The Wellingtons
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Interview With Kate From The Wellingtons By Chris 21/2/07
The Wellingtons are great melbourne based power pop band with solid catchy tunes.
A hard working band trying to get noticed here in Australia with a japanese record deal and offers in America.
This band is going places by doing the hard yards to repeat the rewards
Read the interview and expect a review of their new album tomorrow.
The Wellingtons Website
1. How did you get into music?
Watching rage in my under wear as a kid, playing drums along with the songs on cardboard boxes with my mums knitting needles. Sorry Mum.
Then my older brother tapped two acoustic Bon Jovi songs of the tv from a tv show (countdown I think), I watched it over and over and imitating them, me and my brother on the couch in the front of the t.v.
2. Who were your idols growing up?
Jon Bon Jovi and Peter Dacios (Collingwood football club)
3. Who were your influences?
Well Bon Jovi as a kid then
Weezer, Elvis Costello, Ash, The beatles, You am I, Fountains of Wayne, Ben Folds, Soul asylum, They might be giants and many others
4. Are you happy with the responses from the new album?
It’s still a little early to tell as it came out last Sat in Australia. But from Japanese fans last year, yes very much so. Is Australia we’re still waiting for the reviews to come in.
5. What was the recording process like for the new album?
Kinda tuff and kinda stressful really, I feel some pressure (which I place on myself) because you really want to get it right and do your best. The hours are long and getting the funding together is very hard. Matt Maddock however is a great guy to work with and makes sure you get a good result.
Its always a relief to finish and album.
6. Did you think you would ever play and have the bands album released in Japan?
No, It was not something we ever sought out or looked for, it didn’t ever occur to me as a good idea before it happened. I guess we always wanted and focused on trying to make it big in Australia and didn’t realise it was kinda like banging your head against a wall. I had assumed it must have been even harder to make it O.S than here in Australia but it turned out to be the opposite and although its kinda sad that we don’t do that well here at the moment, I’m very thankful we can sell records in japan.
7. Is it hard to get radio play here in Australia?
We have found it impossible to get regular air-play on stations with big internships in Australia. It’s very frustrating and a big set back for a band trying to sell records and get people to shows. I guess you have to work SO much harder and think creatively about how you promote the band.
8. Is it hard being an independent artist in Australia?
Yes it is, and it’s very hard being the sole songwriter in a band and managing the band and working a day job to fund most of that bands activities at the same time. No wonder bands break up all the time. I wish I was given a flair for advertising or maybe Architecture. But alas I’m was given a predisposition to write power pop one of the least commercially viable styles of music in Australia. Sorry to whinge hehe!
9. How did a Australia band get there cd released in Japan?
I’m not 100% how thistime records first heard of us, but it was super simple. They emailed us saying they liked what they’d heard we sent them the record they sent us the contract. The only hard part was saying no to another great label in Japan.
10. Have you had much response from overseas labels apart from Japan?
Yeah we had three labels in the in the U.S wanting to put our records out and we’re hoping to get that finalised real soon and tour over there soon.
11. Has the band had much response from radio?
Syn fm in Melbourne have been really supportive of our music. 3ZZZ (bris) and FBI in Sydney have also played us a bit too it’s kinda hard though because we don’t really know who is playing us. We don’t receive a report or anything like that.
There has also been a radio station in Spain that really likes us which is ace!
12. Do you the internet has helped bands get noticed by labels and industry people?
Very much so. It makes our music instantly available for listening to by industry people, so it brings some boundaries down I guess.
Myspace has also really helped our band reach new audiences for sure in particular O.S people who would otherwise have no chance of hearing us!
13. Has it been hard to get noticed by labels in Australia?
Yes only one major record label we’re aware of have come to a wellingtons show. They were really nice but no offers we’re forthcoming. We’ve always had to seek out labels ourselves rather than them coming to us which isn’t great and means more hard work.
14. What has been the bands favourite gig so far?
It used to be the time we opened for Tim Rogers but our headline show in Tokyo late last year probably over took that one. I never though i’d be playing to over 200 people (in a foreign country) who we’re smiling and clapped and singing along that’s all I ever really wanted with this band! Hopefully we can keep doing that to more and more people.
15. What is on your stereo at the moment?
The Lemonheads, new self titled record
Cheap Trick, Rockford
The Shazam, Tomorrow the world
Sloan, Never hear the end of it
16. What are some of your favourite musical artists/bands?
Weezer, Fountains of Wayne, They Might Be Giants, Ben Folds, You Am I, Elvis Costello, Cheap Trick, Jellyfish, Lemonheads, Nada Surf, Wilco, the Beatles, Ben Kweller, Sloan the muffs, ice cream hands, the posies, the salteens, superdrag, phantom planet, klinger, custard, the fauves, blur, get up kids, jebediah, Bob Evans, ben lee, living end, ozma, sugarcult, Darren Hanlon, marvelous 3, Lucksmiths, ,Saves the day, sekiden, the shins, supergrass, rooney, ratcat, dave rogers, Peabody, pavement, tim read, pollyanna, the rentals, soul asylum, the smallgoods, the suits, screamfeeder, the sharp, starky, tsar, butch walker, the weekend, desedants/all, mxpx, Owsly, the wannadies, Aerosmith, the davenports, giggalo aunts, redd kross, mr brown, soap star joe, the Reservations, montanna, lo-tel, gin blossoms, p76/Jerico/ Danny McDonald, Tomorrow people, Even, letters to cleo, Anna Waronka, that dog, extreme, fastball, Groundswell, Treetops, Ken Stringfellow,
All great songwriters and bands!
17. Are you happy how the band has gone so far?
I always want to write better and better songs, but yeah I think I’m writing songs that I would love if somebody else had written them.
I’m fairly unhappy with the way the band is going in Australia to be honest, it’s been slow going and hard work for little reward and has cost us personally quite a lot of money. I hope we can keep getting better at playing live and writing songs and go on to sell enough records to quit our day jobs!
18 Who has helped out the band the most?
Our Japanese label this time records and tower records in Japan.
19. What inspires the band when writing music?
Other great bands (see list above) writing crafted infectious pop, Our friends and fans over the world! The frustrations of the music industry and sometimes social issues, injustices and inequalities that annoy us.
20. What has been the highlight so far?
Touring Japan and finding an audience of people who really love and enjoy want we do!
