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ON THE COUCH WITH: Gyroscope

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ARTIST INTERVIEW

Access All Areas.net.au: Hey, Dan. How’s things?
Dan: Good thanks, mate. How are you?

Access All Areas.net.au: I’m good. So last time I had a chat with Brad you guys were over in Wales recording Cohesion. Now the first singles out with the album soon to follow. What’s the feeling at the moment amongst the band?
Dan: Pretty good. We’re pretty rejuvenated and ready to hit the straps again, as you do for a season of touring. We’re really happy with the record and how it came about, all the artwork and post stuff like the video and what not. It’s lead up to a really good touring stint now. We’re just going to hit it hard and do what we do. Hopefully the kids will enjoy the record when it’s released (April 9).

Access All Areas.net.au: What made you go with ‘Some Of The Places I Know’ as single number one?
Dan: It made sense in a way with the timing. When we wrote it the working title was Heat Wave because we wrote it this time last year in Perth during a heat wave. The lyrics sort of reflected around the sun and just the beat and the rhythm itself felt a bit lazy and slack – something we don’t tend to do. So it was reflecting on that and knowing it was going to be released around that time. And what we did on the video clip, it was in WA on a 45 degree day. It just showed and everything seemed to feel right. We put that one out because it really suited.

Access All Areas.net.au: It’s a great clip. You guys are perfecting the art of making videos these days.
Dan: We’re trying to get it right, mate. I was talking to…I can’t remember who it was, about our old clips and how much they sucked. This last one, even my dad gave me a call after he’d seen it. He said ‘I really like your new clip, son. It reflects where you’re brought up’ and all that. ‘Cool, dad’. So if the old boy can get it, hopefully the kids do too. It stirs some emotions, especially with the WA folks. It is very bushfire theme and beach theme. Once that was done I took more love and pride in the song itself. It came with a bit more imagery than even I had imagined.

Access All Areas.net.au: I think I’ve heard you say you like to write lyrics in a freestyle kind of way. Is that how you wrote this record?
Dan: Yeah. Yeah I always do all my lyrics just freestyle, the melodies and stuff. We write the music first. Very rarely I’ll come up with the melody first. Sometimes I do. There’s a couple off this record I have. But most the time we’ll write the music and I’ll come in at night and do a vampire shift till about 6 am with no one around. It’s pitch black and a bit scary and I just get my freak on then. It’s good. I grew up with my first passion for freestyle music and the art of rhyme and then I found rock music, grunge and Nirvana just after that. Just word trickery and people being able to use stuff just straight off the bone and spit it like they do. It’s just something that took my fancy. And me not being in a rap or hip-hop band at all, it’s very rock, the only way to do that is when no one’s around and I’m creating and constructing – bounce off what I used to be into and kind of use it in my rock sort of life as well. In saying that, in Some Of The Places I know I even get to spit a bit more as well, which I normally don’t get to do. The words are a bit faster. And scout a little bit. So that was another thing I’d never done before and I’d always loved but it didn’t really fit our stuff…but obviously you rock up the music enough and you don’t rap too much and you can get it in the song. So it’s pretty good to know that little things that started me off into the music world can help me along the way, whether it be constructing a song rhythm or doing a delivery.

Access All Areas.net.au: You talk about how this record is more cohesive, thus the title…and that it’s more of a live album. Did you find Breed Obsession a bit difficult to tour? Some of the songs didn’t have the same live energy?
Dan: To a degree. I think there was enough on there to spread it along an hour’s set or whatever we had. It didn’t harness anything or shoot us in the foot. But it wasn’t to the extent of say our first record or first few EPs or whatever where we could play everything live, purely because we had to – we didn’t have enough songs. We’ve just come full circle. We wanted to release a record we were feeling at the time and we did with Breed Obsession. Obviously we’ve gone ‘let’s rock it up a bit’. You just can’t do what you did on the last record. All we’ve done is just reflected on what we’ve done in the past. We’ve kind of gone back to square one and done it a bit more rock. Who’s to say, the next record might be a concept acoustic album…you know what I mean? It sort of speaks for that time. We had Gil Norton (producer). Rock is his forte. He lives down that channel and we wanted to go there. We could have had the same songs and used another producer and it would have made it a bit more arty farty. That wasn’t where we were heading in this aspect of our life. For every band, it’s where you’re at at that time. Any song can get constructed and deconstructed in any sort of fashion. But if you’ve got, like we did, a theme of cohesion and lets make this sound like a record rather than a collection of songs…we tend to just lean on the rock a bit more, which helped us home really.

Access All Areas.net.au: I guess some people could say it’s a brave move to go back to your roots seeing that Breed Obsession was so commercially successful. Did you guys sit down and discuss the next album’s direction or…
Dan: Each time we sit down to write a new record we try and get around 30 songs. We had about 35 for this one. Between those songs there was the heaviest we’ve ever written, the lightest we’ve ever written and everything in between. And all we do is get these songs in there so at anytime you know you’ve got 30 songs that you really enjoy and then it just takes time sifting through them and then finding a producer who comes onboard with an idea or with a concept – some sort of direction. That’s essentially why you hire them. That’s what we were looking for. Looking at these songs, we don’t really know what we want to do. Gil’s first thing was ‘what do you guys do?’ He had obviously seen our videos and said ‘You guys come across as just a really rad live band. That the way you feel?’ We said ‘pretty much man’ and he said ‘well let’s make a really rad live record that you can tour.’ It was almost that simple for him. It was good for us to hear as well because we had gone in there thinking maybe we need an acoustic song…you can have acoustic moments but you can still rock them out. What he’s done with us and the Foo Fighters and such, obviously you can trust him on that. We had the right guy working with us to push us in that direction. So we kind of went back to what we used to do but in a way we step forward in knowing that it doesn’t have to be a rock song; it just has to be captured in that rock element. Tricks of the trade is more of less what we got out of this experience.

