Label: Reprise Records
Date: June 11, 2004
TMF Julie: Give us your dictionary definition for your band, The Living End.
TLE Andy: Well, there’s three of us. Scott plays an upright bass so it’s like a traditional double bass that’s been modified slightly. I guess on stage it – we look like a different sort of band if you get my meaning. Chris plays a big hollow body sort of guitar like you know from the 50s style. And, I’ve only been with the band for two and a half years or so but these guys have been playing together for close to ten years now. And they’re heavily influenced, I suppose, by 50s rock n’ roll – Elvis up to the Straycats that kind of influence played a big part in their early stuff I suppose. So, it’s very rock n’ roll based music but there’s so many different influences nowadays so we can play anything from rockabilly to hard rock n’ roll to a little bit of jazz – a little bit of everything- ska, reggae. We try to mix it up quite a lot so. The definition in the dictionary would be paragraphs long I’m sure.?{All laugh}
TLE Andy: But, I guess as a live band, we’re just 120% on stage. Probably the best way to sum it up – we just give everything.
TMF Julie: Cool, cool.
TMF Julie: Tell us a bit about your latest album. What do you particularly pride on from the album?
TLE Andy: Again, as I was saying, there’s so many different influences with the band. And, we all have varied influences that every- you know there’s 14 tracks and I think they’ve all got their own personality. It’s a real – jumble of sounds really anything from the rock to the fast kind of – I wouldn’t say rockabilly anymore but it’s fast. We got -there’s songs on there that touch on country western stuff. But, the song I’m sorta most proud of would be “Hold Up” which is really good fun to play live. It’s fast and energetic. And then, there’s songs like “Putting You Down” which has a real mellow kinda feel to it which I really like as well. Then, there’s the epic that closes the album. It’s eight minutes long called “The Room.” It’s a real journey. It’s like reading a book or something, I think.
TMF Julie: Which new song off Modern Artillery has connected the most with fans during your live show?
TLE Andy: They vary, I suppose. “Hold up” is instantly catchy, fun to watch. But, I suppose – being the single, “Who’s Gonna Save Us?” has always been a good reaction. I suppose with the politics and bullshit that goes on in the world today, most people can relate to that so hopefully they’re taking the lyrics and actually feeling it.
TMF Julie: I read in another interview that the band formed back in high school, so what were you like in high school and did you ever imagine making it this far?
TLE Andy: I always imagined making it to well you know- making it – I don’t know what that entirely means but I’d always dreamed of – since I was four years old of playing drums in a band and that would be my career. And, it is now but it’s taken a hell of a long time. I’ve been playing in bands ever since I was old enough to drive. Well, actually younger than that. But, we got there finally. It’s damn good. The rewards are so much better now. Once you go through all the shit to get to the good stuff, you kinda of appreciate everything a little more. I’m grateful for that. But yeah, it’s kind of weird in the sense that we lived in separate cities but at the same time – it was almost like a parallel universe. We were playing in cover bands doing pretty much the same set list, if you can believe that. We were called The Runaways; and, they were called The Runaway Boys. It was everything from Elvis to The Beatles, all that good stuff. So, we had never met but we were doing pretty similar things as teenagers.
TMF Julie: So everything kinda came together?
TLE Andy: Yeah. Then, I moved to their city, Melbourne. And, I played in many many bands for like ten years or so before I got the opportunity to play with these guys. I suppose influences do in our past kind of helped a lot once we got to play together.
TMF Julie: Did you ever – you dream of other things because people think it’s so outrageous to be in a band so did you have any alternate careers that you were interested in?
TLE Andy: Oh yeah. I wanted to be a pro surfer. {laughs}
TMF Julie: Oh cool! Were you big into surfing at home?
TLE Andy: Definitely. I’ve been surfing since I was eight or nine years old so that’s always been a big thing for me. To get to that level is almost impossible. You’ve gotta be really really good. I’ve never been a good enough surfer to become competitive.
TMF Julie: Well, this is just as good.?{All laugh}
TLE Andy: This is my first choice. I feel like the luckiest man in the world at the moment. It’s exactly what I wanna do. But, surfing would’ve been a nice second.
TMF Julie: What’s more important to you, the creative process of writing and recording new material or playing live shows in front of your fans and watching their reaction to your work?
TLE Andy: That’s a really hard question to answer because without one you’re not going to have the other. I’d much prefer playing live because the adrenaline rush. That’s what we do best and what we love to do. So, I’d lean toward playing live but obviously there’s big rewards in the studio as well. It seems so there’s so much pressure into the studio. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves. And personally, I do the same. But, I’ll go with live.
