interview with Hideous Sun Demon
How was the band formed? I had some weird joke band I started after highschool to make friends. Then some guy said we should become a serious band and he would record us. It went horribly because we were not very good then. But now we're better.
Can you tell about your band? Definitely!
Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band? Andy and I play guitar, I also sing. Jake plays bass and Blake plays drums. We are all from Perth because people don't leave Perth.
What was the ambitions of the band when you started? Impress girls with hot tunes. It hasn't worked
Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? Garagey, postpunky, new wavey rhythmic punk.
Where was your first gig? As a joke band our first gig was at this shitty YMCA Youth Music place where all these screamo bands play. Can't remember where the first serious one was but probably somewhere just as naff.
Where was the latest gig? Rosemount Hotel, supporting The Meanies for their 25th Anniversary Tour. My guitar fucked up.
Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics? We all write the songs, its a collaborative effort. I write lyrics most of the time
Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? Jake and I were both super into postpunk when we started, which suited the fact that we weren't very experienced with our instruments at the time. Simple rhythmic stuff. We developed a sound out of that I guess.
Do you write your own material or mainly covers? We write all the time, its good for momentum. We used to cover songs when we were a joke band.
Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? We released an EP "MEAT" last year independently. This year we're releasing our first LP "Sweat", getting the vinyls printed and shit. Should be around late November. Bandcamp link for EP here :https://hideous-sun-demon.bandcamp.com/album/meat
Do you have any clips on YouTube?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1rMlBo5uTI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ki-DXhXJqWg
Those are videos we've made
Heres a live one some guy took of us a while ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwbISjhN2IE
How old are you?/What got you started in music? We are all in our early 20s. We started playing music a while ago because we found it interesting
What year was the band started? Around 2010, but the proper lineup since last year
Best/worst gig you've played? I dunno we've done a bunch
What places will you be playing in in the imidate future? Camp Doogs 2014 in Nanga. That will be sick. Also Gunns single launch, and a gig with Abbe May
Where have you played from then till now? Lots of Perth venues and one Bunbury venue
Witch band is the best you´ve seen? I have seen a lot of bands and lots have been very good. Some of the best shows I've seen in the past 12 months have been MGMT, Parquet Courts, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Fuck Buttons, Television, Mac Demarco and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.
Locally Methyl Ethyl, Mount Mountain and the Hamjam/Gunns crew always kill it.
Is it always the same songs live? No because write new ones and the we play them too
What has been the best/most promising gig so far? We won 10k at some competition. That was cool
Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? Nope. Might be going over to Melbourne and Sydney in early January
What are the plans for the rest of the year? Release album, go on tour, play good shows.
How do you get psyched up for a gig? Usually we just do it. No pre ritual. Setting up is usually when I start thinking about it
What are your goals with your music? Write good songs and get a good amount of people enjoying them.
Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? Neither is harder, it depends on the sound you're after
What's the first step when making a new song? Thinking about our emotions
How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? It's a big grey area, obviously you're not paying for the album so the band isn't getting money, but at the same time if they're underground its an easy way for them to get exposure. If you really like the band you generally buy their shit eventually.
Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? Lots of stuff, right now a lot of shoegaze and dreampop. Getting into more electronic stuff as well. I really like old-school East Coast hip hop. Obviously the whole Californian garage scene and the Australian post punk stuff
When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? Shit fucking up. It happens sometimes
Have you been in any other bands? Right now I play in two other bands, Dream Rimmy and Kitchen People, the latter Jake is the frontman of. Blake plays in a jazz-groove hip hop act Koichild and its jazz fusion counterpart Kashikoi. Andy plays in a heavy as stoner-psyche band PUCK.
What do you work with outside of the band and the music? I work in a bar pouring beer and pretending to know about brewing. Blake works in day care
What would you do if there was no music? Something else
How important are your fans? From a "people listening to us" perspective, pretty important.
What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? There was a fan of another band we played with who confused me with their frontman. That was funny and depressing.
How often do you rehearse? We aim for once a week. We gig pretty frequently.
Where do you rehearse? We used to rehearse in Blake and my living room, but then the meth-head truck driver across the road got hell mad. Now we jam at rehearsal rooms. It's very exciting.
What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing? The idea of being famous and renowned and making a living off music.
Do you have any webpages?
https://www.facebook.com/hideoussundemon
https://hideous-sun-demon.bandcamp.com/album/meat
https://www.triplejunearthed.com/artist/hideous-sun-demon-0
Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? Self criticism is a good thing usually
Describe your show, visually and musically Energetic
How do you view the music industry of today? It's easier for underground bands to get recognised without major labels, however everything is a lot faster moving.
What is your favorite crappy instrument? Jake's guitar had inbuilt overdrive. It sounded great.
What was one of the most quarrelsome times for you in the band? Andy ate all the pies