Access All Areas.net.au: A song like Safe Forever is very much a trademark song for Gyroscope, especially during the live set. Is that the kind of vibe people can expect throughout this whole album?
Dan: For sure. I think so. As I say, loud and quiet is what we’ve grown up on in grunge and stuff. Do a nice, soft verse and bust into a big chorus is essentially what every song on the record wants to do but in different ways. It is that trademark thing where hopefully you’ll be singing the chorus and during the verses you just listen on in and have fun and stuff. In saying that, people will take everything out of it. People ask me about lyrics that I don’t even know what the hell I’m talking about. People find their own way to it and say ‘this is what it means to me’ and I love that. You keep an open slat. Even when we think we’re getting a bit heavy some people will listen to it and say ‘it’s a bit fucking light, mate.’ As long as we’re happy and we’re just stoked this record is wrapped up. There’s no pressure that’s come before because of that fact that we’re kind of going backwards in a way. We’re going backwards to step forwards. It’s stuff we know we’ve done before, but this time we’re trying to do it twice as good as last time. It’s doing better than last time really.

Access All Areas.net.au: I love how you guys talk about the strong foundation of the band. So many bands go through line-up changes and many split, but Gyroscope seems very solid. Why do you think you guys have been able to last so long as a group?
Dan: I literally put it down to us being really good mates. What 14/15 years of age and now we’re 29/30. So half our life we’ve known each other and lived out the back of each other’s pockets. I’ve slept more nights in a hotel room with Brad than I have with my own wife. There’s crazy stats going on. That’s what made us a unit. We got asked a question early on ‘what would happen if one of you guys left? Would you find another guy?’ We just all said straight away, ‘Nah, too hard basket dude.’ We’ve come this far with what we’ve wanted as a unit. If it was anything else, we’d pack it in and call it a day. We’ve accomplished 20,000 more things than we’ve ever wanted to. We’re just a unit. I tell a lot of young bands ‘Make sure you’ve got your blokes right or your people right before you get your chops right.’ You can work hard as a band but the last thing you want in a year’s time is to sell your drums for a motor bike or something stupid. Basically we were all heading in that right direction. That was our blessing. We didn’t know anything. We didn’t know any better. We were just mates and then when things occurred, things started getting better and you jump on board. You experience some pretty cool stuff from what you’ve created. If you’re that kind of mates and it works, that pushes you on. I think the unit itself works well being mates first. It’s not like anyone answered some classified ad for a drummer wanted. Each to their own – some bands work like that. We wouldn’t work any other way really.

Access All Areas.net.au: Were there any times where you weren’t so solid as a group?
Dan: Not really. As I say, we were mates first. Rob learnt playing drums from jamming with us and I learnt to sing from the confidence of my mates going ‘yeah dude, sing.’ We just bounced off each other. Brad played guitar before he joined the band. He put that down to play bass just to join the band because obviously Zok and myself (play guitar) and we were looking for a bass player. It was just a bunch of mates giving it a go. Zok’s had a week’s lesson on guitar. That’s the extent of it. We all sucked pretty bad. Just to get better and better through rehearsal and gigs was enough of a drive to not really give a shit. We weren’t striving for anything. We were just having fun. People gave us pats on the back and that’s all a kid really needed – a bit of confidence and they go on to do their own thing. It’s lead to where we are now – a bit of ignorance, but it’s been a good ride.

Access All Areas.net.au: That really rubs off on a crowd when they can see a band really digs it and enjoys playing with each other.
Dan: Yeah. And even just including the crowd in the gig. We were saying before…we just played a show in Margaret River. By the time we were on it was just after 11 and the kids had been watching a thousand bands throughout the day and there was a surfing competition, so everyone was a bit tired and worn out. We played a couple of the songs and you can just tell that the vibe wasn’t there, it was just burned out. I made it my purpose, like I do at most gigs, to come off the stage and get into the crowd. And they love that, man. I love that too. That’s one of the best parts where I’m singing in people’s faces, poking them in the eye and their grabbing at the guitar. Those sort of things, you bring the party on. If it’s not there from word go, you start it. You instigate it or if it’s the crowd revving us up, so be it. That’s the moment where it all becomes too easy and too much fun.