TMF Julie: What’s one song or artist that you like that would probably surprise your fans?
TLE Andy: I don’t think anything would surprise-
TMF Julie: Cause you’re so diverse?
TLE Andy: Yeah…umm…there’s..?(“Super Dave” walks down the aisle to exit the tour bus, makes a few gestures to distract us)
TLE Andy: That’s Super Dave. He’s part of our family. Lovely man, a bit strange.
TMF Friend Mary: He’s funny.
TLE Andy: He’s very funny – incredibly funny.
TMF Friend Mary: His pants are getting to me though.
TLE Andy: They’re meant to be shorts but they reach his ankles. ?{All laugh}
TLE Andy: Influences…bands…I like, I really got into Guns n Roses as a kid. In some ways, it’s taggy. But, I don’t see that. They were amazing in their day. And I think Appetite was- it’s an old time album. It’s crazy regardless of their bad hair cuts and leather boots and stuff.?{All laugh}
TMF Julie: It gets you pumped.
TLE Andy: Definitely. It was a really really classy album so that might surprise someone.
TMF Julie: No mainstream stuff that’s totally outrageous?
TLE Andy: Not really I could sort of…I can take something from pretty much any style of music apart from dancy, hip hop kinda..?(Someone walks into the bathroom, unfortunately the bathroom is not sound proof)
TLE Andy: Someone’s just going to the bathroom…
TMF Julie: {laughs} I saw the look on her face..
TLE Andy: It’s close quarters living.
TMF Friend Mary: Man, it’s all good.?{a little bit of chit chat goes on}
TMF Julie: If you were to put one of your lyrics in a time capsule for a future generation to read, what lyric would that be?
TLE Andy: I guess…this is before my time so I didn’t have any part in writing the song but Chris wrote a song called “Prisoner of Society.”?That lyric in itself would probably stand the test of time because every generation has that feeling of you know once you reach a certain age you feel like you’re trapped and you wanna get out. We don’t need no one to tell us what to do. If you listen to that song, it’s pretty- it touches home with anyone between the age of 12 and 19 maybe. You just want to get the fuck out of there sometimes.
TMF Friend Mary: Yeah, freshmen year of college – oh my god, spring break. Oh yeah.
TLE Andy: Yeah so I think that would be-
TMF Julie: Most relevant?
TLE Andy: I reckon. It’s just gonna continue to be that way. I don’t think that’s-
TMF Friend Mary: It’s always gonna be that way.
TLE Andy: Yeah, it’s just one of those statements that everyone can relate to at one point in their life.
TMF Julie: You’re doing some headlining shows along with this tour, any differences between the shows?
TLE Tour Manager: Less people. Oops, sorry sorry not my question.
TLE Andy: Just about 45,000 less people. Well there is a big difference I suppose apart from the obvious. I suppose our own shows have- we get our fans to those gigs so generally the reaction is much more to the songs. With these shows, we’re just trying to win people over. For a lot of the people, 90% of them, have probably never the band before so it’s a real uphill battle. Whereas for our own shows, we play for an hour and a half and we play all our old songs and everyone gets into it. Smaller crowds, bigger vibe.
TMF Julie: I have a question that kinda goes along with this let me try to find it…You’ve toured with some bands that are on the rise and now you’re touring with bands that have been riding the wave of success for a long time now, how do you handle the extra stardom or pressure that comes with bigger tours?
TLE Andy: I don’t feel any of that.
TMF Julie: Don’t feel it?
TLE Andy: Nah. This tour has been really cool because both blink and No Doubt – everyone involved from all the band members to the crew and the tour managers- everyone involved in the whole tour is just so nice, so down to earth, and unbelievably so for such huge bands. You know Gwen Stefani..
TMF Julie: Loveeee her.
TMF Friend Mary: She’s great.
TLE Andy: She couldn’t walk down the street. She is superstar. And, she’s amazing. She’s so down to earth. And, everyone has made us feel so welcome. So, we don’t feel anything. There’s no stress because you can walk into their band room and say Hi. So did that answer the question??{All laugh}
TMF Friend Mary: Yeah, it does.
TLE Andy: You know what I mean right?
TMF Julie: It’s like friendly, not competitive.
TLE Andy: It’s amazing. Not at all.
TMF Friend Mary: No egotistical people.
TLE Andy: Nope. They’re just lovely people.
TMF Julie: Everyone has personal slang. Can you give us some examples of yours?
