Band Of Frequencies

I was born into a musical family. My Father is the drummer in ‘Moonstone’ a band with a cult following in the early 70’s around Coolangatta in the golden era of surf and country soul counter culture.

My parents then became DJs and opened a club called  ‘The Galaxy’ that grew into a venue on the touring circuit where everyone from Midnight Oil to Radio Birdman played. I got to hear a lot of records and see a lot of bands growing up so I feel very fortunate to have been immersed in music my whole life.

 2. What was the inspiration for your latest release?

‘Rise like the Sun’ was written over several years and explores many different phases of my personal evolution. It documents several poignant revelations for me lyrically including my growth through concepts surrounding love, freedom, stepping up, letting go of old patterns, opening to the moment and living whole heartedly.

Yeah the reviews and feedback have all been super positive so we are stoked. It’s good to know people are feeling the album and it’s interesting hearing which songs people connect with. A lot of people said haven’t taken it out of their CD player since they got it so thats a good sign.

Playing on the beach in the backyard of the Billabong house in Hawaii during the Pipe Masters would have to be right up there. We were creating improvised soundtracks to perfect waves rolling in from second reef at the infamous Bansai Pipeline.  It was off the hook. We had mates out in the water that could hear the music as they were taking off on these heaving slabs of water. The sound of the ocean was this deep rumbling and you could feel it through the ground. Epic.

Our style of touring has really shaped us as people and artists, through the people we have met and the friendships we form. We’ve been lucky to carve out a path that incorporates many of our loves in life so all of our experiences become a part of our sound. Touring is also great for the band musically as we get to delve deeper into the finer details of the songs. By the third gig the tracks really start to sit in a deeper pocket, the jams flow intuitively and we all lock in together.

It’s a healthy scene on the Sunshine Coast. We’ve got dedicated crews of visionary people really making a difference creating festivals like Golden Days, Woodford Folk Festival, Caloundra Music Festival and community events like Peregian Originals. There are also some kicking local venues like the Solbar, Kings Beach Tavern and the classic hall gigs providing opportunities for artists to connect with people and nurturing a really creative local culture.

It keeps us and our people all in the loop. It’s so interactive and we get instant feedback on stuff. I’m loving the whole instagram thing personally, it’s cool fun taking random pictures and keeping connected to friends and fans through imagery. Creatively it keeps it interesting and offers new mediums to express thoughts but we do spend more time looking at screens these days than we ever have before. The ocean is the antidote!

It’s epic. We get a feel for what resonates within the fan clan, how they are going with new stuff and where to focus our energy. It’s cool to throw around ideas for new projects too. We have a lot of super creative people and innovative artists in our extended networks so it’s really a mutual appreciation society with us being their fans as well. We’re all so interconnected these days.

We have just been in the studio mixing songs for a new documentary called ‘Transparentsea. The Desert Whale Recordings’ that we were a part of last year. We travelled down the Californian coast with a crew of artists, activists, surfers and filmmakers sailing Hobie kayaks from Santa Barbara to San Diego. We were playing gigs with art shows and also writing 23 songs in 23 days collaborating with Angus Stone, Will Connor, Catherine Clarke and many more.  The purpose was to shine some light on ocean conservation issues and highlight groups who are doing great work to preserve ocean ecosystems, coastal habitats and water quality. We will launch that in 2013, as well as keep touring to support ‘Rise Like the Sun’ around Australia. We are also looking at getting back into the studio to lay down some tracks for a new album as well so 2013 looking like a good year.

We love it. It’s a way of life and it’s all we have ever done so we just keep evolving with the unfolding of technology. Even though the way we do what we do is changing so rapidly, it’s still essentially the same as it has always been. People love music. Always have. Always will. Now is a really good time to be an independent artist.

I’d love to go to New Orleans and work with Allen Toussaint. Just to be immersed in New Orleans rich musical history and work with a producer and song writer of his calibre would be amazing. On the other end of the spectrum we’d like to do more projects with surf cinematographers like George Greenough, Nathan Oldfield, Taylor Steele and Thomas Campbell. Soundtracks open up so many options creatively with a whole range of interesting sounds to explore.

This year is all about Australia for us. We are going to keep adventuring in our homeland and release this record around the country. We’d love to get back to California and we are super keen to get over to Canada, Japan, the UK and Europe.