Access All Areas.net.au: Is it still Safe Forever that you love to jump off stage and into the crowd?
Dan: Oh, yeah. I do it 3 or 4 times if I can. It depends on the size of the stage and whether or not I can make it back up without making a dick of myself. I try to get out there as much as I can but yeah, Safe Forever I think we’ve been closing a couple of the gigs on that one now. It’s sort of a call to arms. I still sing ‘I did it for you Jess’, my wife, and I still do the same stuff. It still means the same thing as it did years ago when we first released it. I know the kids love it and guys come up to me and say ‘it’s mine and my girlfriend’s favourite song’. When a dude says that to you it’s pretty cool. Boys don’t really show their emotions. We’re a bit dumb like that. I wear my heart on my sleeve and hope that other people feel they can too. So that sort of shit’s good. If kids can relate to not only what you’re doing but what you’re saying, that’s a whole new thing. To be able to get off stage and sing Safe Forever in their faces and look at them do it to me, you know that’s a one off thing. It doesn’t happen every day.

Access All Areas.net.au: After going through the whole process of making now your fourth album, do you think there will be more Gyroscope albums after this one?
Dan: It’s hard to say. I hope so. We just take it one step at a time. We haven’t looked at writing a single note for the next record if there is to be one. If you spoke to me during the Breed Obsession time I probably would have said we hadn’t written anything for Cohesion yet. We just take it as it comes. We’ve done an album and we’re happy with it. We’re in the touring and video clip land now. We just smash out and we’re content with that. When we look at the next stage we’ll probably get in the rehearsal room and write some songs. If they’re good enough and we feel like we’ve got enough gems in there we’ll obviously proceed with another record. But if everything sucks and we say ‘ok, this is all shit’ we’ll just call it a day. We’re in that position now where we’re sensible enough to know we’re writing good stuff and as long as we can continue and as along as there is a spot for us, the kids still give a shit, we’ll keep playing. Once music’s in your blood you’re going to be playing regardless, so it’s no big thing to us. It’s been fun to be able to be in a band for 13 years or something and we’re still doing it. They’re the bands we look at – your Midnight Oils, Men At Work or INXS who did the longevity thing. It makes us feel proud to know we weren’t a flash in the pan.

Access All Areas.net.au: Well thanks so much for chatting today, Dan. And good luck with Cohesion and the upcoming shows.
Dan: No worries. Hopefully you can make it down and we can hang out.

Access All Areas.net.au: I’ll catch you in Melbourne!
Dan: Sweet as dude. Awesome. See you, mate.

Interview by Danielle Ralph

INTERVIEW: OCTOBER 9 2009

Brad: Hey, Danielle!

Access All Areas.net.au: Hey, Brad. How are you?
Brad: Good. Yourself?

Access All Areas.net.au: Yeah not bad. What time is it over there in Wales?
Brad: About midnight. 11.30 or something.

Access All Areas.net.au: Really?
Brad: I think so, yeah. It’s a nice night. I think we’re nine hours behind the east coast (of Australia).

Access All Areas.net.au: That’s late to be doing interviews.
Brad: Yeah, it’s good. I just actually finished tracking bass for a song, so it’s good timing.

Access All Areas.net.au: How long have you been over there for?
Brad: We’re at the end of our third week now, going into our fourth, almost getting to the half way point. It’s really good actually. I think we left Perth September the 11th and we get back about the 12th of November. It’s pretty much eight weeks on the dot.

Access All Areas.net.au: Was it a bit strange flying on September 11?
Brad: When we were leaving I reverted to saying the eleventh of September because it sounds better. It’s probably the safest day to fly these days isn’t it? Yeah, nah I don’t think about that.

Access All Areas.net.au: Was it easy to pack up and leave this time around? Or is it hard to be away from home for that long?
Brad: Personally, I love going away. All the other guys have got their wives and girlfriends…We’ve been in Perth writing for a good six months, so it’s just nice to get away. I like getting away and breaking it up a bit. We’re all really excited about recording this album and about the songs. So we were all excited to get over here and work with Gil (Norton) and play in the studio. We’re pretty excitable young lads.

Access All Areas.net.au: Tell us about the drama you had on the way to the airport. Did you break down and almost miss your flight?
Brad: (laughs) Oh we had massive drama! First of all Dan and Zok were getting a cab together and the cab ran out of fuel on the highway.

Access All Areas.net.au: Oh, what!
Brad: (laughs) So that was a bit of a drama. They had to wait on the side of the road for another cab to come. They had to put all their gear in the cab. Then at the airport we had some excess flying…they tried to charge us like $5000 or something stupid. I think we managed to get it down to about $2000. Rob and I dealt with the Qantas people. It was a bit of a mission but we made it to the gate. As soon as we made it our flight was boarding. We made it and got there in the end. It was all worth it. A few little hiccups but it wasn’t too bad in the end.

Access All Areas.net.au: Zoran’s blog when on to say he got drunk in Singapore, passed out on the way to London and then you drove to Wales. It sounds like a bit of an adventure before you even got there.
Brad: We’re in rural Wales, so we did a massive trip. We got to Singapore and our flight was delayed. Dan lost his wallet and then found it again, which was pretty crazy. Because we had the delay, we started drinking beers. Then we got into Heathrow and had to drive another two and half hours to get to Wales. So it was a massive day and we ended up getting in I think it was a Saturday morning. It was a beautiful day. We went to the pub, had a few beers. It was really good.

