Your music drums up classic images of The Clash or Bruce Springsteen - do these influences stem from the music you grew up with?
Thank you. I love both of these bands/artists, they have an influence on the way I approach King Cannons music nowadays for sure. As far as growing up with music goes, my mum likes Elvis, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash, old rock'n'roll etc... There was never any Springsteen or Strummer in the house. Not to mention my punk rock teenage years, but that's a long story...
Was it important to channel those early influences into the bands sound?
Not really. We just make the music that floats our boat at the time.
Your bio mentions that the band spent 36 months travelling between NZ and the UK, before settling in Melbourne - did that experience impact on the current sound of the band? Do you think the band would be different if those 'moves' weren't made?
All of the songs that I wrote in England got dropped from the live set and the first record because we kept writing better ones after moving to Australia. Yes, I think the band would be different if things had of gone differently, but you can't predict anything. I am happy with how things turned out in the end, we can only move forward now, and learn from the past, not dwell on it.
Your debut EP received a decent level of interest amongst music fans and critics alike, did you anticipate it would be so well received?
The EP is a representation of King Cannons pre-Australia. I am all ways pleasantly surprised when people like it, because I think it's quite average. I hoped it would be well received when we released it though, of course, but I didn't expect it.
Not long after the EP's release, you hit the studio with Tom Larkin, who has worked with NZ powerhouse, Shihad - how much of an impact did he have on the recording process? Did his previous experience influence the way the album ended up sounding?
Tom played a critical role as our producer. Most of the time we really needed it too. He certainly gave us the whipping we needed to get our rhythm section tight. We Tracked 75% of the record live, so it had to be. He's got a lot of studio experience with that kinda thing, and I think it shows on the record, in our performances.
Steve Schram who was the engineer on the album, has previously worked with The Cat Empire - and it feels like in a song such as 'Stand Right Up' that the 'bounce' that you would find in a CE song is present - did he have an impact on the sound of the record?
Schram engineers on the record, and also mixed Stand Right Up. We love Schram. His input, next to Toms was very effective as well. He gets things to sound good in the studio in his own special way. The "bounce" is all in the performance, courtesy of us, though!
Would you like to work with Tom or Steve again?
Sure.
What would be the biggest thing you took away from working with these guys?
Their soul! [laughs]
Lyrically, your songs have a 'punk' element to them - especially 'Take the Rock' - are you a band that like to tell it how it is? Do you think that honesty is the best method for a band to approach songwriting?
Take The Rock has political comments, but that doesn't make it a punk song. Telling it like is in our other songs doesn't make them punk either. We are not punk, we just make music. We are signed to a major label and we are trying to make a career out of what we do. Unlike a lot of other groups though, we still believe honesty is the best policy for our songs.
You're currently part of the BDO lineup for 2012 - were you surprised to be included? Has it been an enjoyable experience so far?
Very pleased to be on the bill, for sure! I am not surprised to be selected though, the band and our teams have been working really hard, it's nice to see some fruits for all the labour! Festivals are always fun and crazy, we are having a blast.
How will the rest of 2012 look for King Cannons? Is there something that you are looking forward to most?
Very exciting! We head back into the studio in a couple of weeks to record two new songs for the record. It's looking like we'll be touring overseas at some point soon, and we will finally be releasing our debut album. Plenty to look forward too!
