Glass Editor, Jacinta, sat down with Arvo Haze, who will be competing in Battle of the Bands this semester against On The Møss, on the 13th of August at the Botanic Bar at Gardens Point campus. The band members include Patrick McLearie (vocals and electric guitar), Sylvie Morse (bass), Ewan Heslop (drums), and Gus Clifton (electric guitar). Together, they chatted about Spacey Jane, Tomcat and big filthy Fortitude Valley kebabs.
Jacinta: Can you tell us a bit about how you became a band?
Patrick: I met this guy (points to Ewan) at a random old house party somewhere when we were fourteen, maybe? Anyway, ended up just having a random conversation, like hey I play guitar, I play drums. We should totally get together, we should collab, and by some miracle, it happened.
Ewan: Yeah, I pulled up to his house, got the crappy drums out, and we just sort of connected from the start.
Gus: Then I changed schools in Year 11, and the first few weeks I was there, even before the term came back, I already knew some people at the school, and they invited me to a house party and who should be there?! Anyway, I get there, and we start talking and I said I used to be in a band, and I just rocked up to rehearsal and I’ve sort of been here ever since.
Sylvie: I got a random text message, after a high school battle of the bands competition and it started out like ‘hey boss’ and I was like, yeah this is gonna be like a scam. But I decided to click on it and it said, we really need a bassist for our band, and it all just kind of went from there. I came for a little trial and now we’ve been a band for about a year and a half, and making and releasing music.
J: How did you come up with your band name?
P: Around where I live, there’s nice hillage and beautiful sunsets, and I guess we were just trying to capture that sort of nice afternoon, relaxed, chilled out feeling. Just really hazy sunsets over Brissie.
J: Can you share any memorable collaborations with other QUT students or faculty?
S: I’m a second year now, so I’ve done a bit of music creation work in the studios. Georgia [from Georgia Scarlett band] and a few other girls were in a band for one of my classes, and it was just so fun and so memorable. I still talk to all of those people like a year later, and it was just a really enjoyable experience.
J: What QUT resources or opportunities have been particularly helpful for you?
S: The studios, the big studios, and the new mixing desks. They’re so awesome.
P: QUT Battle of the Bands!
G: I just love the professors as well because they just have this insane bank of knowledge and experiences. You can talk to them about anything, and they’ll have either an easier way to do it or somewhere where you can go and find out. They can point you in the right direction directions most of the time, unless they can solve the problem for you. Just them as a resource in itself.
J: Who are your biggest influences in music, and how have they shaped your sound?
P: Spacey Jane is definitely an influence of me and Gus, just in the way of forming lyrical melodies.
S: Backseat Lovers, we’ve taken quite a bit of inspiration them. They were one of the first covers we did. Also, The Chats.
E: We have quite a varied sound. I’m definitely influenced by some metal, especially Sleep Token.
P: Very diverse and eclectic. Kind of a mix of indie punk psychedelia sort of stuff.
G: A lot of our influences are coming from new artists as well. There are so many great small bands that are writing exceptional music, like Mr Finn. There’s some great music being made in Brisbane at the moment.
J: If you could perform at any venue or festival in the world, where would it be and why?
G: I think one of my biggest dreams and aspirations is definitely playing Riverstage. I remember seeing a few bands there, and almost having a religious experience. Just the atmosphere and the vibe, it’s just one of those places that’s been on my bucket list to play for the longest time, and not just supporting, but headlining.
P: Festival wise, Splendour would be sick. It’s unfortunate about the festival industry at the moment. I think, for most Australian bands, Splendour in the Grass is a very prestigious thing to look at.
J: What’s the most unusual sound or sample you have incorporated into a track?
P: It’d be in Teenage Haze, our next single we’re releasing. We were trying to capture this real party sort of atmosphere and vibe. It was all of us, plus a few friends, just standing around the microphone, burping and screaming, opening cans and saying the most random things, just blurting stuff into this microphone, and it turned out sounding pretty cool. It’s pretty chaotic. It was a lot of fun.
S: With that, the solo comes in with a massive scream, and I think that it’s pretty hectic.