Access All Areas.net.au: So how come you chose to go to Wales to record this one?
Brad: We sent our demos to the producers we really wanted to work with and the guy at the top of our list was Gil Norton. We’ve respected him as a producer since we started. He has used this studio called Rockfield Studios in Wales a few times and he really likes it here. He said to us, ‘Why don’t you come over here and do it?’ and we said, ‘Why not, hey? Bring it on.’ The studio’s great. It’s amazing, you’re in the middle of nowhere and we don’t have a car here. So to get into town it’s like a 25 minute walk into town, down the shops. But we don’t have to leave. We get catering here. It’s amazing. You wake up in the morning and you get breakfast; they serve a big lunch for you…there’s a big dining room and a massive table. There’s the four of us, Gil the producer, we’ve got an engineer, an assistant engineer and a protools guy…so there’s eight of us every day sitting around this table for lunch and dinner getting catered for. Val the cook is just amazing. It’s just a homely place and we’re getting a lot of work done because there are no distractions.

Access All Areas.net.au: It sounds like musical paradise.
Brad: It really is. So much stuff has happened here as well. We were watching this documentary the other day, Coldplay, Chris Martin was saying he wrote Yellow in a field our bedroom looks out to. Coldplay have been here, Black Sabbath recorded here, Queen did Bohemian Rhapsody here. The list goes on. It’s a pretty inspirational place. There’s been so good vibes coming out here.

Access All Areas.net.au: What has Gil been like to work with?
Brad: Absolutely amazing. He exceeded our expectations. The guy’s been around for years and just his musical knowledge is out of control. We did three weeks of pre-production…just going through the songs while he’s in the room, he’ll say something and you’ll think…we’ve been writing these songs and going over it for months and months and he comes in and goes, ‘How about you try this?’. ‘Oh I’m not sure about that Gil’ and you try it and he’s just got a vision for the music. It sounds really amazing and we really respect him. His ideas are great and he’s brining out the rock on our record, which is really good.

Access All Areas.net.au: Cool. So what do you do in your down time if you don’t have a car?
Brad: We’re always quite busy actually. There’s always something going on. Because we’ve got this whole place to ourselves, we’ve set up little studios in different rooms.
Dan’s been in his little room getting his vocals ready…everyone’s just working on their parts before they go and record. There’s a lot of sitting around and just playing, getting in the mood really. That’s half the battle as well, just getting that vibe. We’ve been playing a bit of Fifa Soccer as well on the Playstation. Rob just bought the new Fifa, so we started a bit of a…oh here he is.
Rob: (screams out) And it’s fucking awesome!
Brad: (laughs) So we’ve got this thing set up were it’s this big competition with tables and ladders and stuff. That’s going on amidst the hard working.

Access All Areas.net.au: Where did you actual write these songs you’re now recording? Was it true that you went to Michael Gudinski’s mansion?
Brad: We did a spot of writing at the start of the whole series, we just did a new publishing deal and he said we could use his house in Macedon, which is this beautiful, beautiful place in the hills of Victoria. We did a bit of writing there. The majority of it we did back in Perth in our little studio. Every now and then it’s nice to break away from here and go somewhere nice and try and get some inspiration. Most of it was down the road from this stupid chicken factory. That place is disgusting.

Access All Areas.net.au: Do you think the success of Breed Obsession will be hard to top?
Brad: I guess so. We don’t really think about it. The way we look at it is first of all we just want to please ourselves and challenge ourselves and make sure we’ve written and recorded the best record we can. These songs, at demo stage, have felt so much better than the last record. Personally, that’s what I think. I think the energy on this record already is crazy. I’m feeling pretty confident in the songs. Everyone’s just really excited to tell you the truth. There’s a real energy and everyone’s just firing, just rocking as well. We wrote 30 demos and we had atleast 12/15 we thought would make the record and three or four of them didn’t make it. What we really wanted to do with this record is make an album that’s cohesive in a way. Breed Obsession, it’s a great record and I’m really proud of it and all, but I think it’s a bit too diverse, there’s too much going on there. There’s not a common thread. So this one, we want an album that we can just tour, play these songs live and bring the rock back. That’s the way we’re headed and it’s sounding really exciting.

Access All Areas.net.au: Do you have an album name in mind?
Brad: We’ve started to think about it but we’ve got nothing yet.

Access All Areas.net.au: That will be hard to top too. Breed Obsession was a cool album name.
Brad: Yeah I know. I think there’s going to be a bit of pie graphs, what do they call it? (laughs) Brainstorming. We’ll do some brainstorming, get out the big scrap paper. It’s always a tough one. We haven’t really thought about it.

Access All Areas.net.au: ARIA nominations were announced here yesterday. It was great to see you guys recognised last year. How was that whole experience for you?
Brad: It was really good. Just to get nominated with the bands we did…Living End. It’s just a tip of the hat really, good on you, you’re doing well. As a band, to tell you the truth, we’ve never really won anything. So it really is nice to get nominated and to be recognised. Hopefully with the next record we can get another nomination. That would be great.

Access All Areas.net.au: Did you go?
Brad: Yeah we did. It was great. We got a good little seat right down the front and got to see the Living End play. It was really fun. It’s always weird coming from Perth, we’re so far away from that sort of thing. But it’s good to go and hang out and catch up with people you haven’t seen for a while. Hopefully we get to go…actually I think we are going again this year. We’re not nominated, but do you know what that means? It’s time to party! We’ve got no responsibilities.

