004 touring schedule culminated with a national tour with Machine Gun Fellatio in November and performances at Woodford Folk Festival and The Falls Festival. To top off a manic year Butterfingers were nominated for an ARIA award in the Best Independent Release category.

The band will head back into the studio shortly to record Album #2 with acclaimed Australian producer, Magoo. The album will be released nationally on Valley Trash records through FMR.

www.butterfingers.info

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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.