GHOST TOWN!!!

OK so here is the first in the series of interviews ill be doing with bands i think are making an impact on the Punk and Hardcore scene in Australia right now. Ghost town, with a chaotic live show are tearing stages apart wherever someone will let them play, with a full length album about to drop on Melbourne's Dead Souls records and an Australasian tour with Italy's Gold kids about to begin, I caught up with vocalist Sam Sal to get his take on all things Ghost Town.

You guys are about to head off on your first major tour with Gold Kids from Italy, how did that come about?

Well we were planning on releasing our album on Halloween and then we got asked to do this tour with Gold Kids, but then we got asked if we wanted to do some shows in New Zealand and South East Asia as a part of the tour so we just thought fuck it, we have never been to those countries before.

Any Fears or Expectations heading to S.E. Asia or or across the Tasman to NZ??

I myself don't really have any fears about NZ because from what I've heard, our cultures are fairly similar so it wouldn't be that different over there. However SE Asia is another story. Australia is so completely different to SE Asia so it will be a bit scary not being able to talk to people or not knowing what food to eat and not to eat. Also there have recently been bombings and earthquakes in Indonesia so that is also very scary but I think the tour will be great and so much fun.

You've done a few tours previous to this one coming up, What's it like booking a tour with only a demo out?

Well the last couple of tours we have done have bee tiny, some of the shows were in peoples living rooms, some in sheds, some in rehearsal rooms so it wasn't really too hard to organise those tours. We've met a lot of great people from doing it that have helped us out each time we come back which we are very thankful for.

Your record 'The way the world ends' dropped in November last year, how has the response been??

I think it's being going great considering that we were still finding our feet with those songs and we recorded and released it ourselves. People seem to be into it so that's awesome.

You released and recorded it yourself, total DIY!! Do you think that this attitude is something that's lacking with alot of bands nowadays?? With the way that Punk and hardcore is getting bigger and becoming more marketable, do you think that alot of bands don't want to put in the hard work and more or less expect to start at the top?

I definitely think DIY is majorly lacking in hardcore and punk today but with that being said, I wasn't around when hardcore was DIY. Alot of bands just rely on their myspace layouts and friend adders to get 'big' when no bands wanting to put in the hard effort of touring and playing a shit load of shows before people actually start to know who you are. Bands just need to chill out and focus more on writing good music and playing shows because it's pretty much impossible to "make it" in a hardcore band.

What are your plans for the next 6 months? Any more tours or records coming out we should know about?

We have just finished recording our full-length titled "Calamities" which should be out by early November for our tour. The Hollow just released their EP so everyone should go buy that. Seduction just broke up but they are still about to release their 7" so people should help them out by buying that because they are already losing a lot of money from putting that out. We are touring with Gold Kids from Italy in November. Rise and Fall are touring with The Hollow an BLKOUT! in December. Trap Them are touring in January, I am losing my shit over this because they are one of my favourite bands.

Is there a theme that runs through the lyrics or do you have anything that you specifically like to write about?

Because our music is so harsh and intense which represents negativity, I write about negative things that concern me. I don't have a theme that I run with because I think that limits your creativity, however I would really like to do a concept album in the future.

From what I and anyone else who has seen you play live can say, you guys seem to put on a pretty intense live show, is this a conscious thing? Or just how the music manifests itself live?

The music that we play is very intense so when we play live we just feel the music so much and it is our way of expressing of our negative feelings.

How is the Gold Coast Punk/Hardcore Scene these days??
Any up and coming bands i should check out?

Band wise there is only us, Life Act, Skyway and People Rain but scene wise the Gold Coast is actually going great, so many younger kids have started coming to shows now which is great but there is a lack of (good) bands so most shows on the Gold Coast are just from touring bands. If kids from the Gold Coast are reading this, please start bands. I will record them.

Whats your take on the Internet and myspace, in terms of kids checking out new bands/ the effect it has on shows as a whole?

Honestly, myspace is amazing for bands if used properly. It is an amazing way of promoting new releases and tours but a lot of bands use it in such a shit way and grow huge ego's from it, they can just fuck right off.

So your stuck in the van for 24 hours, whats the soundtrack and who is the stereo Nazi?

We love listening to Henry Rollins - Get In The Van, it's amazing to listen to on long drives. We also try to avoid listening to hardcore because when you are playing hardcore shows every night you just want to chill out after shows. There is no real stereo Nazi in our band, we just fight over what we listen to.

Whats your favourite A.F.I. album?

Sing The Sorrow is pretty much my favourite album of all time. That being said, I think all their albums are amazing. I know you're a Black Sails person, that is such a great CD, all their Cd's are great in their own way. I have had Crash Love on repeat since I first got it, it's so good. I think I'm just going to leave that question at that otherwise I will never shut up about it.

Last words/shout outs etc?

Ghost Town album comes out early November on Dead Souls records. Fuck Snitch/Thriller.