Access All Areas.net.au: Did any band members get any new ink on this adventure?
Brad: Not on this adventure. We haven’t had time actually. I think Zok’s been thinking about it but he’s got a wedding coming up, he’s trying to save for his wedding. But I’m sure if he can pop in and get some more tattoos he will.

Access All Areas.net.au: Your manager, Rae has a gyroscope tat right?
Brad: She does.

Access All Areas.net.au: That’s dedication!
Brad: That is dedication. She is a dedicated woman. I like the fact that it doesn’t say gyroscope, she got an actual picture of a gyroscope. That’s pretty cool.

Access All Areas.net.au: To finish on a lighter note, tell us one thing about each of the guys that gives fans an insight into the personalities behind the music.
Brad: (laughs) There’s a tough question. I’ll start off with my friend Zok. He’s in the room so I can’t say it. There’s a bit of a joke…Zok is probably one of the funniest guys I know. He cracks me up. He’s the king of the one-liners.

Access All Areas.net.au: Is he getting a big head while he’s in the room?
Brad: I want to say more but he’s here so I can’t.

Access All Areas.net.au: Kick him out.
Brad: Nah…he’s a funny guy. Rob is…what is Rob? Rob’s the organised guy and can be the impatient guy. He hates to be lost. If we’re driving around and we get lost, he absolutely hates it. And he can’t be late. He hates that. So he’s quite punctual and he’s always one step ahead, Rob. Dan is the king of sleeping…anywhere. That guy, if we’ve got a hotel five minutes from the venue and we’re going to sound check or something, driving in the van he’ll sleep for five minutes. I think it’s because he wears slippers all the time.

Access All Areas.net.au: Yeah, he does! This might be a strange question, but what’s his obsession with the white polo top?
Brad: Oh, you tell me man! I don’t know.

Access All Areas.net.au: Every gig I’ve seen he’s worn that.
Brad: I’m going to ask him that. Want me to ask him now?

Access All Areas.net.au: Yeah, go on.
Brad: (calls out) Hey Dan. Danielle want to know what your obsession is with the white polo? It’s comfy. He’s got the Homer Simpson look with the white top and the blue jeans. Homer’s a bit of hero to him so he’s trying to look like him. (laughs) He eats the donuts as well. That’s the other thing, Dan’s got the best metabolism in the whole world. When we get catering, we’ll finish our catering and we’re be sitting down and playing Fifa or something, Dan will rock up with a massive plate full of food and he’ll finish that and then he’ll have some desert and he’ll go to bed with four bits of toast and a cup of tea. Seriously. And the guy can just not put on weight.

Access All Areas.net.au: That’s the life isn’t it?
Brad: I know! What the hell man? We’ll go for runs and do aerobics all stars or something. I don’t know what we’re talking about here. (laughs)

Access All Areas.net.au: Just about Dan.
Brad: Yeah. Dan Sanders.

Access All Areas.net.au: What would they say about you?
Brad: I don’t know. (to Zoran) What would you say about me Zok?
Zok: I’d say you’re the party guy
Brad: I’m a bit weird. Sometimes I’m the shy guy and I’m the crazy guy. I like to have a bit of party every now and then. That’s a problem when you’ve got friends with the same disease. It gets a bit dangerous. I can’t go to bed. I need to know what’s going on at all times for the fear of missing out.

Access All Areas.net.au: There’s nothing wrong with that.
Brad: Nah, there isn’t at all. (laughs)

Access All Areas.net.au: Well thanks so much for chatting, Brad. Good luck with the album and all best for the rest of your time over is Wales.
Brad: No Worries. Cool.

Access All Areas.net.au: We look forward to you guys coming back for some shows!
Brad: Thanks for the call. See you Danielle.

Interview by Danielle Ralph

INTERVIEW: APRIL 29 2008

Access All Areas.net.au: Well it’s been a massive year for you guys so far, starting with you guys tearing up the stages on the big day out tour to releaseing your new record “Breed Obsession” which debuted at no. 1 on the ARIA charts and everything in between, how are you guys going at the moment with all these great things happening for the band?
BBrad: Yeah its all really good for us, we’ve had a great start to the year which has kept building with the release of the record and the shows which are great, and yeah we’re pretty much just having a great time at the moment.

Access All Areas.net.au: Now on the record Breed Obsession, you’ve really caught a great sound for the band,, what sounds or artists were you guys listening to or being influenced by during the writing & creative processes for the record?
BBrad: Well we worked on the record for about 8 months and right before we started we headed over to South Africa for these festivals & for us to see these other cultures, environments such as poverty & the languages used in the society & the music in all styles & situations was really inspiring to us. We felt from the experiences in different countries like there & the USA & UK that we had experienced a lot which helped us a lot. It’s not like we weren’t listening to music & stuff during the writing, it just didn’t seem to inspire us as much as our experiences.

Access All Areas.net.au: You guys went to Liverpool, England to record the new record with producer David Eringa, how do you feel he helped the band in crafting the record that was produced & do you feel it was beneficial to have sourced the producer you chose?
BBrad: Oh yeah, definitely, the man had a great era of work from previous artists. Before we went with him we had spoken to a lot of different producers before choosing Dave to work with. He was really the one guy we clicked with immediately over the phone as well as in person, which made it easy for us to work with him. He had instantly a feel & several ideas for our songs which we had taken. He was also great for us cause he knew how to keep us happy & having fun with lots of laughter, like whenever someone was down or having trouble on a track he would say something to get them laughing & subsequently hit record and yeah we’re surprised that it didn’t come through to much, the laughter that is, but yeah he was great, really knew how to get the right performance out of us for the record.

