Stevic - Twelve Foot Ninja (09/12/2012)
We chat with Stevic of Twelve Foot Ninja, who have just released their debut album, Silent Machine.
Hi guys, Amanda from The 59th Sound here! How are you going?
Dangerously well.
I read that Twelve Foot Ninja pay special attention to song-craft; roughly how long does it take you to perfect a song?
I guess it really varies song to song. The longest has been a fewmonths, the shortest probably a day.
Seems like you’ve got a dedicated lot of fans, even crashing your website to pre-order your album, does it feel pretty flattering?
We are very appreciative of our fans/supporters. The response to the album and music videos has been overwhelmingly positive.
So how did it feel when your album Silent Machine was hailed as the “best heavy music album of the year”?
We are very grateful that it’s held in such high regard. Spending a lot of time on your own music often inhibits your ability toexperience it as a listener, so it’s been quite cathartic experiencing it vicariously through others.
You’ve got your headline tour coming up early next year, is it pretty nerve-wracking not being a supporting band this time around?
Nah we’ll be right! Looking forward to it!
You took an interesting approach to releasing your debut album, labelling it the process “Project 12”, how did you come up with that idea?
Through a friendly debate with management. Albums often serve industry norms and an existing fanbase whereas the majority of punters who’ve never heard you will largely make their minds up within the first 15 seconds of one song – therefore making an entire album for the purpose of engaging new fans is drastically overcapitalizing. We wanted to make an album AND engage new fans so we combined the two trains of thought. We really wanted to do something different to give our fans (and potential fans) an innovative approach to experiencing our music. The comics were a natural progression from the ‘Twelve Foot Ninja’ story (6 chapter novella).
You’ve been described as “heavy-genre benders”, are your listening preferences just as mixed?
Definitely. Listening to a range of styles is extremely important. In the words of Puffy from Faith No More: “you shit what you eat” (thanks Rod Whitfield for that story!)
We heard that you’re keen to take Twelve Foot Ninja overseas, where would be your first stop?
Probably either the U.S or Germany – but we would go wherever the demand is.
Earlier this year you toured with Dead Letter Circus, what was that experience like?
It was great. Good bunch of blokes. Stew (the bassist) introduced me to ways of opening beer that I previously thought impossible.
Aside from your Silent Machine Tour next year, what can we expect to see Twelve Foot Ninja getting up to in 2013?
Some awesome gigs in the pipeline. Another clip is in the works (if I can pull this one off it will be EPIC!). More writing and recording. Don’t want to jinx anything else!
Now that you are doing headline shows who would be your ideal supporting acts?
An ideal support act is a band we like as people, we enjoy musically, compliments the gig overall, brings people to the show and are generally proactive and communicative.
You’ve got such an unusual style, do you feel a lot of pressure to get it right live?
Sort of. The pressure is more to meet our own expectations of what it has to be. We put everything under the microscope. Even the
microscope goes under the microscope.
We heard that Silent Machine tells the story of an assassin in a parallel world; did the album creation process feel a bit like writing a story?
The Twelve Foot Ninja story existed first, so we regularly get direction from it musically, whether that is literal, figurative or otherwise. The whole thing is an allegory for life so even though something might be symbolic/metaphorical, nothing ever strays far from topics we all experience.
Thanks for your time guys, we look forward to seeing you on tour!
Cheers Amanda!
Amanda Sherring
TOUR DATES
Thu 10 Jan – Cambridge Hotel – Newcastle w/ Dumbsaint + Teal
Fri 11 Jan – Annandale Hotel – Sydney w/ Dumbsaint + Teal
Fri 18 Jan – Corner Hotel – Melbourne w/ Circles + very special surprise guests
Sat 19 Jan – Ferntree Gully Hotel – Ferntree Gully w/ Circles + The Diecasts + Jekhyl
Thu 24 Jan – Prince of Wales – Bunbury w/ I, Said The Sparrow + guests
Fri 25 Jan – Amplifier – Perth w/ I, Said The Sparrow + guests
Sat 26 Jan – Mojos – Fremantle w/ I, Said The Sparrow + guests
Fri 1 Feb – Enigma Bar – Adelaide w/ The Killgirls + guests
Thu 7 Feb – The Venue – Townsville w/ Amagon + Fifth Day of Ice + Ire
Fri 8 Feb – Tempo Hotel – Brisbane w/ Osaka Punch + Greenthief
Sat 9 Feb – Miami Shark Bar – Gold Coast w/ Osaka Punch + From Within
Sun 10 Mar – Breath of Life Festival – Launceston
Hi guys, Amanda from The 59th Sound here! How are you going?
