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THE DEAD WALK! :::::: |
THE BASICS Name : Jimmy Band : The Dead Walk! Job In Band : Bass Website Address : www.thedeadwalkhc.com HOME Hometown : Newcastle Hometown is best known for : Newcastle Knights and Silverchair Best thing about the music scene in your hometown : It’s small enough that you know most people. Which can sometimes also be a negative! Most influential band to yourself that’s come out of your home town : I can’t split FMD and Arms Reach who both got me involved in the hardcore scene years ago Best up and coming band from your home town would be : Every Word – check them out on our 7” tour! THE BAND What’s the story behind the band name? The name came from George Romero’s zombie-horror movie Day Of The Dead. Luke is a horror movie geek so it was his brain child. When Luke suggested “The Dead Walk!” I was actually thinking of it as a type of walk, like moon walking or something. It wasn’t until he said the word “zombies” that the penny dropped. I felt like a retard! When did the band begin and how did it come about? We started jamming in late ’04 after Life Love Regret and No Jazz Before The Rumble broke up. Jon, Brad and Luke wanted to do a hardcore band without the depressing vibe of LLR and myself and Josh had just finished up No Jazz so they asked us to play and we went from there. How would you describe your sound to the average Joe on the street? For anyone without a clue I always say we sound somewhere between punk and metal. There’s no singing, just obnoxious screaming and a whole lot of noise. What’s your current release? Tell us a little about it… Our new 7” titled Hunting Humans will be in stores March 29. It’s a step away from our previous stuff, the songs are faster and have more of an old-school edge. We recorded it with Geoff Mullard (who recorded some classics by Arms Reach, FMD and Conation) straight to tape so the production isn’t anywhere near the EP or the album. I think the production really suits the songs, it enhances the old-school flavour. It actually reminds me of our demo a little bit… What image do you think / hope your music conveys? The Dead Walk! Is all about having fun and I think that comes across, especially our live shows. Not to say that we don’t treat it seriously, but the day we stop enjoying ourselves will be the day we call it quits. In saying that Luke has included some more serious ‘political’ lyrics that we hope provoke some thought. I think a lot of bands these days lack any real substance to their lyrical content so I’d like to think we counteract that. In five years time the band will be… Dead for sure! Luke will be 40-something if not already in a nursing home and who knows where the rest of us will be. But you never know, you gotta take off the head to kill zombie crew… OFF THE STAGE What was your first introduction to music that made you think seriously about playing it? Going to some of my first hardcore shows as a kid just blew my mind. It was an amazing experience hearing a band on record or CD and then going to a show without a barricade and being able to get on the stage and sing along. You could even approach people in bands after they play and talk to (or in hindsight probably punish!) them which was completely different to punk and metal shows. It all seemed so down-to-earth and inclusive so myself and a few mates figured we could do a band as well. What was your first band name and what style did you play? My first band was called Path of Destruction. We played youth crew stuff and jocked the likes of Floorpunch, 97a and Atari. Pretty much what everyone else was doing in the late nineties. Tell us three albums you couldn’t live without in your collection Ringworm – The Promise Slayer – Reign in Blood Waxwing – For Madmen Only Best piece of musical advice you’ve been given Play bass coz you can get wasted and no-one will know when you fuck up. Two groups/artists you’d love to take out on the road Integrity so we could get wasted and go night-clubbing with Dwid. And Minor Threat so there would be a healthy dose of fun on the road and a DIY tour ethic. Favourite song of your group? Tough question! I’d say Life’s Blood coz I dig more of our ‘hardcore’ sounding songs and the lyrics are pretty well spot-on for me. The thing you most look forward to just before a tour is Being able to get up with a hangover and not having to go to work the next day The thing you least look forward to before a tour is Waking up with a hangover every day When your not doing band related stuff, what are you usually found doing? Working, drinking, playing football with my mates (that’s soccer to you uncultured lot!) and playing XBox 360 ON THE STAGE / ROAD What gear do you use? I play a Musicman Stingray through a Tech21 Landmark and Sans. Favourite place (city/town/country) you’ve toured… and why? I’d say Perth is the most fun place to tour. We’ve got good friends over there and it’s always a wild weekend. Good times! The best show you’ve ever played was… and why? Newcastle Ringworm show is a standout. Mindsnare also played so it was pretty much the best line-up you could hope for. Ringworm are one of my favourite bands of all time so seein them dropping classics in my hometown was pretty special. Who hogs the stereo in the van the most? Luke’s usually all over the stereo with shitty bean-core and his vast collection of 80’s rap. Gangsta NIP is always appreciated though. After a week in the van/bus on tour which band member will have the messiest section, and what would we most likely find stashed there? Josh is the worst is the van. He always ends up jammed in the back seat with all the gear because he’s the smallest. Half of the time he doesn’t even get out of the van when we stop which means your always likely to find Cigarettes, Coke, Mars Bars, old McDonalds and weed back there. Who in your group has the worst “bad habit” on tour, and what is it? That would be Josh bringing a hair-straightener with him on tour. It’s also a contender for the next question… Most embarrassing moment on tour? Drinking myself stupid and spewing on stage one time in Newcastle was a pretty embarrassing moment. I’ve also worn purple undies and tights when we played a dress-up Halloween show. Apparantly I looked like a gay Batman, yeah embarrassing when I saw the pictures..! Give us a good quick ‘on the road’ story, funny, embarrassing, memorable, whatever… This one time in Canberra we played a show with Jungle Fever and we all got shattered at the show and then went to a dirty bikie strip bar and drank a ridiculous amount of booze. We got back to the youth hostel we were staying at and there were a couple of pommie chicks hangin out in the foyer. Being wasted and feeling pretty staunch we challenged them to a bench press challenge in the games room of the hostel and as you can imagine it was a staunch-off between 6 or 7 dudes vying to impress. Dougy decided to go one further and challenge them to a game of strip ping pong which we thought would be funny as fuck. Unfortunately Dougy is shit at ping pong and ended up with all his gear off. In the end he didn’t win a point so the chicks all had their gear on and we were stuck looking at Dougy’s pastie naked body. Such as shit image to have in your head when trying to sleep! So much for a quick story. Your manager calls and says the venue you are about to play really wants to keep you happy, what’s the first thing you chuck on the rider? Booze and/or broads. RIGHT NOW What’s getting the most spins in your stereo right now? Interpol – Antics and Bitter End - Climate of Fear are getting a good flogging at the moment. Tell us a band or artist everyone should check out and why… Every Word who are good friends of ours from Newcastle. They’re doing our 7” tour in April and their guitarist Mick is actually filling in for us for the tour also. www.myspace.com/everywordhc If you could change one thing about the music industry today, what would it be? Ban Australian Idol and all such shows. The hacks on those shows are fucking terrible, they seriously have little-to-no talent but end up getting jocked by the majors to spin coin. Then I’m forced to see their fucking heads everywhere and put up with their shit voices every time I turn the TV or radio on. Spare me please! As soon as I’ve finished answering these questions I’m about to… Get back to work coz I’ve just spent the last two hours bludging and doin an interview haha |