Access All Areas.net.au: With the new record, once it was recorded & all the final processes were done to finalise the release, were you guys, as a band, happy with the songs on the release, or were there other songs, which you had written, you would have liked to have put onto the record?
BBrad: Well we had like 29 or so songs going over there, but when we got to the Pre-production stage, we cut it down to 15 songs. In this stage we all wrote down the 15 songs we liked best out of the songs we had & surprisingly, we all chose the same 15 songs, which made things easy as we didn’t have to argue or fight over any differences in songs that either of us wanted on there. Then yeah we pretty much cut down to 12 songs for the record, this was done as a joint decision between the 4 of us, talking about which songs we wanted & which ones we thought could be left off. The songs on the record we’re really happy with, they’re our best songs we feel & we’re really pleased how they turned out.

Access All Areas.net.au: The first single from the record, Snakeskin, had great commercial success along with a top 20 finish on the triple j hottest 100 countdown, were you guys surprised with the success of this release?
BBrad: Oh yeah, now that was totally a surprise, with the success of the track going so well straight up, we didn’t think that it’d go so well. We were surprised cause these songs we’ve done, we know them inside out, you know, we know them like that and for the public to respond the way they did was great. We were stoked about it getting as high as it did in the hottest 100, we didn’t think it’d get as high as no. 16, but yeah I guess our fans just loved the song and voted for it. The song is also still on airplay at the moment, which we’re amazed at, as the song was released so long ago now, but now & then we hear it on radio or on tv on AFL commercials etc, so yeah it’s been great.

Access All Areas.net.au: Now tell me, as a band, how did it feel to receive the phone call about that the record has just debuted at no. 1 on the ARIA charts? It must have felt great, was this a surprise to you?
BBrad: Well I was Sitting at home and was planning on a quiet night with just a couple of beers as we had a few big nights beforehand. Then our manager gave me a call & gave me the news, I instantly jumped to my feet in happiness & pride and was full of energy & was really feeling pumped and yeah we went out & celebrated over the next few nights with some drinks and stuff. It was great cause we never expected the record to sell so well as it did, we thought we’d get some good sales from our fans, but the response was just great & we’re so thankful to our fans for the support.

Access All Areas.net.au: You guys have been doing some shows here & there on the back of the release of the record, how has the Gyroscope fans responded to the new material at the shows?
BBrad: Oh yeah, definitely, there has been such a great response to these new songs at the shows, a lot quicker than we’d expect. We say that as it usually takes some time, like a couple months or so, for our fans to get right into our songs, but for the new material it’s been pretty much instantanious. We really have enjoyed playing the new tracks, as it’s a change up to our usual setlist, for example we were just able to remove a track from our set that we’ve had since 2002, so it’s been good to get some new stuff to play to change things up & the fans have been so great in responding to us doing so.

Access All Areas.net.au: Now in recent times, you guys have been announced to be playing the Come Together & Splender In The Grass festivals, are you guys excited about playing these festivals & are there any artists you are looking forward to sharing the stages with?
BBrad: Yeah, we’re looking forward to these festivals, mainly Splender as it’s our first time playing. It’s always fun for us at festivals as we get to to hang with friends of ours & go to the parties in & around the efestivals, so we love it. The artist we’re looking forward to playing alongside is Sigur ros who’ll be at splender, we’re not sure what to expect from those guys, but we’re looking forward to that.

Access All Areas.net.au: What are the tour plans for the band after these festivals, any plans to head overseas or anything like that?
BBrad: We have no plans to head overseas for tours at present, after we’re done with these festivals, we’d like to do an Australian tour & get to as many places as we can, we haven’t really played in many cities or towns & yeah we’re looking forward to lining something up for later this year.

Access All Areas.net.au: At the moment in WA, the rock scene just keeps on getting better & better with such artists as Eskimo Joe, Karnivool, Birds Of Tokyo & Gyroscope of course, how do you guys feel things are in WA for rock music at the moment?
BBrad: Yeh everythings still pumping over here, there’s heaps of great bands doing great things, from the ones you have mentioned, to others including Jebadiah who are doing some new stuff which I’ve heard is great stuff, but yeah there’s just so much happening which we love hearing.

Access All Areas.net.au: With the rock scene in mind, are there any artists from either Perth or anywhere from the state you guys are liking the sound of & think that they should have their music checked out?
BBrad: Oh yeah, I mean there’s so many to think of off the top of my head, one who’s getting good notice, who’ll probably be touring with us is Sugar Army wo are great & yeah there’s plenty more I just can’t think, people should just keep an ear out to radio stations etc & yeah you’ll find some great new artists you’ll love cause there’s plenty of good rock coming out of WA right now.

Access All Areas.net.au: Well I’d just like to thank you for speaking with me this afternoon & would just like to ask if you have any final words for the Gyroscope fans of Australia?
BBrad: Yeh I’d just like to say for everyone to come to the shows we’re doing cause you’ll have so much fun rocking out & just to get out and have some beers to some live music cause theres plenty of it out there at the moment to be supported.

