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fashion. They were both tweaked to all fuck and
very entertaining.
When it comes to writing new music where do you guys
get your inspiration? The outside world can’t be that
dark, can it?
I don’t know what inspires me, I wish I did. I can’t
seem to channel whatever it is that results in me
writing a song. I’ve tried very hard to force it and
it usually results in material that gets discarded.
I’ve probably discarded twice the amount of songs
that have ended up on recordings, I’m only good
at writing songs 2% of the time. I kinda just have
to ride it out and wait for the moments when the
songs arrive in my head.
I get so worked up and thrilled when this happens.
It turns into the best weeks of my life when I’m
just running around doing stuff and my brain is
playing the song on repeat, making adjustments
and trying stuff out.
I’d be surprised if people would describe me as a
dark person though. I go through some very dark
phases but overall I’m pretty upbeat and silly with
an infantile sense of humour. Part of my interests
are drawn to darker topics. It’s just natural
fascination. When I read about things people have
done, like a murder or something. I turn into a
ghoul and my eyes widen in fascination at what
can drive someone to do such horrible things.
I’m starting to get sick of it though; I think
eventually I want to try and write about people
who haven’t murdered anyone.
Rob, you’ve been to China before and had the privilege
of playing in Beijing with Pairs. You also ended up at
drummer Xiao Zhong’s wedding. How did that come
about? How was it all?
Xiao Zhong is one of my best friends, we are like
Joey and Chandler. He is Joey. We went to the
same school and later played in bands together,
and travelled around a bit, evolving from Boyz
II Men. The first time I came to China was with
my old mate Ego, mainly to visit Xiao Zhong who
had been there for a few years, and to see a bit of
China. It was great, very different to Australia. He
showed us heaps of crazy awesome stuff and we
followed Pairs around a bit and banged on some
drums and drank beers.
There are loads of things that stand out from
that trip. The first things that come to mind all
involve potential injury or loss of life like going to
a shooting range in Shanghai, motorcycle taxi’s,
drunken go-karting, a dance floor on springs and
a questionable rollercoaster.
Then earlier this year I came back for his wedding
which again was really fun, fireworks to put a
Guns n Roses pyrotechnic show to shame.
•
Witch hats will play on November 1st at 390 (with
support from Yang Haisong’s After Argument and
Parisian duo One Lick Less) and November 2nd at the
QSW Culture Centre as part of the Wood and Wires
Festival.
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