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ON THE COUCH WITH: Starting Sunday

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ARTIST INTERVIEW

Access All Areas.net.au: Hey Rhys, how’s it going man?
SS – Rhys: Hey, i’m good thanks, just packing my bags to head off out on tour... its exciting times for us, its a new start & we’re looking forward to getting back.

Access All Areas.net.au: With the band, you were formerly known as Front Counter, how exactly did you come from there to being now known as Starting Sunday?
SS – Rhys: Well that was a difficult time for us, we had some great shows in December, we’d played in Brisbane & it’d gone really well for us & things were looking like they would be great... and then our singer & bass player just walked out. We were left with a situation where we had to make a tough decision to move forward, but we did so & in this, i moved to lead singer which really was a challenge but i’ve come to be good with it. We got a young bass player named basil who came in & has been great for us & yeah we got rehearsing new material & things were looking good so we kept going. The thing was we were playing a new direction of music to what we had in front counter, so we decided we had to change the name... we made this decision on a Sunday & yeah we came out with starting Sunday. The fans have taken to this really well, we were unsure at first, but its great now.

Access All Areas.net.au: You have your self titled EP due out this week, you guys excited about this release coming?
SS – Rhys: Yeah, to be honest i didn’t think it would happen, but it came together & its sounding great. We’ve had some great responses to the material we put on our myspace page & it all seems good.

Access All Areas.net.au: With the recording, was it difficult for you having to really start again with a new line up & band?
SS – Rhys: Yeah, it was you know, cause when we had the guys leave in December was pretty much the week we were about to start pre-production on this EP so we had to really work on the tracks. Nothing for our band stopped, by that i mean we kept rehearsing & recording & yeah we knew this band would keep going & its looking great for us. Recording this EP was a new challange for me, going from the usual backing vocalist to lead was a bit daunting, but i got the handle of a 3 minute song in the end. Our new bass player Basil, he’s young but he worked hard & now clicks with us & worked hard to make it all happen in the studio... was nice to see him work... its all rewarding what we’ve done.

Access All Areas.net.au: On the new music, it seems to have a more melodic edge to it than the harder edge front counter had, was this influenced by you being vocalist?
SS – Rhys: Yeah... i’m a lot more melodic & i like songs you can sing & rock out to... fun songs you know. In front counter i’d provide melodic backing vocals to what our singer Anton would do & that was great as its what we were, but now its a new band & new direction. We all like what we’ve ended up with songwise & we feel the new direction will hopefully open up a few more doors for us & get our name out there to a few more people.

Access All Areas.net.au: With the release, its another cd for you guys in stores, was there a time when you felt it may not happen & the band may just end?
SS – Rhys: Well i guess there was doubt when we were left with just the 3 of us, but really we knew we’d move on & we found Basil to fill in for bass guitar & we got to rehearsing & writing & then recording & now its only a couple days til our new start begins when the starting Sunday EP gets released nationally.

Access All Areas.net.au: You have had a song from the EP out for a bit called “When You’re Around” can you tell me about this one?
SS – Rhys: Well this song is sort of about the guys leaving, i mean you can be down & out, but you’ve gotta pull yourself off & refuse to give up & thats what this song is about. We had some anger & all the emotions when the guys left, but we got through that & now have a new start & yeah thats basically what the songs about.

Access All Areas.net.au: Outside the band, what do you get up to?
SS – Rhys: Well i’m pretty simple, just hang with friends... drink & not that much. I always like to keep writing or playing some form of music, even if its just a simple jam... thats what i do.

Access All Areas.net.au: You will be heading out on tour soon, are you excited to be playing live again?
SS – Rhys: Yeah, its something i thought once might not happen, but we’re back & here to rock. The times we had were great, but the times ahead will be just as good if not better... its a new start.

Access All Areas.net.au: From your times touring, any main good memories?
SS – Rhys: Well we’ve had some great times of course... playing taste of chaos... the show with Bon Jovi... there’s so much, but to be honest the best times on tour was just being on tour. I mean, it was us as the 5 friends together jumping in a van together with our gear hitting the road to play the music we loved making... its hard to compare the joy i felt the times i had on those drives in the van.

Access All Areas.net.au: You have shows coming up in support of the EP release, you excited for these?
SS – Rhys: Yeah, we’re looking forward for the shows we’ve got, its been a while between these for me, but i feel i’ll be ready. We have some 18+ & some all ages but i’m sure they’ll all be great.

Access All Areas.net.au: With the shows, anywhere you’re looking forward to getting back to?
SS – Rhys: Yeah, i definitely can’t wait to hit Brisbane again, last shows i did there were amazing, the people were so great & we had an awesome time rocking out & partying. We also have some shows in our home city Melbourne we will be excited doing & of course we will have fun everywhere we go... we just love playing & can’t wait to get out there.