Interview By: Ben Coby

Interview: January 2007

Access All Areas.net.au: You must be pretty excited to be coming back out with a new album after being out of the spot light for a while?
Zoran - Gyroscope: Totally man… it’s been a big lead up to getting this album out . It’s been a little over a year getting the album out.
Access All Areas.net.au: You’re about to release your brand new album ‘Are You Involved’ how long did the process take to get it to release?
Zoran - Gyroscope: Basically we started writing in November and December last year quite heavily and we wrote for seven months, close to eight sort of thing and basically got in to the studio around late May, we actually flew over to LA in late May and started work in early June. We worked through June and July and came home in July for a couple of weeks and here we are ready to go on the road and start playing the new songs. We’re still finalizing the artwork and that sort of thing.
Access All Areas.net.au: In comparison with your last album, how would you say you have matured or stepped up a notch with this album?
Zoran - Gyroscope: One thing we definitely know about this album is that we’ve made a huge progressive step with the music in the way of what we wanted to do and what we wanted to play. We don’t want to lock in a particular sound or genre so the new listeners will find it very different to the last one but with the same key elements of the Gyroscope sound so to speak. With any album you have to progress and very few bands, like ACDC, could have the same sound with every album they do. To be a successful band in this day and age I think you have to expand more to the people at the same time and it’s about keeping the band happy, the fans happy, keeping everyone happy. I think that people might be scared with what we’ve done but 90% of the people will dig it.

Access All Areas.net.au: What can you tell us about the upcoming album?
Zoran - Gyroscope: I guess you can expect a definite rock album. I think that some of the songs are mellower than the last album, but at the same time there are probably some heavier songs than the last album as well. There’s definitely a variety of songs. We try to do – like we did with the last album – we try to tell a story over the album. We try to go for different types of songs instead of the same song 12 or 13 times. Over the last year it has been a blessing for us. Particularly when we did the first album it was a lead on from the EP called ‘Midnight Express’ and the single ‘Doctor Doctor’, then we signed to FMR and 99% of time was spent touring. So this time we were lucky to have down time over the six months – and going into this album, we could choose 12 or 13 songs to best fit the album… and I think it’s great but I am a little bit nervous.

Access All Areas.net.au: With this album you made the treck to LA to write and record, how did you find that experience?
Zoran - Gyroscope: IT was pretty amazing in itself. Originally, we were meant to write and record at the Sing Sing studio’s in Melbourne and that was cool to live in Melbourne for a while and stay with family and friends there – all very local and comfortable. Then a spanner was thrown in to the works…. we were meant to work with Blink182's Mark Hoppus and when push came to the shove, he had heavy things at home I guess and he couldn’t come out to record the album. Then we got Mark Trombino (who has worked with Jimmy Eat World on ‘Bleed American’ & ‘Clarity’, The Bled forthcoming album, The Living End’s ‘Modern Artillery’, Blink 182’s ‘Dude Ranch’ and the self titled album from The Rocket from the Crypt) and started talking with him and he said he was really keen to work with us but to be able to fit it in to his schedule, the only way was for us to go over to LA – and we were like wholly shit, no worries at all. We weren’t going to be in our comfort zone at all so thought why not… we live and breath record for 9 weeks so we might as well do it in LA.
Access All Areas.net.au: The road has pretty much been your second home since you bagan in 1997, have you ever got tired of the constant touring?
Zoran - Gyroscope: Well basically the band started in 1997 when we were about 17 or 18 years old and it wasn’t until we signed to FMR that we started that rigorous touring schedule but prior to that it was just doing small Perth gigs and writing more songs and then we got picked up by FMR
Zoran - Gyroscope: Over the last six months though we haven’t done any touring and we’re missing it and just not used to not touring all the time. Out of all of it, our favorite is playing live and I think that we excel in it – going in to the studio is fun, doing a couple of video’s and doing all the interviews is all fun but our favorite thing to do is play live, we’re definitely not afraid to play live!

Access All Areas.net.au: You spent over six months songwriting for this new album, how was it to adjust from your constant touring?
Zoran - Gyroscope: Pretty weird in the sense that we got home and we were stoked to get home but after two or three weeks, or even a month we were like what do we do and twiddling our thumbs because we’re not used to having time off having being always on the where you don’t have to think about things too much so to come home we were relieved to have this time and excited to have time and not as much pressure to write. As a group we wrote 30 songs together. We then culled it to mid 20s and eventually 12 or 13 songs and it was amazing to have the time and leisure to do it. I definately think we’ve got the best of the best of ideas and it was really awesome to be able to do that.

Access All Areas.net.au: What is your impression of the Australian music industry at the moment, and how you fit into it?
Zoran - Gyroscope: It’s hard to tell being in the band you don’t have that outside of the band perspective but I don’t know, the last couple of years we’ve built a good fan base across Australia and I think our biggest are in Sydney and Melbourne, even being from Perth. People don’t get too excited about Eskimo Joe, End of Fashion and other bands like that in Perth being that they’ve seen them in the area all the time. It’s a little more exciting for other cities because they havn’t had that.

