Coverage
See who's talking about Bixby Canyon.
As I prepare for my interview with one of Brisbane's most delivering rock bands, Bixby Canyon, their singer - songwriter and guitarist Jake Wood sits before me uncoiling the rusting strings of his guitar and proceeds to show me the lovely splats of dry blood that has 'been there for a few weeks now'. How charming. Bixby Canyon is an indie grunge rock band from Brisbane's southern suburbs with an average age of 17 between Jake, Mitch Johnson (drums), John Jurkov (bass) and Brodie Pearce (guitar) that is connecting with their audience through their dynamic stage presence and intelligent lyrics.
Here I ask a friend and once humble solo performer a few questions about an expanding project and get his opinion on Brisbane's everchanging music economy.
Do you draw influence from any Australian bands?
Australian bands? I don't know if I draw influence from them, but I listen to Australian bands. Maybe they subconsciously influence me but not from an aspect that I'm aware of. How do you see Brisbane's live music scene in five years?
Depends on what happens in the next couple of months, really. If what happens?
Well, if clubs are going to stay on the rise, then Brisbane's music scene is going to die, but if something is done about what's happening with terrible, terrible things that are happening in the venues around the Valley and the City then there might be life yet for the Brisbane music scene. But if nothing happens soon to change what's happening in the Valley and what's happening to decent places in the city and the Valley then I think that live music as in bands and stuff is going to have a lot of trouble in Brisbane and it's going to cause a lot of them (bands) to leave to other states and other countries. With that being said about finding a decent venue in the Valley and the City what with clubs taking over, what attracts you being a young band to a venue?
Being able to play. Not all venues let us play so we just take what we can get when we can get it at the moment..we just want to exploit ourselves as much as we can. Other than that what attracts us to the venue is.. I don't know.. it's not usually the venue that attracts you because they're so minute. It's more the bands that attract you that you're playing with or whether it's somebody who you know you've worked with before and you can work with them or something like that, but the way it is the moment no venues can really attract you because there's such as small amount of them from what I know in my experience. If you as a band could personally book a show with other Brisbane bands, who would you book?
Well I mean, I'm running a show on Friday night (at the Vibe with Castles Sunk Below The Sea, The Medics, Fushia and Alibrandi) So you put that on?
Yeah, I booked those bands and everything. But they aren't your genre, I mean Castles are more Post Rock and Experimental as opposed to grunge rock.
There's not much of the genre that we do, being considered such an awkward genre because we don't necessarily fit into one group apart from indie rock, there's not many we can play with as a local band ...that sounds very much like us. I mean the closest we've got so far to sounding like us so far from a local area would be... Dirty Bird?
Yeah, that's probably it. And you're playing the young bloods show with them on the 2nd of July, where you might be releasing the demo album you just recorded with Steve Grady at Starving Kids?
No idea. We have to have a few meetings to talk about what we're doing with those demos. Thanks for taking some time out from your 'CoD Sesh' and enjoy the Young Bloods gig with Teenage Wolves, Dirty Bird and Calais!
Alysha Dickson - www.youngbloodsbne.com
FETE DE LE MUSIQUE AT RIC'S JUNE 21
LIVE AT THE HIVE - 10 APRIL 2010
Not bad kids, not bad at all. Given the task of being the genre changer of the night, the young lads did a brilliant job of getting the shy little foot tappers head nodding . You wouldn't know it to hear it, but indie rock band Bixby Canyon had played only one show prior to The Youth Showcase evening at The Hive, and boy did that surprise a few when they found out.
Lead singer and guitarist Jake Wood has emerged from being a reserved acoustic singer with lyrics full of anger to be compared with the metaphors of Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst and Brand New's Jesse Lacey, so the energy this guy emits on stage is incredible, and gives the audience a whole level of emotion otherwise only half delivered as a solo artist.
Again, it being only one of their founding gigs, there are small things that need to be fine tweaked- one of which is to bring out those powerful vocals a hell of a lot more, not to say that we want to drown out the brilliant bass lines John Jurkov is working on, that at times can define and make the song.
It's only very, very early days for the Brisbane boys, but with their dynamic and visual live performances not only just in Brisbane (their first show was at Bon Amici's in Toowoomba), add their myspace, follow them on twitter and become a fan on facebook. If they create a tumblr, do whatever you do with that, too!
