Antiskeptic - Make up your own mind
Pop-punk. Just joking! I was given specific instructions on pain of death NOT to mention these words in this article about Antiskeptic. However I am doing so in order to tell the world once and for all that if these guys were ever “pop punk”, they are not now.
Antiskeptic are a band that are constantly evolving. After four or five EPs, two full length albums and one near line-up change, they have found themselves sitting comfortably somewhere in the heavy rock genre with a considerable fan base who eagerly awaited their return after a 2 year absence.
Just before their last release, Aurora, was recorded, bass player Sean Daly had split from the band. He had some personal issues that could not be resolved in the demanding world of a successful touring rock and roll band. But Sean is back now, and he and drummer Nick Coppin are these days joining frontman Andrew Kitchen in sharing writing responsibilities. The results can be heard (and seen) on Monuments, a four-track EP and DVD, Antiskeptic’s brand new release.
I spoke to guitarist/singer Andrew Kitchen about many things. Including how after so many years and releases, he feels about audiences’ oft-maligned requests to “play some old stuff”
“A lot of bands will say 'Oh, you know, that song got us all over the radio and we can’t stand it anymore, we’ve played it so many times…' I still love playing “Called” which was the first song that got Triple J’s attention! I just love playing it because I think it’s a really great song.”
Their Monuments release is a solid four track EP but there are definate hints of that oh-so popular nu-new-wave disco beat. Are they bowing to a trend?
“That crossed our mind but we also used (the beat) on our Aurora release in early 2004. That backbeat is only in a small section of the song and I don’t think we are over-using it like many bands are doing these days. I think we are using it in a different way.
So this led to the question as to whether Kitchen thinks that they are influenced at all by their contemporaries.
“I will be the first one to say I don’t keep up with the latest music. In that way it’s kind of good. The bands that we tour with, the bands that we are on the radio with, I generally don’t listen to them. I can’t afford to buy all the latest releases so that limits my listening choices and in many ways that’s good.
“I like to think that Antiskeptic has been a band that has been in some way shaping, even if on a small local scale, a new sound.
“We have never really tried to fit in to what’s trendy and what’s cool and what’s fashionable. In fact we are writing a song at the moment called “Sing The Fashion” about the way some bands are like chameleons and are like “What’s cool now? Let’s change, let’s get haircuts and ripped jackets”. I think you should just let the music come out from who you are and you should let that be the defining thing about you.
On the topic of songwriting and creating music, I asked Kitchen the all important question.. Why do it? Why make music?
“I don’t know how clearly I express myself or feel I express myself when I am just talking to people. But when I pick up a guitar and write a song I feel as though it’s like the difference between dial up and broadband. Even if people don’t hear every word when we are playing live I feel like there is a connection there that I otherwise find difficult (to make)”
Do you find similar themes coming through in your music?
“Earlier on when we were more, dare I say it, “pop-punk” we were writing a lot more boy-meets-girl, they fall in love, boy breaks girl’s heart – you know, that kind of stuff. But very quickly I started writing stuff more on a political and belief systems kind of level. I’ve wanted to use this platform that we have. I am writing a song at the moment about Australian Reconciliation with Aboriginals. I know it’s been done before but it is something happening here that’s worth singning about, rather than boy meets girl.”
So there is a concious message coming through in their music?
“I guess the main thing for me is that we are, I like to think, an optimistic band. I’d like to think that we can be facilitators of injecting hope and optimism into people. There’s so much stuff in the media – wars and hatred and stabbings and shootings and stuff that can get people down. We are always reminded that life is hard, life is a challenge, life is a battle. Let’s not forget that life is beautiful, lets not forget to stop and look at the flowers and enjoy watching a toddler as it tries to get up onto its feet.
“I am a Christian. We are all Christian guys but we don’t consider ourselves a Christian band. Just because as soon as you say those words people go “Do you play in churches?” Well, no. “Are all your songs about God?” No. “Do you drink?” Yes. Immediately we get thrown in with a whole heap of stuff that isn’t appropriate to us. We want to write music that is as good as any other band out there, to have a live show which is as good as any other band.”
Artists often believe that when they are creating, God, whoever or whatever they believe God is, is the one doing the creating, that the artist is merely the paintbrush. I asked Kitchen believe that when he is writing that God is speaking through him. And he responded remarkably matter-of-factly.
“Yeah, definitely. We recently received an email from a guy that absolutely changed my life. He wrote that his girlfriend had just broken up with him and that his stepdad was telling him that he hated him. It was a picture of sadness and darkness and this kid said “But everytime I put on your music I found God and I found peace and I found tranquility. I now no longer self-harm. I now no longer consider suicide.” That’s what it’s all about, man. And that’s not even a singular incident. We’ve received several emails like that. That’s the part of stuff that keeps me going, not dreams of winning an Aria or playing on the biggest stages in the world.”
And, against my tendency to often embrace cynicism, you know what? I believe him.
