| | | |  | The 1960's burst to life with the British Invasion, a cross-atlantic explosion of music, heartbreaking and soul, shaking its way down to earth like a message from Mercury. Among many other bands from this period, guitar driven power groups like The Who,...
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| Interview | Access All Areas.net.au: How did the band come together?
The Exploders: We all knew each other in high school and had at various times flirted with the idea of writing music and starting a band, but had never settled on a style and taken to it that seriously. Officially we came together over the summer of 2003/2004… Just prior to then TJ had scammed some money off his folks and decided to transform a dilapidated asbestos cottage on his family farm into a makeshift studio. One knocked down wall, 1500 egg cartons, a shite-load of nails, and a bucket load of blood, sweat and tears later, the transformation was complete. Then he moved the gear in, we decided we were going to make a band that drew on all of our influences, made a quick demo, practiced a couple of times, played our first gig in May, and as the saying goes, the rest is history.
Access All Areas.net.au: Where did the band's name come from?
The Exploders: We attempted to come up with names… failing dismally and finding all of the good ones had been taken. For a while we were sort of called the Satellite States but not really. One day TJ suggested the Exploders, Matt and I couldn’t think of anything better so we just sort of started referring to ourselves in that manner.
Access All Areas.net.au: Where did your interest in music come from?
The Exploders: Well TJ’s classic story is one that stems from infancy and early childhood. He got accustomed to the records his folks played while he was in bed or when his Mum was going about her housework duties. When he was older his older brothers gave him some Hendrix CDs and a guitar and taught him a few things and he has never looked back.
Personally and embarrassingly enough, my interest in music probably came from playing recorder in Primary School. I was not too bad at it, although I couldn’t really read music and my fingers weren’t that coordinated… I also picked up a guitar when I was about 11 and my Mum taught me a few chords she knew from playing the guitar at church of a Sunday. I never excelled at any instrument, but really just loved the idea of being able to create music.
Matt’s interest in music… Hmm… I am not really sure. Probably from belting pots and pans and annoying the crap out of his folks at a young age. I do know that when he was in his early teens his folks bought his younger brother a drum kit and drove him 100km for lessons each week. His Mum decided she would make the most of all her driving and took Matt along. He didn’t keep taking lessons for long, but it started an infectious rhythm in his head he just hasn’t been able to shake since.
Access All Areas.net.au: How would you describe your style of music to someone unfamiliar with it?
The Exploders: Our style of music… Hmmm…. We hate this question…. Essentially it is rock and/or roll. That’s the core. We have drawn from our influences from the 60s and early 70s and used them to create music of our own. We haven’t set out to sound like anyone or any era in particular, we just draw from the beauty of hindsight and create music that makes us happy. It really focuses on beat (with a pinch of harmony) and is intended to fuel the primal instinct to make you want to move. How you move is your choice.
Access All Areas.net.au: Who do you see as your musical influences?
The Exploders: Our musical influences are not quite a list as long as your arm, but long enough for me to not be bothered listing. Pretty much the timeframe I mentioned above, being whatever albums, singles, compilations, videos and other things we could get our hands on as we are not old enough to have experience it first hand.
Access All Areas.net.au: When a fan goes to one of your shows what can they expect?
The Exploders: At our shows you can expect a good honest show – no choreographed shows or predetermined rock moves… Just three guys playing the kind of music they want and trying their darndest to please the crowd with this music, not their showmanship.
Access All Areas.net.au: I know there’s the saying what goes on the road stays on the road but c’mon can you tell us any funny stories you’ve experienced whilst on tour?