G: I think the other one, as well, for our first single, we incorporated a little bit of radio sound, because we wanted to have a radio style intro, and there’s just me putting on this terrible American accent, like a 60s radio presenter introducing this song, and I do it again at the end. I think we had some sort of Elvis Presley ad as a sample, which is the most random thing, but that’s just how the song starts. It teased the song so well.
J: If you weren’t making music, what do you think you’d be doing instead?
G: Probably fixing planes.
S: Probably BMXing, that’s what I did for ages. I wanted to go to the Olympics, but bailed out, smashed my knee up. But now I’m in a great band.
E: I’d probably have a great big family with lots of kids, and I would be working in the mines or something, making a lot of money.
S: Dude, you’re eighteen.
P: I’d probably be your boring old Aussie teenager to be honest. There wouldn’t be too much interesting about my life without it.
J: What’s the most embarrassing thing that has happened during one of your gigs?
S: It was mid gig at Tomcat. I built my bass guitar, and it has active pickups, which for anyone who doesn’t know (which is everyone because bass is pretty irrelevant) it means I have a battery in the guitar. So, I was just in the middle of a song, and I’m like, ‘Oh, my guitar is cutting out. I really hope it’s not that.’ At the end of the song, I swapped out a lead, and it was still going down. And I’m like, ‘Uh oh.’ So, halfway through a song, I just ran off the stage, booked it through the crowd because I had a spare battery. I just had a feeling the week before that my battery’s gonna die in my bass soon. And then I just grabbed it and had to unwrap the little wrapper with my teeth on stage. Everyone’s just like, what is she doing? Very much average bass player behaviour.
P: Mine might have been the same gig, at Tomcat. We finished up our sound check, and we wanted to grab a feed and get one of the big, filthy, Fortitude Valley kebabs. You know, fang this thing down. And then we got to five or ten minutes before we go on, and I’m feeling so incredibly sick. I even go to the bathroom to try to have a tacky and get it out of me. It’s just not working. So, we get up on stage and for the first three, four songs of the set, I’m feeling like I’m about to spew everywhere. Like every high note I hit, I’m like eughhh. It was pretty gnarly.
J: But you didn’t end up being sick?
P: I didn’t, thank God, but geez, it was close.
G: I think my most embarrassing moment was probably at the Tomcat as well. On the stage, there’s a lot of ripped up carpet, because everyone plays it. And I swear I’m trying to, you know, get into the music, dance round a little bit. I feel like I’m gonna fall over every two seconds. I almost fall into the drum kit a few times, fall into the bass. And I’m like, if I trip now, I’m gonna take out the whole show in one fell swoop.
P: I gotta say head butting microphones is quite common.
E: I don’t have any embarrassing moments because I’m perfect.
J: Would you guys say that Tomcat is kind of a cursed venue for you?
P: Oh, man, it’s awesome, it’s great. I love Tomcat. There’s never a dull night there. It’s always fun because you have your little embarrassing moments like that, but everyone’s having a good time, at the end of the day. It’s always good vibes there.
J: Who is your dream collaboration for a track or an album?
S: Baby Metal. They’re these three little Japanese girls who are just really into the hardcore metal scene, and then singing all cutie on top of it. And it’s just like heaviest music ever. I think they are so cool.
E: Sleep Token, because I’m obsessed with them.
G: I just want to play music with Ashton from Spacey Jane so bad, because that guy has the craziest stage presence of any live act. I just want to be on stage doing it with him, or in the studio recording with him. I just know that the creative process with those guys would be so fulfilling, just working with the people who love it so much.
P: I’d say Mac Demarco, he just seems like—
S: Classic indie boy.
P: Hey! Leave me alone. Nah, he just seems like a cool guy to just sit down and have a conversation with and then, you know, get cooking on some music. That’d be pretty cool.
The Glass Magazine X QUT Guild Battle of the Bands has returned for Semester 2! Last year was such an absolute blast that we are pitting the bands of QUT against each other once again. You don’t want to miss this amazing event, so make sure you register on QPay to get all the details. We’ll see your there!
