Holly Carter-Turner
Holly Carter-Turner interviews emerging local band, HEADSPIN, read their cheeky, giggly interview down below.
How did the band start?
Simon: It sort of started with me making a few angsty beats in my room, I then showed Jack. He wanted to pick up drums so we started a shitty little two piece thing, then we saw George playing guitar for another band and were impressed so pinched him from them.
George: I was swimming and wanted to get out of it, it was a lot of pressure and I was always more interested in music. A few of the other swimmers were playing so I was with them, but then I saw Simon play and thought “Hey I want to do that.”
Why did you swap bands?
George: I wanted something a bit more serious and the other band was just for fun. Now that I’m transitioning out of swimming and finding the balance of life, saving money, getting assets…it was a bit too hard to manage both bands. I picked these guys because they were taking it more seriously.
Gus: Yeah we were playing a lot and rehearsing a bunch, which had more appeal.
George: Yeah it was definitely better, it was an obvious choice…I followed my heart and this is where it led me.
Gus: Yeah George has only been playing for like four years, he’s a mad man on guitar considering.
How’d you, (Gus), get into it?
Simon: We found Gus a couple months after George.
Gus: I was hiding in a ditch.
[Laughter]
Simon: Yeah he played some tunes and they were good.
Gus: I’d never played bass before that…I did violin with the WA orchestra, so getting on bass was a big learning curve. I’m fine with classical, but funk and rock? That was a lot of learning very quickly.
Simon: So yeah, after betrayals, heartbreak, treason, we are friends.
Heartbreak?
All: [Laughter] Don’t worry about that…
Tell me about your singles? You’ve got two out now right?
Simon: It’s so cheesy… So basically I made them but I can’t say they mean much? They were just the only songs I’d made to completion.
Jack: He showed me the songs and they were pretty cool.
Gus: Groovin’ baseline.
How did you find your sound?
Simon: Just sort of listening to a bunch of different things: Gorillaz, Tame Impala..then building different basslines with programmed drums. I then tried to morph it into the current Perth Indie Rock scene.
Did you feel pressure to fit into the Perth scene?
Simon: Definitely. We’re trying to jumpstart ourselves as best as possible and play a bunch of shows so we’re trying to be strategic, along with [having] a contemporary sound.
Gus: And fit in with other bands.
Simon: Yeah we will slowly start to diverge and show a bunch of different flavours with each of the singles. Next year there will be an EP that’s quite different but more cohesive.
Jack: We don’t really think we just play, if it sounds good we keep it.
Gus: Yeah we just play and respond to each other, then diverge and do what we want until we find what works for the final product.
Is your second single a bit more ‘you’?
Simon: They’re not really pushing any boundaries, both are set in their genres but show different sounds. The idea is hopefully, eventually, they will have a blend of different sounds.
Gus: I think about it kind of like hunting…
[Laughter]
Gus: …Just like, you don’t want to do anything to scare away the deer.
…And then you shoot it in the head?
Gus: Yeah, you make it listen to the song!
Simon: So yeah, we’re still trying to find our sound.
Gus: Too different might not track…but once they’re lured in.
George: Who knows though? Maybe we will be different and people will like it? Like ‘Funk Boi,’ people seem to really like it even though we sort of just put it together.
Are you guys ‘funk bois’?
Simon: …Very ironically.
Gus: Most of our ‘Boi’ names were place holders:
-
Emo Boi
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Love Boi
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Chicken Fist
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Peanut Butter Bandit
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Chicken Fist.
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Timid Lilly
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Electric Elephant
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Electric Light Orgasm
-
Megafaunas
[Here the interview went a little rogue.]
George: Would we put in a saxophone? They feel seedy but they’re seeexxyyy…it’s like…they sound suspicious like you can’t trust them? I love them but it feels like I shouldn’t because it’s creepy.
[laughter]
Gus: Yeah I agree, clarinet always makes me feel a bit weird.
Are there any other sounds you’d want to put in?
All: Keys! Plug this, if anyone is looking we need keys!
Simon: yeah we’ve been intentionally stripping back sounds so we can play them live, but it would be sick if we had [a pianist] so we could play around with it.
George: We’re trying to make the sounds with a guitar but it sounds shit.
Gus: Ideally horns too.
George: Would be cool to have a rapper.
Simon: Haha, we’d have to change the groove but we digress.
George: That’s a good album name, ‘We Digress’ and it’s thrash metal.
Where do you want to end up in the future?
George: Getting signed would be nice.
Simon: I don’t care about that as long as I’m playing what I enjoy and it’s good stuff.
George: Yeah it would be nice to be happy.
Simon: Getting paid.
All: Ooo yeah, paid, yes.
George: Ideally if we could make a living off of it that would be sick.
Gus: Collaboration would be sick.
Jack: Yeah as long as it stays fun.
Who might you like to collaborate with?
Simon: Robbie Williams, hey George? (This is one of George’s absolute favourites.)
George: Noel Gallagher would be the ultimate end goal for me.
Gus: Paul McCartney would be fun.
George: Nah he’s a walking zombie man, he’s nearly dead.
Gus: Dave Grohl before he carks it.
Simon: I don’t know, some of his latest singles have been a bit hectic.
George: Well yeah he’s like eighty years old, man.
What have been some of your best and worst gigs?
All: Ummm they’re kind of one in the same.
Simon: The second gig ever was lots of pressure. It was at Mojo’s, Sue (Jack’s Mum, a loyal fan) had gathered all her work friends, told them to come and listen to a great new band…
Gus: So, George what did you get up to that morning?
George: I went to work, it was my bosses fiftieth, so we went out drinking after and then I was drinking long necks… Look I don’t remember much so you guys better tell it.
Simon: So we’re up there tuning and doing mic tests and we hear a crash. We turn to see George flat on his face passed out…drink splashed all over the floor…Jack just hits the drum and goes *budum tiiissss* and the crowd is laughing.
Was he injured?
Gus: Nah he was fine. We propped him but up…he played from a chair, swaying…
Simon: It was a good life lesson.
Simon: Then our best one was probably the launch of our first single. We sold out so quickly that even some of our close mates were turned away at the door. That was pretty cool.
Gus: Hey guys can I break some good news?
All: yeah
Gus: I may have acquired an inflatable elephant….
Simon: …how large.
Gus: Twenty feet…
George: We’re gonna have a twenty foot elephant?
‘Come see the giant elephant, oh and the band will be there too.’
Gus: pretty much, and the pattern is all like psychedelic swirls so that’s really cool.
You’ve got a gig coming up on Sunday right?
Simon: Yeah we do, we’re hoping to make it a really cool night, so if you can come grab tickets. We’re stoked to be playing at the Indie Bar.
Any other places you’d like to play?
George: It is awesome to play in Scarborough.
[giggles]
What’s the deal with Scarborough… Good for meeting ladies?
Gus: …George is jealous of one of the bands.
Simon: Nope nope nope nope.
[George giggles]
If you want to check out the band ‘HEADSPIN’ you can catch them at their gig this Sunday, or you can find them on Spotify: ‘these days’ single.