Dangerously well.
I read that Twelve Foot Ninja pay special attention to song-craft; roughly how long does it take you to perfect a song?
I guess it really varies song to song. The longest has been a fewmonths, the shortest probably a day.
Seems like you’ve got a dedicated lot of fans, even crashing your website to pre-order your album, does it feel pretty flattering?
We are very appreciative of our fans/supporters. The response to the album and music videos has been overwhelmingly positive.
So how did it feel when your album Silent Machine was hailed as the “best heavy music album of the year”?
We are very grateful that it’s held in such high regard. Spending a lot of time on your own music often inhibits your ability toexperience it as a listener, so it’s been quite cathartic experiencing it vicariously through others.
You’ve got your headline tour coming up early next year, is it pretty nerve-wracking not being a supporting band this time around?
Nah we’ll be right! Looking forward to it!
You took an interesting approach to releasing your debut album, labelling it the process “Project 12”, how did you come up with that idea?
Through a friendly debate with management. Albums often serve industry norms and an existing fanbase whereas the majority of punters who’ve never heard you will largely make their minds up within the first 15 seconds of one song – therefore making an entire album for the purpose of engaging new fans is drastically overcapitalizing. We wanted to make an album AND engage new fans so we combined the two trains of thought. We really wanted to do something different to give our fans (and potential fans) an innovative approach to experiencing our music. The comics were a natural progression from the ‘Twelve Foot Ninja’ story (6 chapter novella).
You’ve been described as “heavy-genre benders”, are your listening preferences just as mixed?
Definitely. Listening to a range of styles is extremely important. In the words of Puffy from Faith No More: “you shit what you eat” (thanks Rod Whitfield for that story!)
We heard that you’re keen to take Twelve Foot Ninja overseas, where would be your first stop?
Probably either the U.S or Germany – but we would go wherever the demand is.
Earlier this year you toured with Dead Letter Circus, what was that experience like?
It was great. Good bunch of blokes. Stew (the bassist) introduced me to ways of opening beer that I previously thought impossible.
Aside from your Silent Machine Tour next year, what can we expect to see Twelve Foot Ninja getting up to in 2013?
Some awesome gigs in the pipeline. Another clip is in the works (if I can pull this one off it will be EPIC!). More writing and recording. Don’t want to jinx anything else!
Now that you are doing headline shows who would be your ideal supporting acts?
An ideal support act is a band we like as people, we enjoy musically, compliments the gig overall, brings people to the show and are generally proactive and communicative.
You’ve got such an unusual style, do you feel a lot of pressure to get it right live?
Sort of. The pressure is more to meet our own expectations of what it has to be. We put everything under the microscope. Even the
microscope goes under the microscope.
We heard that Silent Machine tells the story of an assassin in a parallel world; did the album creation process feel a bit like writing a story?
The Twelve Foot Ninja story existed first, so we regularly get direction from it musically, whether that is literal, figurative or otherwise. The whole thing is an allegory for life so even though something might be symbolic/metaphorical, nothing ever strays far from topics we all experience.
Thanks for your time guys, we look forward to seeing you on tour!
Cheers Amanda!
Amanda Sherring
TOUR DATES
Thu 10 Jan – Cambridge Hotel – Newcastle w/ Dumbsaint + Teal
Fri 11 Jan – Annandale Hotel – Sydney w/ Dumbsaint + Teal
Fri 18 Jan – Corner Hotel – Melbourne w/ Circles + very special surprise guests
Sat 19 Jan – Ferntree Gully Hotel – Ferntree Gully w/ Circles + The Diecasts + Jekhyl
Thu 24 Jan – Prince of Wales – Bunbury w/ I, Said The Sparrow + guests
Fri 25 Jan – Amplifier – Perth w/ I, Said The Sparrow + guests
Sat 26 Jan – Mojos – Fremantle w/ I, Said The Sparrow + guests
Fri 1 Feb – Enigma Bar – Adelaide w/ The Killgirls + guests
Thu 7 Feb – The Venue – Townsville w/ Amagon + Fifth Day of Ice + Ire
Fri 8 Feb – Tempo Hotel – Brisbane w/ Osaka Punch + Greenthief
Sat 9 Feb – Miami Shark Bar – Gold Coast w/ Osaka Punch + From Within
Sun 10 Mar – Breath of Life Festival – Launceston