I'm fairly sure that they’re all single, so your next chance to fall in love with their ‘music’ is out in the ‘burbs at The Vibe (Jimboomba) on the 25th of June. Just mention you like Nirvana and you’re in. You can thank me later. - Alysha Dickson, www.dearheadpress.com
PRESS RECORD INTERVIEW - LOST YOUTH SHOWCASE
Press Record Online’s Samantha Kane caught up with Jake Wood, vocalist of Brisbane rock act, Bixby Canyon, to discover what it takes to make it in the local music scene…
For those who haven't heard you, how would you describe your music? I guess it's hard to explain what we sound like. We draw from so many musical influences that it blends into a few different sounds, but we stick to the indie rock genre as it would most suit our sound. From our influences I'd say we’re mostly like a mix of Manchester Orchestra, Nirvana and Jimmy Eat World. What sets you apart from the plethora of Australian rock acts? The kind of music we're playing is very unique, the way we go about playing it on stage and keeping up that energy off stage. Being a young band, do people take you seriously? Or do you feel your age affects people's perceptions? I don't feel that it has affected us yet. Most of the shows we've played so far have been AA (all ages) so we really haven't fallen into that 18+ situation yet. We've found that some venues won't let us play until we're all 18, but that just means if we have to wait a year or two, then we'll wait. We do have our first 18+ show this weekend at the Tempo Bar and they've been very good about it. You cite both Green Day and Blink 182 as musical influences. Which band would you most want to be like? I don't think we'd want to be like any of those bands. Both are amazing at what they do but what we are doing with our music is something completely different. Yes, we do draw influences from them, but it is through the sound and music, not what they do on or off stage. How did you find playing ‘The Lost Youth Showcase’? ‘The Lost Youth Showcase’ was great fun. It was really good to see so many people supporting local music and even better to see all the other bands standing right up front with the rest of the crowd and enjoying it just as much. Were there any acts that blew you away at the Lost Youth Showcase? Did the night represent young Aussie talent well? My hat goes off to Dirty Bird, they've been doing this for a while now but they haven't lost any flare. They were so entertaining and they know how to keep attention. Yes, I feel young talent was represented well. Not only did it have a few different age groups through performers, but there were different genres. What can people expect from your live shows? Is there anything that sets you apart? What can people expect from our live performances? ... Explosions and magic tricks? (Laughs) No ... we like to get loud live; push everything to the limit. We want people to be watching us and enjoying our music so we grab their attention. We do this by moving as much as we can. I know that when I'm on stage sometimes I feel like a caged lion pacing around trying to find some way around. I think that this sets us apart. I don't know many guys who are willing to throw their body and gear around as much as I am these days. You've played both all ages and under 18's shows, do you find a difference in the crowd? Not really. Sometimes it depends on who the crowds come to see. When you get some of the older punters at the AA shows, they come to listen and enjoy the music and lyrics. But with the under 18 shows, all the kids get really involved up the front, dancing around and moving as much as possible. Do you think it's hard for young bands in Brisbane to gain exposure? How should upcoming bands go about doing that? It's hard for any band young or old. I wouldn't say it's hard for younger bands. The only difference is playing at 18+ venues. If you're under 18, most of the time you have to leave 10 minutes after your set which really removes any chance of social networking. As for going about it, I think that upcoming bands should be a lot more patient. Too many bands rush into the world and aren't ready. This can put people off and then you don't get those people back. The best thing to do is to practice, practice, practice. We practiced for about five months before we even booked our first show. We wanted to make sure we were ready, that we could perform our set with confidence and make sure we were playing the right songs. At present you seem to be focusing on live gigs, any plans for a record in the near future? The current focus on gigs is to expose ourselves as much as possible. We don't want to be spending all our money on recording a product for a fan base that doesn't exist. So far we've played three shows with a fourth on Friday (April 16th). We have ideas for recording and enough songs, but we feel that we need to reach a certain level of recurring fans before we think about any major recording. Though, after this Friday’s show, we have a four week break from gigging. We will most likely be using that time as a reflection period and might record some demos for MySpace during that period. If people do want to know about when those demos are ready, they can be constantly updated by following us on Facebook or Twitter. - www.pressrecordonline.com
JAKE IS SET FOR THE BIGGEST OF STAGES
FOREST LAKE: Jake Wood is set to rock this year’s Fete de la Musique with his band Bixby Canyon.
Eighteen-year-old Wood performed at last year’s event as a solo singer/guitarist and he said he was looking forward to gaining more exposure for his indie rock band which also comprises Mitch Johnson, John Jurkov and Brodie Pearce.
``I had a lot of fun last year and it’s a great opportunity for us to get our name out there,’’ he said.
``We’ve been together and practising for about five months and so far played Bon Amicis in Toowoomba, The Hive and The Tempo Bar in the Valley.’’ - Alanna Scott, Southwest News
Bixby Canyon play Ric's on June 21st for the Fete de la Musique program, on stage from 4:45 pm. FREE! 18+