TLE Andy: Personal slang. {laughs} You need to spend a half an hour on the tour bus with us. ?We’ve got some – we’ve got plenty of words that most people wouldn’t understand. You know the typical Aussie..good “onya’s”?That’s our way of saying well done or cheers. Up your bum is another word for saying cheers. That one’s kinda weird.?{All laugh}
TMF Friend Mary: Definitely is.
TLE Andy: Get a dog up ya. That’s another weird one. You’re at the bar and you say, “G’day mate get a dog up ya.” or “Good onya mate get a dog up ya.”?{All laugh}
TLE Andy: Makes no sense to you guys.
TMF Friend Mary: We understand now that you’re giving us what it really means and put it in context. But, if someone came up to me and said something like “up a dog” or something I’d be like “We about to have a few words.”?{All laughs}
TLE Andy: It’s not meant to be offensive. It’s a good thing.
TMF Julie: What do you do if a crowd isn’t responding well to your music?
TLE Andy: Probably makes us play harder. Put more into it. That’s our goal everytime we go on stage is to – in a nice way, play people’s heads off. We just want to – there’s no point in going on stage and giving a half an effort.
TMF Julie: Gotta play like it’s your last time.
TLE Andy: Yeah, absolutely. You wanna impress people so much that they come to the next show. We just play harder.
TMF Julie: A movie is being made about your band. Who would you cast to play each member?
TLE Andy: Oh shit, that’s a big question.?{All laugh}
TMF Julie: I read on your website that you guys were big into movies.
TLE Andy: Oh sure, yeah. I’d have to think about that one. That’s a real tricky one. Can I pass on this?
TMF Julie: You might wanna pass on this one too…what would be the climax of the movie up to this point in your career? like what would you want to be the big bang of the movie.
TLE Andy: Going on stage at Wembley. You know that kinda Spinal Tap..?{All laugh}
TMF Julie: Yeah.
TLE Andy: Walking out in front of a full Wembley stadium would be pretty nice.
TMF Friend Mary: Sounds good to me.
TMF Julie: Give our readers 3 reasons why they should come out to see you on tour.
TLE Tour Manager: The tour manager’s very attractive…?{All laugh}
TMF Julie: There ya go, there’s one.
TLE Andy: Tour manager’s incredibly attractive. He’s very nice.
TMF Friend Mary: Easy to talk to. Got us in when other people be bullshitting.
TLE Tour Manager: That’s pretty much it.
TLE Andy: {laughs} Yeah. Allan Ballmont- tour manager extraordinaire. ?TLE Tour Manager: And, all with his hole in his shoe. (shows off his shoe with a big hole in it)
TMF Friend Mary: Oh, and walking in the rain?
TLE Tour Manager: I’ll work with wet socks. I don’t give a shit.
TLE Andy: That’s how hard he works. {laughs} Three reasons…Well, I think if they know the band they should come see us because they..
TMF Julie: love the music?
TLE Andy: Yeah, they should come and watch the band play live because that’s what we do best. If they think the records are good, they should come see us because I think it’s much better. I think we play live – that’s what we do. It’s our passion. We all love playing live. And, we do it pretty damn well I think. People who have never heard of the band should come see us live cause hopefully they’ll be blown away so they’ll go buy the record. And third, they should just come out and have a beer. Don’t sit around at home. Get off the bloody computers and outside please.
TMF Julie: What do you miss most about Australia when you are touring other countries?
TLE Andy: Just the comforts. Having your own bed. Obviously girlfriends and families and pets. I’ve got a beautiful little dog who’s only seven months old
TMF Julie: Awww! What kind is it?
TLE Andy: I’ll show you a photo in a minute. I’m missing out on all the good bits about the dog growing up. And, coffee. As you can see, we’ve got our own espresso machine. I miss surfing. I miss – we don’t get a lot of time off. It’s hard to do all those things you really like to do. But, it’s a trade off.
TMF Julie: Because it’s amazing what you’re doing.
TLE Andy: Oh fuck yeah. I’d give all that up for this. This is amazing.
TMF Julie: Has any trip to a certain country had a big influence on you?
TLE Andy: All of the above with Japan. We were there last year for some big festival shows. The guys have been there a few times. I’ve been there twice now. And, we headlined our own tour there just before we got to America this trip so six weeks ago. It’s just amazing. Every time we go there it’s the food, the people, the atmosphere. The culture shock there is insane.
TMF Julie: How was it trying to learn the language?