The Exploders: Whilst on tour? Well we haven’t really done a tour as such… We don’t all actually travel in the same vehicle that often either because we are usually located in various places due to trying to work to make enough money to pay for food, petrol and beer. I can think of a separate occasion where Matt and I each have done an all nighter and barely been in the state to play the next night. I got lost in Melbourne after a gig and various shenanigans and somehow ended up in a restaurant with four strangers in St Kilda drinking and carrying on (they had illicit substances) til midday, hopped in the backseat of the car and woke up for sound check in Ballarat, showered, played, drank, woke up and it was my birthday and it all began again. Recently we played in Geelong, lost Matt, he got up to who knows what, we found him, took him to the ear doctor for a hearing test, he fell asleep in the booth during the low frequencies, he lost his car, we took him to Melbourne, played, drank, I took him to Ballarat, played, drank, we went back to Geelong to look for his car, got distracted for a Sunday arvo drink, ended up somewhere watching Police Academy and eating pizza in the early hours of the morning, I left Matt there, he eventually found his car and we met up later to exchange stories. Oh, and there was the time where Matt had three chicks on the go who all turned up to the same gig… but I won’t go into too much detail there. All I can say is that I tried to lay the shepherd… But eventually I let him sort out his own mess. Sorry.
Access All Areas.net.au: How has the band progressed in the time you've spent together?
The Exploders: Well, I’d like to think we have got a bit better. Playing regular gigs since the start of the year has really helped us to play tighter and know each other better on stage for sure. We have never have rehearsed much. When we do eventually get our shit together and manage to get together we usually get distracted and just jam and work on new songs instead of rehearsing for shows. Wise man once said that a gig is worth ten rehearsals and I am now a firm believer in that.
Access All Areas.net.au: Do you prefer the recording or the live experience? Why?
The Exploders: Well speaking on behalf of all of us I can confidently say that we have not had all that good a time in recording thus far, except for at home in the cottage where there is no-one or nothing to get in our way. Other recording has been rushed and unplanned and between gigs and all together very messy. At this stage we’d all answer live experience. I’m sure that if and when we get a chance to really spend time in a studio and mess about that opinion may change. Surely nothing can beat the nerves and the rush that playing live can evoke though? A good show can be a great experience. Likewise though for a bad one though… uurrrgggghhhh…..
Access All Areas.net.au: What are your thoughts about the current musical climate within Australia?
The Exploders: Well, honestly we are still well and truly wet behind the ears in regard to the Oz music climate. Because we have grown up away from the live scene we could up until recently only base our opinions on the radio and through buying stuff. And we were more concerned with ye olde music in that case anyways. Mainly, we catch bands when we play with them. In my personal opinion there are a lot of good music and bands out there… But you have to really sift through to find something great. There’s a lot of music that’s very similar because of the scene and the culture that surrounds the musical climate. So I guess it can be easy to be lost in the crowd, even if you are a really good band. I also think there are a lot of great live acts you see out and about, but not too many that can show or don’t posses that greatness when recorded… just my opinion of course.
Access All Areas.net.au: What have you learnt from being in the music industry?
The Exploders: It is an industry. Which may sound dumb, but something we hadn’t thought about all that much before we dived straight in. It can be relentless. It is not something you can just ignore when you want to. People will always be telling you to do this and that you should be that, when you just want to have a good time and not have to worry about all of that. And there are people everywhere looking out for the next big thing or something they can market or sell which can sometimes be quite annoying. And you can have to owe people favours. And it’s hard to just be a good person. You have to treat everyone with some suspicion… At the same time it can be heaps of fun and you get to meet heaps of really cool and very nice people, which is what I try to focus my personal attention on.
Access All Areas.net.au: Is there anyone you would like to record with?
The Exploders: I know TJ thinks it’d be cool to work with Eddie Kramer coz he is an absolute, bona fide, 100% Hendrix nut… But I think really we just want someone nice and laidback who can take what opinions we have on board and work with that to really capture to sort of sound we are after. We don’t have a very good way of communicating this, but we know what we like and what we don’t, so I guess it’s just a matter of finding someone who can help us to capture the sound we are after. And do a bloody good job of it too.
Access All Areas.net.au: Is there anyone you would like to tour with?
The Exploders: Not anyone in particular really… Just someone that’ll be fun to tour round and hang out with… Someone whose crowd will like what we have to offer. Someone I can talk shit to for hours and won’t get sick of me.
Access All Areas.net.au: What is the plan from here on in?