Access All Areas.net.au: With the set, there will be new material but will any old front counter songs be reworked to fit the sets you have?
SS – Rhys: Well thats the interesting thing... we’ll be mainly trying to focus on the EP material as it comes out soon, but yeah we have a couple old ones. I tried to do these the way they originally were, but found i couldn’t reproduce them that way... but in my reworking i feel i have really gotten some great versions of songs i love playing... so yeah it should be a great set we’ll work with.

Access All Areas.net.au: With live shows, do you have a preference between 18+ and all ages shows... just curious as your style of band will encounter both in the future?
SS – Rhys: Well to be honest, both have their good & bad sides. With 18+ you get to play late & drink up & have a wild time partying out, but the kids miss out... thats where the all ages shows come in where they’re less fun on the party side but a wider audience comes in... which benefits the band. So i enjoy 18+ for the partys & the all ages for the kids, cause these days kids don’t get that many shows for various reasons... so if we can play for them its cool.

Access All Areas.net.au: With the future, much planned for after the next month or so of touring?
SS – Rhys: Well... we finish up these shows & we’re hoping at this point to get onto a tour of some kind later in the year, we’re looking to pretty much just play as many shows as possible to help promote our release & our band. In the future, we’d like to do a debut album... but thats in the future, for now we’re just touring.

Access All Areas.net.au: Well Reece, cheers for the chat, later man, bye.
SS – Rhys: Thanks Ben, later.

Interview By: Ben Coby.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Having introduced their new lineup earlier this year; Starting Sunday (formerly known as Front Counter) have unleashed their new self-titled EP which introduces a significant change in direction for the band and introducing a mature rock sound.

Under the guise of Front Counter, the band released the radio-favourite single, ‘What’s Your Name’ which was added to instant rotation on Triple M. The band became the first unsigned band to perform on an episode of Network Ten’s ‘Neighbours’ in August [2008] which was broadcast throughout Australia and the UK and also achieved sync placements throughout Channel 7’s Beijing Olympic Games coverage [2008] and on Network Ten’s Rove whilst ending the year with a special appearance at the 2008 ARIA Music Awards. The band has also supported Behind Crimson Eyes (AUS), The Butterfly Effect (AUS), Dopamine (UK); as well as a support slot on the Taste Of Chaos tour playing alongside bands including The Used, Rise Against, Aiden and the Gallows.

In early 2009, throughout the writing and recording process, the four-piece went through an agonising decision to change the name.

“Originally we were going to keep the name, then we started writing more music for this EP and we started to realise that not only had our sound drastically changed and matured, but we as a group had grown and moved on. We didn’t feel like we were Front Counter anymore, so a name change became very important,” singer and guitarist Rhys Thompson said.

“We wanted to portray the idea of a new beginning. It was on a Sunday after a few shows in brisbane that everything changed. the new band started on a Sunday, so after a while it became pretty obvious what we should call the band,” Rhys explains of the founding of the new name.

Now with a new name in tow, Starting Sunday unleash their new single from their forthcoming self-titled EP “When You’re Around” which Rhys describes as a song about not wasting any time.

“It’s a little bit about us as a band moving forward and doing what we love,” says Rhys.

Fans can download the new single ‘When You’re Around’ for free via their website www.startingsundaymusic.com.

www.startingsundaymusic.com

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MY FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE

Michael Franti
I remember at the Falls Festival a few years ago after we played there we got one of those little train vehicles and jumped out in the middle of night to this creek bed and went to this little revien and sat there and our eyes started to adjust to the darkness and what was creepy were these things... on the walls they were filled with these glow worms and it was the most fantastic thing... all these different colours- purple, green, white all glowing and that was the most amazing festival experience I've ever had!

When I see a band I always have a moment in show when you have an epiphone at some point when this band is kicking, or the band is about to hit a peak, or something that the drummer does like knock this bottle of beer off the stand [laughs] or something crazy when there is just this sudden abrupt thing and everyone just lets go and that’s what I love of that experience... people not worrying about the past or the future.

Ideal Lineup?
On a historical sense, definately love to have Bob Marley of course, but apart from that I really love going to festivals because you see bands that you’ve never heard of before and you know that’s how I met Blue King Brown, Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, R.E.M., John Butler, The Public Enemy... throw any of those bands on a festival and it will be good but its about finding something that you never imagined.

Tips for attending Music Festivals?
My tips [laughs]... Always bring your own roll of toilet paper and the other is only look at the festival schedule if absolutely necessary... like if you know that the Black Keys are your most favourite band in the world and you need to know what time they are playing, then look at the schedule but otherwise just walk around!