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Perth MusicSnowman Interview
With their debut album just around the corner, Perth’s ‘up and comers’ Snowman gave Justin Middleton this interview.
Q. Tell us a little bit of history about the band. How did you guys start out and what have you achieved?
We consist of the following:
Joe McKee - b. London 84. guitar, vocals, theramin, trumpet, effects, keys;
Andy Citawarman- b. Indonesia 84. guitar, vox, keys, violin, effects;
Olga Hermanniusson - b. iceland 83. bass, vox, sax;
Ross DiBlasio - b. Guatamala 1985. Drums and persussion…
We met through various schools…Andy and I (Joe) met when we were about fourteen and started making noise. we fucked about for a few years and then found some strangers and started playing shows.
Q. What bands have had the greatest influence on you and who are your favourite bands at the moment?
Einsturzende Neubauten, Fushitsusha, Boredoms, ooioo, Dirty three, Billy Holiday, Sun Ra and ourselves.
Q. What helps in writing new songs? Do you need solitude to get inspiration?
All sorts of things…sometimes we will be inspired by visual things such as art or film etc…sometimes just strange experiences or our warped imagination…solitude is necassary at the beginning of the songwriting process but then our collective imagination kicks in.
Q. What is your favourite live music venue? Do you prefer small pub shows with a small audience or bigger shows with lots of people cheering you on?
Depends what mood i am in. Both have there perks. i wouldn’t really trade one for the other. Small shows can be chaotic and rather shambolic and thats always fun. big shows need to be a bit more slick i suppose…but the rider is always better.
Q. Is the Perth music community a tight knit bunch?
Uuuur…not particularly. Its a small city so a lot of bitching and jealousy occurs…but we have some splendid friends amongst the industry as do other bands…it is tight knit in the sense that everybody knows eachother.
Q. What is your song writing process? Do you write the lyrics and music together or one first and then the other?
It varies from song to song…It depends what comes to yer head first…there are no rules or guidelines for how to write a song…it just happens…then once a song is written one often forgets how it was achieved….
Q. What is your take on the Perth Music Scene at the moment? Do you think it is thriving or is it a bit of over-hype?
From a commercial point of view it is thriving…fromamusical point of view it is probably over hyped a little or maybe the focus is on the wrong bands perhaps? just like any other city we have shite bands and goodones..it is up to the audiences and consumers how successful a band becomes…unfortunately the consumer is rather dumb these days.
Q. What plans do you have for the next few months?
Finishing our debut album…touring nationally a couple of times…sort out the business end of things and continue writing new songs
For more info on Snowman visit their official site.