Access All Areas.net.au: If you could tour with anyone, who would it be and why?
Zoran - Gyroscope: Umm I’m not actually too sure but my favourite would have been with the Living End. We did a seven week tour with Living End the year before last and that was amazing. It was the first really long tour we did where we really went far up through to North QLD and just places that we havn’t been to before and just touring with a band that is great musically and just amazing people. To look back at that it was a fun tour and a lucky experience.. they are a great bunch of guys. They were inspiration.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Gyroscope is bringing something new to the table this time – and it’s not what you would expect.

Coming off the back of the #1 album Breed Obsession in 2008, complete with Gold certification and an ARIA nomination in tow, you would think that they would stick with what seems like a formula for success.

But for something to succeed you don’t need a formula – you need a solid foundation on which everything can be built. And few in music have set a foundation as strong as Gyroscope.

“The foundation is what we hold true to, whether it be the foundation of being around for a while or it be that we’ve done so much touring and travelling and seen so many things and met so many people,” singer-guitarist Dan Sanders says. “The band has become a backbone in each member. Each of us, our lives are almost all made up of playing in this band. It’s the foundation, the backbone, and we realise we’ve got to this point through this. And these opportunities don’t come around every day.”

It is this foundation that has produced the most cohesive album of their career, not sticking to the formula. And from this base shoots fourth album, the aptly titled Cohesion, a record with enough power to rock even the strongest stadium foundations.

And within Cohesion’s wonderful shades of light and dark, of pounding energy and delicate emotion, there’s an honesty that shines through. It’s the same musical honesty the four have built on since starting out in their early teens.

It is from the mere fact that the band formed when they were still at school, to the size of their enormous fan base built on more than a decade of releases and relentless touring, that the Perth rock quartet has shown that while nothing in music can be foretold, the right foundation makes anything possible.

The album came to life late in 2009, in the aptly named Rockfield - a picturesque town in Wales where Sanders, guitarist Zoran Trivic, bassist Brad Campbell and drummer Rob Nassif took to the grindstone with around 30 songs they’d spent the year penning.

They recorded in a studio of the same name, the oldest residential studio in the world. With an awe-inspiring history - including the recording of Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen), What’s the Story Morning Glory (Oasis), and albums from Coldplay, Black Sabbath and The Stone Roses – it’s no wonder another epic, exceptional album was born within these legendary walls.

Surrounded by this bands history for amazing live acts, producing tracks that would be larger-than-life on stage was the main focus on this album, with the aim to construct an LP that sounded like a live set. And they have certainly delivered.

“We feel we’ve gone back to our roots and made the rock record we set out to make,” says Trivic. “We’re at our best when we’re playing live and that’s what people know us for.”

“People have seen Gyroscope can do a lot of different stuff, so we wanted to knock it home with what we can do live,” adds Sanders. “We’re a live band; that’s where we started. Cohesion isn’t heavy and crazy, but it’s more purposely built for touring. Someone will hopefully listen from beginning to end and say, ‘I can close my eyes and pretend it’s those guys playing the songs.’”

With the songs down to a mean dozen, Gyroscope nailed the perfect dynamic by recording live. Killer hooks and honest, assured song writing is laced with infectious energy and enthusiasm – a reflection of the band’s studio time. Meanwhile, Sanders tapped into a powerful simplicity behind the mic, simultaneously inspired by rock heroes like Kurt Cobain and his single-tracked vocals, to legendary Paul Simon and his delicate emoting.

Enter two weeks of preproduction with pivotal producer Gil Norton, the man behind band favourites like Foo Fighters’ The Colour And The Shape and The Pixies’ Doolittle. While Gil laid the perfect foundation, Chris Sheldon (Foo Fighters, Radiohead, Gomez) mixed up a storm.

“Gil believes preproduction is the most important part of the record-making process,” states Sanders. “You get the foundation right and then you can try things afterwards, but you can always go back to what you had.”

With Norton often assuming the role of conductor, standing between the four and hand-signalling for extra drum fills or more meaty guitars, mutual respect of talent soon turned into the most rewarding recording experience of Gyroscope’s career. This is heard loud and clear on Cohesion, an album demanding to pick up where 2008’s ARIA #1 Breed Obsession left off.

“We’ve gone to other studios,” Sanders explains. “In LA we came out with a Hollywood sheen, and when we did Breed Obsession in the UK it was clean and beautiful. But there are still producers around who go for more of a live, old-school sound. Gil kept reminding us, ‘You want to make a rock album or what?’ and we were like, ‘Yeah!’”

“You don’t have to make it sound so big and pretty,” Sanders continues. “In a way the album is stripped-back, but Gil’s given it the oomph. It’s got what we wanted in body, but it’s also got the attack and energy of a live record.”

And their first line of attack? Get ready for Gyroscope’s live assault with Cohesion, it’ll be another killer.

www.myspace.com/gyroscope

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MY FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE

All Time Low
Your most memorable Festival moment or experience?
Soundwave is amazing but we have always had a blast playing Bamboozle in New Jersey....the crowds have been insane.

Favourite Artist you’ve seen at a Music Festival?
Third Eye blind at bamboozle was insane

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Green Day, Blink 182, New Found Glory, All Time Low

What are your tips for attending Music Festivals?
The obvious ones are drink lots of water and bring sunscreen as the days can be long, also maybe a backpack to carry merch? That's what we used to do as kids at the warped tour, other than that just let loose and have a good time. The beauty of festivals is that you can find so many different kinds of artists and maybe even your new favorite band.