Interview by Karen Murphy

Still mourning the departure of Perth’s recent One Movement For Music festival? Find out what Karen Murphy had to talk about with GRINSPOON guitarist, Pat Davern, before the band’s performance @ the Esplanade on October 8th.

What’s the year been like for Grinspoon so far?

We were touring a lot. We did our album tour which was around the country and we’ve done a regional tour around Australia for the album which also came out in Japan. We’ve set up a deal for the UK which will be happening early next year. We’ve just been doing our thing; it’s been a real toury year for us—a touring cycle with the album that came out in September of 2009—so 2010 has just been travelling. It’s been good though, it’s been good.

What’s it like being on the road for so long with a bunch of guys?

It’s a lot of hard work, it’s a real process but we’re getting good at it these days. We’ve got a really good road crew to travel with us and we’ve got really good management around us that take care of every whim and desire while we’re touring [laughs]. And yeah, we really enjoy it. I mean, being in the studio and making an album is kind of a boring process, but touring is fun. [It’s great to] just get out there, and I guess that’s why you become a band in the first place, to get out there in front of people and play live.

What have you been looking forward to about the One Movement Music Festival for Perth?

Doing this interview [laughs].

To be honest with you, I had no idea what to expect in getting here but I’m really impressed, it looks like a pretty nice, beautiful day here in Perth, very sunny. We’re only playing half an hour of music tonight so it’ll be get in and get out, but it’ll be fun. It’ll be half an hour of power [laughs]. I think the best part of it will be playing live, it looks like it’s going to be a pretty big crowd here today, last night it wasn’t so big, but it looks pretty good today.

What do you enjoy the most about performing at festivals?

I think it’s interesting to watch the crowd’s reaction. Things like that, you know? Meeting other bands and getting to see other bands is always great and it’s always great playing with other acts that you really respect.

What’s it like sharing the stage with such a diverse range of established and emerging artists?

It’s great, you know, it’s definitely a good thing for the music industry and it’s a good thing for Perth. It should be an exciting night, it’s a really good line up and as you say, there’s a lot of up-and-coming artists, and established artists playing.

Do you find you’re music differs when you play it live to when you’re recording?

With this record not so much, I think [that’s because] we recorded this album fairly live. I don’t think we did that on purpose, we just wanted the album to represent the artist live and it’s been a long time since we recorded an album like that. [It makes] you think of the audience first, so it makes for a good live show.

[Looks over] What is that? Is that writing?

Yes, it’s just not very good writing.

Okay, as long as you can read it I guess.

Exactly. I was a straight A student in everything but handwriting class! It works well though; it means no-one else can read my diary!

[Laughs] Exactly!

Anyway, with the festival offering a great selection of Australian and international acts, what bands have you been looking forward to seeing the most?

I haven’t seen anyone yet but I’m looking forward to seeing Children Collide and I’m looking forward to seeing Karnivool.

So am I, and you guys of course! So how important do you think a festival like this is for local and emerging artists?

I think it’s important because new bands can get seen by people that could possibly shake their careers into the future. There are a lot of music industry people here and often getting those people to a showcase on your own is very hard, but when you’ve got all these bands in the one bill it makes it much more appealing for these people to come and see a big group of acts which I think makes festivals really important.

You’re such a successful band. What do you think makes your live acts and your music stand out from so many other bands?

I think it’s just been a long period of time that we’ve been playing music. I mean, we started in the late 90s or whenever, it was different to what it is now, you had to do a lot of touring, it wasn’t as internet based. If you wanted your music getting out there you had to actually put yourself in front of a crowd, rather than now when people can so easily access your music online. I think it was different for us to what it is now, as there are a lot more avenues available now for people to get their music heard. I think for us it was just purely getting into the habit of playing live.

You guys are from Lismore (NSW), so am I! What’s it like coming from such a small country town to the big city where everyone knows your name?

All we wanted to do really was play music and get out. We didn’t want to be stuck there, so as soon as we could possibly get out, we did. So I think it was, well it’s been, great. I still live in the area to be honest with you, so it’s a little bit hard for me to say that. But, it was exciting at the time. It’s what we’d always wanted to do for like our whole lives.

Have you had any crazy experiences with over enthusiastic fans?

No, not really. There isn’t really anything special. I mean, obviously you get people that jump up on stage every now and again, and people who try and throw underwear, but I can’t think of anything particularly special.

Have you had the chance to check out any of Perth’s local bands yet? What do you think?

Um, I have I checked out Sex Panther and I thought they were really good, a great rock group. But that’s all I’ve really seen so far, we only flew in late last night.

Wow! What was the flight like?

Easy.

I’ve got this friend doing her finals at highschool, she’s looking at studying music at WAAPA and is a huge music buff. When she found out I was doing this interview she wanted me to ask you to marry her. Is this reaction from fans something you’re used to?

Well, you know, you’ve got to take the good with the bad. Obviously it’s nice to have people passionate about your music. They don’t know who you are; they only know how you’re portrayed or how you’ve been portrayed in the media or by your records, so it’s great.

You guys have been out there for a while. Is it still a shock when you hear fans talk about how much they love your music?

Yeah it is. It’s good to remain, I guess, humble in those situations, because at the end of the day you’re a musician; you’re not saving the plane or anything.

For your last album ‘Six to Midnight’ everyone went off and wrote their own songs, you all came together with 45 songs which you narrowed down to thirteen which appeared on the album. How did you do it?

It was democracy amongst ourselves. We demoed them all and then we went back and listened to them, and the ones that we really loved, we demoed again and that’s when the producer came in. He liked certain ones so we gave him his pick and then it was just a voting system more than anything else, which is annoying. But, there’s not really any other way you can do it really. You have to put your ego aside, maybe not everyone else likes it but that’s just the way it works.

You guys have been together for a while now. What are some things you’ve found that have changed the band musically since you first started?

I think…we’ve gone in a different direction. I mean, you’re influences change, obviously, you don’t always listen to the same kind of music and that effects a lot of the songs you write. I think it’s been a progression, a good progression.

And finally, what are your plans for the future?

The album’s going to come out in Japan so we’re going to tour Japan, and then in February the album comes out in the UK so we’ll do more touring in the UK and Europe, pick up some summer festivals and then we’ll come back and think about writing another record.

Never stop—treat it like a job.

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