The Pierce Brothers (28/10/2014)
Hi Pat and Jack. How are you? Where are you at the moment?
Right now? We’re writing this on a plane to Sydney, Seat 5E and 5F. Near the front, like a BOSS! We’re actually really great, its been a busy few months, between flying nationally and internationally but we’ve been having an absolute ball on the trip! The crowds have taken us by complete surprise, especially at some of the more regional shows where we didn't even think we had a fan base! Definitely the best tour to date! We’re stoked to be on the lineup for such massive opportunities such as AWME, Bigsound and Falls. It’s definitely a head spin.
It’s been a pretty huge few years for you. You have gone from busking on the streets of Melbourne to debuting at #21 on the Aria Chart and #1 on the AIR Charts, to sold out Australian and International shows including playing Lowlands Festival in the Netherlands! How does that happen?
It’s a mix of a few things. Some of the songs we’ve written have been pretty well received, we’ve had a bit of luck and put in a LOT of hard work. We were extremely luck to have the support from some key people over the past 12 months who really backed us and championed our work. From there things began to fall over like dominos and it just went from strength to strength.
When you started busking was the intention to build a career out of your music or were you taken aback by the huge response you’ve had?
Becoming career musicians and getting ourselves even to the point we are now, was always a pipe dream for us. Even after we had such massive success early on in the busking experiment we didn't see ourselves headlining places like the Corner Hotel or having the support we now have.
We’re still amazed at the support we’ve been getting from our fans and we’re eternally grateful for it. About a year and a half ago we had a big turning point in our careers when we were both offered amazing jobs just out of uni in our respective fields (Jack: advertising, Pat: Film & TV) and we decided that we’d turn them down and chase this music thing. We haven’t looked back since and we are so stoked we backed ourselves.
To answer your question we’re STILL taken aback by it.
It isn’t all that common for musicians to go from busking to professional touring musician – do you think you’ve opened a door to a time where it will become more common place?
I wouldn't say we’ve opened the door to it, but in our time from when we started busking to now, we’ve noticed a massive increase in the numbers on Bourke St. Perhaps people are getting wise, I’m not sure. We certainly believe that enough busking and hard work will bring anyone’s performance up to the world class stage. Is it the only factor? No, but it’s a big step in the right direction.
How do you think the time you have spent busking has influenced you as musicians today?
Our busking set has influenced our music massively and vice versa. Cutting our teeth on the street meant that it was of paramount importance that we smash out the songs with as high energy as possible so we could keep the passing crowd entertained. Once we translated that to the venue stage we slowly evolved a setup that meant that Pat would run the music and Jack would run the show. The most common word people associate with us is energy and thats purely from Jack’s antics on and off the stage that keep everything moving at such a high pace.
What’s the most unusual place you’ve played?
We wrote one of our new songs in the Metro Tube in Paris, although that wasn’t a proper show. We were on the way to a picnic with an old friend who we were staying with and decided to get the guitar out and have a play. It actually turned into one of our most creative moments and we wrote a couple of new tunes there!
As for actual shows we’ve done some pretty strange shows, I guess the most unusual show was a show we did not too long ago at a speed dating night. That was pretty cool.
Your live performances are incredible. You have so much energy and enthusiasm. How did you translate that to your record The Night Tree?
We’ve always had a hard time translating our live energy to the studio. From the get go it was important to us to have a gun producer working with us to pull the right performance from us. As a live act we need a LOT of direction in the studio to get the sound we’re hoping to get. Alone we’re hopeless, and it’s definitely something we need to work on. We've just picked up a bunch of home recording equipment that we’re going to have setup so our demos can be completely realised before we start dropping cash on studio time. That way we can focus on keeping it a bit left of centre. For us, the most important thing is being prepared when heading into the studio.
You’re known to play the guitar but also the floor (concrete), the harmonica and the didgeridoo. Any other unusual instruments we can expect to see in the future?
Can you name a musician that you absolutely love and that you think more people should be listening to?
It may come out of left field a little bit, but the singer/songwriter/beatbox duo Jamie MacDowell and Tom Thum are possibly the best live act we’ve seen. We met them through must friends over the past few years and first saw them live in Edinburgh in 2013. They are possibly the most entertaining duo going around. Currently they’re touring with the Cat Empire and they’ve been getting accolades everywhere they go!
Jamie is the singer songwriter who is one of the best lyricists we’ve ever seen. Tom is the beatboxer with a whole f**king orchestra in his mouth! Their onstage banter is amazing as well.
If you could ever see anyone, they’d be the ones to see.
Finally, any chance we will still be able to catch The Pierce Brothers busking on the street or is it all live venue shows for now?
We’re back out busking in a few days!! Between our touring and studio time we find it extremely important to keep up the busking routine to make sure nothing gets rusty and its such an easy way to road test new tunes. We never have rehearsal anymore because we just keep playing on the street. It’s exactly where we feel most at home.
