Have a sticky beak at Amber Calling

SPOTLIGHT ON

Amber Calling

This week I’ve decided to showcase one of Australia’s premiere bands, Amber Calling. In an Australian music scene, that, as of late, has been throwing up a great deal of samey rubbish; this outstanding South Australian 5-piece shatter the mould, and give us all one more reason to be proud Australians.

Getting together in 2005 under the name 919, the band quickly built up a strong following around their hometown Adelaide and the rest of Australia. After roughly a year of touring and writing, the band released the EP ‘Road Rage’ in late 2006, followed by an extensive tour.

As far as debuts go, ‘Road Rage’ is possibly the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing. There isn’t a single track on this disc, that you won’t want to listen to over and over and over again, and the cherry on top of this magnificent musical sundae is the jaw dropping “This Cell.” The strength of the song led to it’s inclusion on the Starving Kid Records, Scratch Records and Perisher Blue compilations, which provided the band with some well-deserved publicity.

The band went on to share the stage with big-name Australian groups Grinspoon and Something With Numbers, as well as appearing on the local stage at 2007’s Taste Of Chaos tour. 2007 also saw the band appear on the action sports channel Fuel TV, as well as scoring the feature spot on the MySpace Australia homepage. With a few high-profile gigs under their belt, and with the huge publicity of featuring on MySpace and national TV, the anticipation grew for the new release the band had been working on for quite some time, but the world would have to wait.

When Amber Calling began work on their second recorded effort, no one would have expected the trouble that lie ahead for the band. Shortly after work was finished on the record, vocalist Mike Porcaro ran into some hefty throat problems, which his doctor attributed to his smoking and drinking habits. After putting a stop to both, and still not seeing a notable improvement, Mike had no choice but to leave the band.

Left gasping for air, and looking where they should go next, the band attempted to patch up the gaping hole that Mike had left behind. Amber Calling recruited a stand-in vocalist, and headed out on the road. But, fortunately for the band, and all of us, it was only five months later when Mike was given the all clear, and rejoined the group. Back at full-strength, the future once again looked bright for Amber Calling.

The band originally had 11 tracks written for their second release, but decided after pre-production to whittle that number down to six. Mike defended the decision by saying “If we were to have done an album out of those 11 songs, we wouldn’t have been happy with it anyway. The songs that made it to the EP were the ones we were happy with.” The EP was released on 14^th April, 2008, on the newly formed independent label, Tenspeed Music.

The EP entitled “The Truth About Lies” features six tracks of audio heaven, and is available for purchase world-wide on iTunes right now. But, if that’s all too high-tech for you, then head on out to a show and pick up a copy in person. For a measly few dollars, you can get what is definite candidate for Aussie release of the year, and music that’ll stick with you for so long, you’ll still be singing it on your deathbed.

In recent news, Amber Calling were announced as the winners of a competition which, will see them perform alongside US giants Panic At The Disco at their Adelaide show, later this month.

With so many achievements in such a short period of time, Amber Calling look set to take over the Australian music scene, and it’s about bloody time. With a brand new, mind-blowing EP, and a live show that’ll kick you right in the face, Amber Calling will give you the most electric eargasm of your life, and you’ll always be coming back for more.

Clancy.

The Truth About Lies is out now on Tenspeed Music, and available for download on iTunes.

Check Amber Calling out at: www.ambercalling.com.au for everything to do with the band.

Blacklist – They kick you in the teeth, and we know you like it.

Some of you may remember the once seminal Canberra act, Eldest Son, who were quite the popular lads back in their day. But when we all thought it was going so well, they, like far too many great bands, were lost to the unfathomable void of the band break-up, and many of you might have thought that all hope was lost.

 

BUT! No longer shall you have to lay awake at night, wondering how Canberra’s music scene will ever recover from this devastating loss, no longer shall you have to stand, teetering at the edge of that building, wondering if it’s worth it to carry on; because, rising from the ashes of Eldest Son, BLACKLIST have come to save the day!!