The Exploders: At some stage getting in a studio and working on a second album. Some touring around Australia, because personally I haven’t seen much of our grand land… Going overseas at some stage would be nice coz I’ve never been… Just to keep the ball rolling and keep the good times coming and hopefully to win over some people with our wholesome values and taste of fine music.
Access All Areas.net.au: What can you tell us about your new release?
The Exploders: The new release was recorded in bits and pieces as we have progressed from day one, and was not really intended as an album as we went. Some are recording from that demo we hastily did before our first gig. Some are from September last year because we had some new songs and wanted to record them before we forgot them and to have more to show punters at gigs. And some was from a few hours in February/March this year. More new songs we just wanted to record and show. We realised we had a fair collection of songs and thought we’d try our best to construct an album out of what we had and just get it out there in the hope that it would be heard. Some of the reviews we have got have really surprised us and we are more than happy about the way it has been received. I assume it’s just because it is something out of the norm, which is what we intended, and basically what we actually are.
Access All Areas.net.au: Do you have any words of wisdom for any up and coming musicians?
The Exploders: I know it sounds wanky, but be true to your selves. Basically, don’t do anything you don’t want to do and make sure that you are happy with the music you are writing and make sure it’s still fun. You are going to have a prick of a time if you hate what you are doing. And where possible, make sure you know what you are getting yourself into. Take the time to check things out. Throwing yourself in whole-heartedly and unprepared is exciting and can be rewarding, but there are of course downsides. |
| Biography | The 1960's burst to life with the British Invasion, a cross-atlantic explosion of music, heartbreaking and soul, shaking its way down to earth like a message from Mercury.
Among many other bands from this period, guitar driven power groups like The Who, The Yardbirds and Cream are strong influences of these three young men from the deep and dark backwoods of Victoria’s Lake Bolac.
Known as The Exploders, they are a band of conviction, standing tall as a Phoenix of the era, revisiting these sounds amid a modern and manic format. With hints of Sunny Boys, Credence Clearwater and The Kinks, their obvious love for primitive rock is worn proudly on their sleeve, as drummer Matt Britten admits, “I’m a bit of a retro nut.”
So what sets this band apart from the sea of today’s sound alike rock revivalists you ask? “As we are a three piece we are much rawer and stripped back then other bigger bands, we can't afford to be doing choreographed shows with calculated lights and stage positions. We put on a much more music orientated show, looks and moves are not our thing. In a word after all that, honest.”
The inception of the band is your classic rock ‘n’ roll story. Friends meet together at high school and bond over a mutual love of music, they start writing music, realise they have something together and decide to take the band to the next level. “I got to the end of my Uni course and decided I'd rather be playing music than sitting in an office. I asked the boys who I knew were more than capable musicians if they were interested, they said yes and we began to write and record in the Lake Bolac cottage. Our now manager Genevieve heard some of the tracks and began managing the band straight away. The first show was a couple of weeks after that and things kind of exploded from there (pardon the pun).’
Having recently been described as appearing to channel the ghost of Keith Moon on stage, Matt 'Screamin' Lemons' Britten is the strong arm of the group. By the hands of Paul and TJ, this thunderous young drummer has been spoon-fed the likes of Mitch Mitchell, Ginger Baker and Keith himself. The vigor with which he plays, and the manner in which he monsters the kit, creates the percussive energy of the group. On Bass, the loose and lazy grooves of Paul Doery pulses in and amongst the drums to create the back bone of the group. While, raised in a farmhouse constantly rumbling with the vibrations of 'Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs', 'The Beatles' and 'The Doors', the guitar and vocals of TJ Allender are the result of such an environment. Widely thought of as being cruelly born 40 years after his time, TJ's vocal explosion of dirt and raw guitar sounds head the group.
So if you like the sound of what you’re hearing, you’ll no doubt love their debut self titled album. 11 tracks of pure sexy rock, bursting with energy, catchy riffs, hooks and grooves. From the familiar ‘My Country Brain’ to the debut single ‘Stepping Out,’ the charming ‘Cowboy Jim’ and cheeky ‘Big Hair Revolution’, The Exploders are set to do just that. |
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