Laura Waples
AWME & 123 Agency presents BONJAH, Pierce Brothers, Timberwolf & Kim Wempe (Canada)
Sat 15 Nov 2014 @ Ding Dong
http://www.dingdonglounge.com.au/6405/awme-bonjah-pierce-brothers-timberwolf-more.htm
Right now? We’re writing this on a plane to Sydney, Seat 5E and 5F. Near the front, like a BOSS! We’re actually really great, its been a busy few months, between flying nationally and internationally but we’ve been having an absolute ball on the trip! The crowds have taken us by complete surprise, especially at some of the more regional shows where we didn't even think we had a fan base! Definitely the best tour to date! We’re stoked to be on the lineup for such massive opportunities such as AWME, Bigsound and Falls. It’s definitely a head spin.
It’s been a pretty huge few years for you. You have gone from busking on the streets of Melbourne to debuting at #21 on the Aria Chart and #1 on the AIR Charts, to sold out Australian and International shows including playing Lowlands Festival in the Netherlands! How does that happen?
It’s a mix of a few things. Some of the songs we’ve written have been pretty well received, we’ve had a bit of luck and put in a LOT of hard work. We were extremely luck to have the support from some key people over the past 12 months who really backed us and championed our work. From there things began to fall over like dominos and it just went from strength to strength.
When you started busking was the intention to build a career out of your music or were you taken aback by the huge response you’ve had?
Becoming career musicians and getting ourselves even to the point we are now, was always a pipe dream for us. Even after we had such massive success early on in the busking experiment we didn't see ourselves headlining places like the Corner Hotel or having the support we now have.
We’re still amazed at the support we’ve been getting from our fans and we’re eternally grateful for it. About a year and a half ago we had a big turning point in our careers when we were both offered amazing jobs just out of uni in our respective fields (Jack: advertising, Pat: Film & TV) and we decided that we’d turn them down and chase this music thing. We haven’t looked back since and we are so stoked we backed ourselves.
To answer your question we’re STILL taken aback by it.
It isn’t all that common for musicians to go from busking to professional touring musician – do you think you’ve opened a door to a time where it will become more common place?
I wouldn't say we’ve opened the door to it, but in our time from when we started busking to now, we’ve noticed a massive increase in the numbers on Bourke St. Perhaps people are getting wise, I’m not sure. We certainly believe that enough busking and hard work will bring anyone’s performance up to the world class stage. Is it the only factor? No, but it’s a big step in the right direction.
How do you think the time you have spent busking has influenced you as musicians today?
Our busking set has influenced our music massively and vice versa. Cutting our teeth on the street meant that it was of paramount importance that we smash out the songs with as high energy as possible so we could keep the passing crowd entertained. Once we translated that to the venue stage we slowly evolved a setup that meant that Pat would run the music and Jack would run the show. The most common word people associate with us is energy and thats purely from Jack’s antics on and off the stage that keep everything moving at such a high pace.
What’s the most unusual place you’ve played?
We wrote one of our new songs in the Metro Tube in Paris, although that wasn’t a proper show. We were on the way to a picnic with an old friend who we were staying with and decided to get the guitar out and have a play. It actually turned into one of our most creative moments and we wrote a couple of new tunes there!
As for actual shows we’ve done some pretty strange shows, I guess the most unusual show was a show we did not too long ago at a speed dating night. That was pretty cool.
Your live performances are incredible. You have so much energy and enthusiasm. How did you translate that to your record The Night Tree?
We’ve always had a hard time translating our live energy to the studio. From the get go it was important to us to have a gun producer working with us to pull the right performance from us. As a live act we need a LOT of direction in the studio to get the sound we’re hoping to get. Alone we’re hopeless, and it’s definitely something we need to work on. We've just picked up a bunch of home recording equipment that we’re going to have setup so our demos can be completely realised before we start dropping cash on studio time. That way we can focus on keeping it a bit left of centre. For us, the most important thing is being prepared when heading into the studio.
You’re known to play the guitar but also the floor (concrete), the harmonica and the didgeridoo. Any other unusual instruments we can expect to see in the future?
Can you name a musician that you absolutely love and that you think more people should be listening to?
It may come out of left field a little bit, but the singer/songwriter/beatbox duo Jamie MacDowell and Tom Thum are possibly the best live act we’ve seen. We met them through must friends over the past few years and first saw them live in Edinburgh in 2013. They are possibly the most entertaining duo going around. Currently they’re touring with the Cat Empire and they’ve been getting accolades everywhere they go!
Jamie is the singer songwriter who is one of the best lyricists we’ve ever seen. Tom is the beatboxer with a whole f**king orchestra in his mouth! Their onstage banter is amazing as well.
If you could ever see anyone, they’d be the ones to see.
Finally, any chance we will still be able to catch The Pierce Brothers busking on the street or is it all live venue shows for now?
We’re back out busking in a few days!! Between our touring and studio time we find it extremely important to keep up the busking routine to make sure nothing gets rusty and its such an easy way to road test new tunes. We never have rehearsal anymore because we just keep playing on the street. It’s exactly where we feel most at home.
Laura Waples
AWME & 123 Agency presents BONJAH, Pierce Brothers, Timberwolf & Kim Wempe (Canada)
Sat 15 Nov 2014 @ Ding Dong
http://www.dingdonglounge.com.au/6405/awme-bonjah-pierce-brothers-timberwolf-more.htm