 

With a stellar 5-piece line-up, including Pat and Zach from Eldest Son, these guys have been tearing up local stages since their public unveiling early in 2008. The dedication that the band have put in to their music, has seen every one of their local shows so far, completely SOLD OUT .

 

And you’ll mighty chuffed to hear, that we at Mission #1 have scored an exclusive interview with drummer of the group, Pat!

 

Thanks so much for letting us pester you with our list of questions, hopefully shouldn’t take you too long to get through.

To kick things off, what first led to you guys playing together?

It happened back in July 07, when I made a phone call to Jake who was an old school friend of a friend. It took a while for us to tee up a jam, but we haven’t looked back since the first time we got together.

What was it like to play with Zach again, after Eldest Son?

When Eldest Son first got cranking with Witty, we were all really young and semi-new to our instruments.. so this time round, we’ve been a lot more focused as to what we want out of a band, and the right way to go about it.. Cutting out all the time wasting and stuff like that. So I guess, it’s been a lot more rewarding in a shorter space of time.

How much practice and writing did you guys do before you unleashed yourselves on the public?

Umm, the first time the 5 of us got together was in August 07.. then our first show was in February 08. So we spent a fair while getting a solid set together and recording a 3-track demo before we actually played a show.

You’ve sold out every local gig you’ve played so far, did you employ any sneaking marketing tactics to draw such massive crowds, or did you let the music do the dirty work?

Haha, not as such. The majority of the band members have played in bands before in Canberra so people seem to be happy with us playing back on stage. To be honest, we can’t get over the support – it’s a heap of fun!

What was it like to receive such a strong reaction right from the get-go?

Unexpected. We’ve been lucky enough to play with some of Canberra’s finest also (Tonk, Zero Degrees, Gasma). I guess it shows that putting in the hard yards before you play shows as a band, really does help you build hype and give good first impressions to crowds and those people who you’re trying to get noticed by.

If you could choose one band, together or not, to share the stage with, who would it be?

One band? I don’t think that’s possible haha. There’s so many different bands who have influenced all of us in different ways.

Has there been any label interest in the band?

A little bit. No names at this stage.

The word’s out that you guys are working on your debut album, how’s it coming along, and what can we expect to hear?

At this stage, we’re just gonna keep writing new material and take as much stuff into the studio as possible and put together the best debut we possibly can. No dates are set. We’re just writing at this stage.

Blacklist’s sound is a throwback to what many believe were the glory days for hard rock, was that an intentional move, or was it something that happened naturally?

It just happened naturally I think. Our main song writer is heavily influenced by “the glory days for hard rock”, and the fact that all of us like that period of music.. it’s just what happened haha!

If we were take a peek inside Blacklist’s rehearsal room, what would we see?

A piece of crap drum kit, empty cases of beer, and 5 sweaty men. Irresistible!

If you could give one tip to aspiring musicians, what would it be?

Be the best you can be at your instrument, and work hard. Get in a band, and play heaps of different types of music with people at a similar age. Find a different sound by playing with muso’s with different influences to you so your band doesn’t sound cliche.

As a band, what would you say your main influences are musically?

“..the glory days for hard rock..”  So I guess, bands like.. Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Ozzy, Iron Maiden, Whitesnake and UFO.. too hard to name them all!

What is Blacklist’s vehicle of choice for touring?

An non-air conditioned van, with sticky vinyl seats. Mmm, sweaty!

What’s on the menu for you guys in the future?

Write, record and play live.. Oh, and a name change.. Stay tuned for that!!

 

 

 

So there you have it folks, everything you ever wanted to know about Blacklist, straight from the horse’s mouth! Secretive label interest, a kick-arse debut album, more live action, and a spankin’ new name; all on the horizon for one of the most promising bands to come out of Canberra in a long, long while.

 

Stay tuned for news, reviews, interviews and awesomesauce with Mission #1