Tione from Glass Magazine sat down and interviewed the band Gravity’s Rainbow, who will be performing in QUT Guild’s Battle of the Bands on Tuesday 30th of July in Round Two against Dropics at the Bot Bar. The band is made up of Sam Hirst (vocals and guitar), Luke Van Diermen (vocals and guitar), Flynn Henry (keyboard), Jarrah Wikaira (bass) and Isaac Wynne (drums). Tione and the band discussed Kurt Cobain, The Bearded Lady, and Bundy Rum (and of course, Battle of the Bands).
Tione: So, tell us a bit about how you became a band.
Sam: Well, we’re all 22-ish now, but we started this band as 19-year-old boys in Brisbane. We had the urge to start a band, because what else do you really do? None of us were very good at playing instruments, but we’ve worked on that a lot.
T: How did you come up with your band name?
Luke: So, there’s a there’s a book called Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, and somehow, we all found it at the same time. We thought, that’s kind of a cool name, why not make that the band name? Flynn’s the only one that’s actually read it though.
T: What’s it about?
Flynn: That’s a tough one.
Jarrah: Every time the main character hooks up with someone, the Nazis bomb the place where he did it.
Isaac: It’s about the V2 German rockets, too.
T: What has been the most rewarding experience you’ve had at QUT as a music artist?
L: So, the funny thing is none of us are actually music students. We all do completely non-arts related degrees. But I’d say the most rewarding part about being a band at QUT is meeting other musicians from QUT, like Hicktown Barnaby and Dublin Rose. And we played with Rutherford Jazz Trio [in Battle of the Bands] last year. So, we’re back again this year, and we mean business this time around.
T: Who writes like the main bulk of the lyrics?
(Everyone looks and points at Sam).
S: The lyrics, sure. But it’s actually a very collaborative experience. The great thing about live music is that you can’t hear what the singer is actually singing. You can only hear the vocal melody. So, at that point, the lyrics don’t really matter. But yeah, it’s very collaborative. All the music is a piece of every one of us. And I think that’s reflected in what we play.
T: Who were your biggest influences in music?
S: We’ll do one each, because they might be a bit different. I’m going to say the band, Grizzly Bear.
L: Pavement. I really like the loose sort of lead guitar style playing; loose as in messy and unpracticed.
J: I like Radiohead. Maybe a generic one, but a good one.
F: I’d have to say Franz Schubert. Especially his symphonies and impromptu works are a big influence.
I: Obviously Radiohead, we love alt-rock, but also any shoe-gaze band, like Twin Flames.
T: If you could perform at any venue or festival in the world, where would it be?
S: It’d be great to play somewhere overseas, like Glastonbury. A festival would be great. But in Brisbane…
L: Mountain Goat Valley Crawl!
S: That’d be cool. Playing at the Princess Theatre would be nice because it has good sound and a good stage.
T: What’s the most unusual sound or sample you’ve incorporated into a track?
F: (makes robot beeping noises) I don’t think I want to do that again. We’re not a gimmick band, you know. We’re very serious.
T: Obviously!
S: Yeah. I don’t know if we really use samples. For live, unless you have a backing track, it’s kind of hard and we’re mostly a live band. We don’t have anything on Spotify yet, but we will soon. October 27th, we’re releasing a single.
T: What’s it called?
S: It’s called Never Have I Ever (Never Have I Ever).
T: What’s the most embarrassing thing that has happened during one of your gigs?
I: Well, I mean to start, our last Bearded Lady gig.
L: So, these three (points to Isaac, Flynn and Jarrah) had an entire bottle and a half of Bundy Rum before they played so you can imagine how that went. Apart from that, at our first ever gig, I messed up a huge solo. I started playing in the wrong key and I just couldn’t recover. It’s on YouTube and someone broke a glass during it. And we’ve never played that song since.
S: In the crowds, you could hear moans and footsteps of people leaving.
I: And you can only tell that the glass broke because of the awkward silence due to how bad that solo was.
T: Who is your dream collab for a track or album？
J: Probably Kanye.
L: That’s problematic.
I: I feel like we really want to play with Kurt Cobain because we have a very big grunge kind of influence and he’s really good.
T: Have you tried to contact him?
I: We have tried numerous times. His agent has yet to reply.
L: Realistically? I reckon 01 Thurman would be cool to collaborate with on a on a track, within Brisbane. Otherwise, The Strokes; Julian Casablancas, if you’re watching this, please.
T: Well, that’s all the questions we have. Do you guys have anything else to say?
S: I have something to say. Hey, Dropics. Be afraid. We’re coming for you. And to everyone else, we’re actually really nice guys. We’re not very threatening. And we’d love to talk to you. And I hope you guys come along because it’s going to be a great time!
The Glass Magazine X QUT Guild Battle of the Bands has returned for Semester 2! Last year was such an absolute blast that we are pitting the bands of QUT against each other once again. You don’t want to miss this amazing event, so make sure you register on QPay to get all the details. We’ll see your there!
