MILES AWAY/2010

Its the 2nd last day of 2009 and I wanna send this year out with a bang, Im having a house party tomorrow night and I have a feeling its gonna be pretty messy. I honestly cannot believe its 2010 in less than 48 hours. Time flies, and as much as I don't like to admit it, I've definately been wasting plenty of it. I Decided to do one more interview to finish off the year, so without further ado, here it is. HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Miles Away are hardly a band that need an introduction, They have been a staple of the Australian hardcore scene for many years and have outlasted many trends and bands that have come and gone, always staying true to their melodic hardcore roots. I heard vocalist Nick Horsnell had busted his knee moshing to the Alleged intro at the Bondi house, so I threw some questions at him to keep him from going completely insane over the long hot Perth summer. Heres what he had to say:

How long has MA actually been going for now??

The band began sometime in 2002. but we didnt start doing anything proper until 2003. So I guess thats around seven or eight years now. Wow, time flies. Crowey is even old enough to drink legally now.

You guys seem like a pretty tight knitt group, What keeps you going as a band??

I think the fact that we don't play as much as we used to keeps us everything fresh. Obviously we've known each a long time now, and are good friends. Touring and seeing new places keeps it all interesting.

MA have toured Europe, The states, S.E. Asia a number of times. Starting out did you ever think this was possible?

I never could have imagined us playing in some of the places we've been, let alone holidaying there myself. Its crazy, playing shows interstate was like the main aim in the beginning and even that was a long shot.

Obviously when starting a band influences can be quite limited, how has touring overseas and being exposed to different scenes/bands, people and cultures influenced MA's approach to writing music?

Oh totally, getting to see snippets of life in other parts of the world really gives you another viewpoint on things in general. I don't know how it has affected our approach to song writing, but i think being on the road so much and seeing alot of the world at the same time has definitely matured each of us.

What bands influenced MA when you started out, and What bands would you say influence you now?

When we started out obviously our main influences were the bands we were listening to and the bands that were popular at the time. Bane, Shai hulud and Trial were big ones. Alot of melodic and 90's punk too always. I would say all the same bands we always listened to back then still influence us now, but our tastes are probably a bit broader now. Its not often we're in the van listening to hardcore, unless its Street Youth. The best gig Crowey and I saw this year was Coldplay. so good.

You guys toured 'Rewind, Repeat' for a quite a while. Are you you sick of playing the songs yet? and were you happy with the response it got and the way the record turned out?

Yes, we've been touring RR now since it came out in '07, so its getting a bit stale to be honest. I often feel like we're letting down the kids who pay to see us by not having something new out or playing new songs. but we've been writing for some time now so it shouldn't be too long now and we can mix up the set. i was stoked with how the record came out, all of the songs, the way the album flowed and the artwork. It was a real package compared to our previous work in my opinion. I think the response to it from our touring was pretty good. Not sure if it is peoples favourite MA material but Its certainly mine.

I hear you guys are writing a new record of some sorts, Hows that coming along?

Yeah we've been slowly writing new songs for a while now. Since we got back from europe mid year we've been getting back into it. its moving alot faster now and were looking to go in and record another LP around March or April 2010. Croweys been recording alot of shit we jam himself and I do vocals in Mawds' granny flat so we can go over the songs more, we've never done that before, and its cool to be able to change song structures and lyrics. If all goes to plan that will be out mid 2010.

What can we expect musically compared to Rewind, Repeat? Any surprises(Electronica, Glam rock elements)??

Actually yes. since i broke my knee i have to use a micstand live, so my singing is now like liam gallagher to flow with that. Crowey got a new peddle board that allows us to go into a dubstep breakdown at the kick of a switch. Cam does alot more backups, and still sounds like a dumb caveman. Ash has an amazing bowlcut and now uses a bass made entirely from fixed gear bike parts. Unzy has incorporated even more Alien Ant Farm drum beats into the mix. Its gonna be interesting.

You could say R.R. was a loosely based concept album in terms of artwork, the alarm clocks at the beginning and end and some of the lyrical content. What can we expect of the new record? Thematically and Lyrically?

Lyrically there is no theme yet, right now im still changing them alot all the time so who knows. Alot of things have changed in my life since we did the last record so that will probably came out, I'm bitter, but also content. does that make sense? Thematically its the same story. we've discussed some ideas that were into, so we'll go from there. Hopefully it will all tie in together. If not we can just make the layout Life&Shit v2...

You've done tonnes of shows and tours. Whats the best show and/or tour you guys have played?