TLE Andy: The people are so nice and helpful. They don’t understand a word you say but you can sort of interact- almost like sign language. You have to kind of express a little bit more. We always have an interpreter with us. But, we just tell the interpreter what to say and they translate. It’s just an amazing place. It really is. And, to be able to play really big shows there, the crowds are so..
TMF Julie: They understand and are able to feel you?
TLE Andy: They learn all the lyrics and try to sing along with all songs. They’re just so passionate. The fans over there are crazy. That’s definitely my favorite place outside of Australia.
TMF Julie: Anything you’d like to see incorporated into American culture from there?
TLE Andy: I think it’s just the interaction with people that still amazes me and the respect they all have for each other. I think that really lacks in lots of countries, not just America..
TMF Julie: Yeah, I’ve seen it in Europe.
TLE Andy: Yeah. Customer service and people actually wanting to help other people. If someone was lost in the street, anyone would help them. Whereas in America, for example..
TMF Friend Mary: You’re lost ?{All laugh}
TLE Andy: Well, you’re lost and people are too scared to help you..
TMF Friend Mary: Cause if I go to help you and something goes wrong, you’d blame it on me.
TLE Andy: Yeah, all that sorta shit.
TMF Julie: Lawsuits, lawyers.
TLE Andy: I think we could all learn a lot from the way they- their culture is amazing. I think the respect thing is the coolest thing. And, bloody hell they can cook.
TMF Friend Mary: Cooking is always good.
TMF Julie: Are you into sushi?
TLE Andy: Mhm.
TMF Friend Mary: Oh no. I tried. I was lucky the bathroom was right there.
TLE Andy: You’ve gotta have some of the good stuff. We do a thing over there called Korean barbeque. It’s that steak that’s wafer thin you can see through it. It’s all sliced up and marinated. And, there’s a barbeque in the middle of the table. Whoever takes you out to dinner, the host. If I took you guys out to dinner, I would cook for you. It’s a respect thing.
TMF Julie: We’ll take you up on that! ?{All laugh}?(Convo goes on a bit more about sushi)
TMF Julie: What has been the most shocking moment in rock and roll history to you?
TLE Andy: In the whole of rock and roll history…Ray Charles died yesterday. That’s pretty full on.
TMF Julie: It’s really bad when a legend like that dies.
TLE Andy: I’m shocked all the time.
TMF Friend Mary: Last year was hectic. It seemed like everyone was dying.
TLE Andy: True. You know…Kurt Cobain died…any time something like that happens it’s shocking. But um…what else is shocking??Queens of the Stone Age breaking up that was shocking. I thought that was one of the best bands in the world. They’re one of my favorite bands.
TMF Friend Mary: Creed broke up.
TLE Andy: I’m not too concerned about Creed. That’s not shocking to me.?{All laugh}
TMF Julie: It only spawned two more albums because he’s doing a solo and the other guys are doing an album so it’s not really good news. ?You could name a crazy moment. You know like Ozzy does crazy things..
TMF Friend Mary: I wanna know what’s the craziest thing that’s happened on tour so far?
TLE Andy: Not a lot really.
TMF Friend Mary: You’re telling me you guys don’t do pranks on each other? ?{All laugh}
TLE Andy: We do pranks on each other.
TMF Friend Mary: {laughs} But, he’s like nothing I could say.
TLE Andy: No, no, no. Seriously, we’re so boring. We’re really tame bunch of fellows. Super Dave- he’s probably the craziest out of the lot.
TMF Friend Mary: I can imagine that.
TLE Andy: He’s pretty weird. He’s done some funny things. Everyone got really drunk last night.
TMF Friend Mary: You all are still up walking and talking.
TLE Andy: Just, yeah.
TMF Julie: You’re making it through.
TLE Andy: That was a big night. Everyone had the day off so everyone was in the bar. The tequila was running like water.
TMF Julie: How do you compare the liquor with the Australian kind?
TLE Andy: We I guess we’ve sort of adopted Coronas which is Mexican but..
TMF Friend Mary: College party – always Coronas around.
TLE Andy: Coronas are good. I really enjoy drinking Coronas but there’s some other beers here that I despise. I’d rather drink water. You know Sam Adams? Worst beer in the world. Terrible. But, a pub’s a pub. It’s kinda funny. We got stranded. We were on a stop from driving one place to the next. And, I couldn’t tell you where it was. But, we ended up in this little bar. It was so…redneck.
TMF Julie: We’re from WV. We grew up with em. {laughs}
TMF Friend Mary: We know all about em. We’re in the state that really doesn’t exist.
TLE Andy: Right. For me, that was a pretty weird experience. It was cool but man.
TMF Friend Mary: Backwards?
TLE Andy: Real funny. And, they’re all nice. But, they were just, (yells in a redneck accent) “Heya, how you doing boy? “?{All laugh}
TMF Friend Mary: They’re different.
TLE Andy: We enjoyed it just because it was so different. You never see that. You see it in movies.
TMF Friend Mary: Come to WV, you’ll see it all the time.
TMF Julie: What’s the craziest thing a fan has done to get your attention?
TLE Andy: There was once some underwear thrown on stage. Not fresh from the body. Someone had planned it and had sewn some hair into the…and drawn some shit on it. Wrote a message on it with a pen. I had put em on over my head while I played. That was crazy but fun. I only lasted one song and I had to take em off – couldn’t see anything.
TMF Julie: As the drummer do you do a lot of crazy things like that happen a lot?
TLE Andy: Not really.
TMF Julie: Just like every once in a while?
TLE Andy: If something happens, I’ll go with it. We were on tour with Jet and The Vines earlier this year. I think it was Nick from Jet threw a pair of his socks at me cause Chris said something along the lines of “We’re The Living End, we’re here to rock your socks off.”?{All laugh}
TLE Andy: So he threw his socks at me so I put them down my pants for the rest of the gig.
TMF Friend Mary: So if something happens tonight, I’m just gonna be like “I knew that was gonna happen.”
TLE Andy: {laughs} But generally, I’m very well behaved.
TMF Julie: What’s next for you guys after this tour wraps up?
TLE Andy: Next is – we go to the UK for one show which is a little strange. It’s a long way to travel for one show. But, it’ll be good. It’ll be fun. ?So, we go there do that. Then, we go home. We have a few days off then we start recording. We’re gonna do a like a singles collection sort of thing for Australia only cause the band’s been around for so long back there. It’s like 12 big singles so the idea is to put them into a collective sorta DVD plus all the singles and two brand new songs. So, we’re gonna be really busy. We’ve got a few shows in Australia. Hopefully, we’re gonna do a tour but not at the moment. I think that’ll take us up close to the end of the year. We’ll have to start thinking about writing some new songs for the new album.
TMF Julie: Very cool. Do you guys write songs here or better at home?
TLE Andy: It’s hard to write on the road. We don’t get a lot of time to..
TMF Julie: Gotta find time to sleep.
TLE Andy: There’s a lot of down time. It’s hard to actually get together and play with our instruments. So, Chris generally writes 90% of the songs. He’ll bring it in and say, “I’ve got this idea.” And, we’ll work on it as a group from there. That’s generally how we do it. He’s putting ideas down all the time. It’s always noisy. So he probably needs some time to nut out his ideas and bring it to the table so to speak. So does Scott- he does a little bit of writing as well. I’m not so- I can’t play guitar very well so I can’t write.
TMF Julie: We’re back to that question on the movie.
TLE Andy: Oh, the movie. God..
TMF Friend Mary: That question is hard.
TLE Andy: I’d like Jim Carrey to be in it somewhere. He’s pretty funny. I honestly can’t think. That’s a really tough one. There’s?actually a running joke in the band that Michael J. Fox would have to be Chris so you can print that. Michael J. Fox would be Chris. I don’t know..?Matt LeBlanc would be cool. We’ll make him Scott. I don’t know who could me..
TMF Julie: You could play yourself.
TLE Andy: {laughs} Yeah, maybe that’s a good idea. I could break into…did you just read his shirt??(we stop talking to look at a guy outside wearing a shirt that says Fuck Me I’m Famous)?{All laugh}
TMF Friend Mary: I just happened to be looking around.
TLE Andy: Who could play me…maybe a female. ?TMF Friend Mary: Interesting.
TLE Andy: A little bit kinky isn’t it? {laughs} You can think of someone put it in.
TMF Julie: Brad Pitt. Nah, he wouldn’t do a good job with your accent. He messed up big time in Troy.
TMF Friend Mary: What’s that one guy’s name? He played in 10 Things I Hate About You..
TMF Julie: Heath Ledger?
TLE Andy: Heath would do. There’s another Aussie actor that I really like. Shit..?(girl approaches)
TLE Andy: Hey, what’s that Aussie actor, not Heath Ledger, a bit older?
Girl: Hugh Jackman.
TLE Andy: Yeah, yeah. Hugh Jackman. I’ll have him. That’ll be good.