We've done a lot of shows. I wish i'd kept a record of all them. Touring is always heaps of fun with friends bands. i couldn't name them all. the best show we did this year was in Berlin on our euro tour. House shows and last minute things are always a blast. I was thinking the other day, over the years we've been able to play with Sick Of It All, Agnostic Front, Gorilla Biscuits, Madball, so many legendary bands. Seeing the world, hanging out with your mates, so good.

Favourite Place/Venue to play in Australia?

Gotta say HQ skatepark. The golden years at that place were untouchable. Ricks apartment/miniramp. Sydney in general. Lots of good and bad memories in your city.

How did member changes over the years affect the way MA writes/plays music?

I guess we've been kind of lucky with member changes. theres been a few but its not like a revolving door band. The core has always been there. our drummer situation has been the hardest I suppose. Drummers are unique, there tempos and the way they hit etc. hoppo was a big presence on stage and in the running of the band, but getting ash in way easy and he always plays/looks good. Hot Ash.

What Bands are blowing your mind right now??

the song totally blowing my mind right now is Sebastien Tellier - La Ritournelle. it's just on repeat actually.

Tour plans for 2010?

Hoping to do as much as possible this year. Im getting old. Once the record is done and out, we'll do Australia. Sorting out Europe for summer right now. After that we wanna go back to Japan and South East Asia. Then the US and do some of South America if all goes to plan! In between all that hopefully we'll have time to get down Bunbury and play the Prince of Wales. Mosh.

Last words/Shout outs?

Thanks Patrick, hurry up with your new band, or at least start Bodyboarding again. Anyone who has never watched Lost should watch it all in one go. 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42.

Check their myspace page for updates on when the new record is out: www.Myspace.com/milesawayhc

Silly Season

So as a retail worker you can understand my disillusionment with Xmas and the idiots and mayhem that comes with it (love a good tyre kicker). However I guess you can't complain with the parties that also come hand in hand with it being the end of the year and the thank you's from bosses and various companies whom you've dealt with throughout the year. Free alcohol is always an amazing lubricant at such social events. Seeing as we're getting in the spirit of things I just wanna thank everyone who has put up with my shit, given me a floor to sleep on when on tour or generally been a slick dude/gal and made this year not just another snooze fest, I truely appreciate it. I was gonna do a christmas album but I figured the Wiggles and William Shattner might already have that area covered for now. Stay safe and enjoy the holidays.

X

PEOPLE RAIN!

People Rain is a Punk/Surf rock project and the newest in a string of bands originating out of the infamous gold coast shed crew. Although they are on hiatus, and have only released one track, what they got going on really impressed me. I thought I would suss Jake Germ(Vocals) and see whats going on inside his head. If your into bands like The Bronx, Cloak/Dagger, Eddy Current, then msg them and ask them to put out a record or something!!

Introduce People Rain?

People Rain is a small collection of the once large group of chums that made up the infamous Sam’s Shed crew. People Rain being, Shaun on the Guitar, Pom Chris on the Bass, Scotty Gov on the Drums and Germ on the Microphone. Sometimes the occasional other would fill in when The Pom has prior engagements; the pub, the races etc etc. The circumstances of him being in the band are that he drinks full time and punk rocks when he feels like it, we never get angry at this.


What are your main influences?

We influence on not really being influenced at all. We just want to write slow/fast punk/hardcore you can get barrelled too. Surf Rock!

What can we expect of People Rain? A 7'' perhaps?

Shaun is off exploring/soul searching the world on a one way ticket. Getting a new guitarist just would'nt work. So for now People Rain is at an epic chill. We may pick up from where we left off one day. Not a break up, just a temporary stop.


The shed crew always have bands going on, Do you think having such a like minded group of people helps when creating music?


The Shed has had its fair share of bands. Some that record demos, some that record albums, some that people will never know or hereof. People just hang out, get bored, pick up an instrument and jam. This is how People Rain came about. Shaun had never played guitar in a band before, our old drummer Daniel had never even played drums before I don’t think. Everyone use to be hell chill like this, now every sort of does their own thing. Some guys still hang there I think.


Music and to some degree even Punk/Hardcore, has become pretty disposable of late, what are your thoughts and do you still see it as an art form/way of expressing ideas to like minded people?

Sure, kids have a lot to say, whether it’s with a microphone, guitar or so on, this is one of the best way to do so. I like it when bands show how they feel with their live music. And most still do. Performance is what’s up!


What Records/Bands have been blowing your mind?

PJ -King of Jeans! Is one of my favourite records of the ‘09. My earphones also spit a lot of The Cramps, Dangers, The Birthday Party, Tom Waits and so on.. Keep an ear out for the Unconscious CD that (I think) will be dropped soon. It will blow minds


Last words/Shout outs?

Shout outs to you, come steal my floor and drink all my coffee again soon!

Check out the People Rain myspace: www.myspace.com/peoplerain