The Fumes - Band of Gold
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The Fumes have just released their debut Album Guns of Gold. One half of the blues two piece from Sydney; Joel Battersby, (drummer) got on the computer and answered a few questions for Lily.
With the success of bands such as The Mess Hall and The Black Keys, a blues two piece seems all the rage these days, Battersby answers.
“This is easily the most common question we're asked. There have been two piece blues bands since the early part of last century so it's definitely not the latest thing, as for the bottom end thing- we're not trying to break new ground, we just think what we do works best as a two piece.”
Do they miss the low end that the bass guitar can provide?
“I think there's plenty of bottom ends in my kick drum but if you come and see us play and you disagree then so be it. We're not going to be getting a bass player unless we want to change the whole dynamic.”
The Australian blues scene seems to be booming at the moment.
“I think it's great, it’s really popular amongst the older crew who grew up with the old school stuff on their radio's but also a lot of the youngercrew have been really positive towards slide guitar playing.”
Artists such as Ash Grunwald really bring the scene alive. I recently caught him give a talk as part of the APRA Songwriter speaks show and his views on song writing and musicianship were inspirational. It seems the Fumes have the same idea.
“If you've ever been in the room when he plays you'll know what he can do with that voice? It's huge! Just a great stage presence and the story telling in his songs are great.”
The band has been only going since 2004 and seem to achieved great success with touring and releases around Australia. They are signed to an independent record label, which they are very happy with.
“We are glad we didn't go with a major, the Silent Partner guys have been doing great things for us and I think it comes down to the fact that they can focus more attention on their artists because there's less of them to worry about,” Battersby says.
Along the independent line, both musicians are self taught.
“I had a few lessons when I was in Year 7 but I'm pretty sure Steve taught himself the blues style that he has. I mean, it always helps to be shown the basics but any musician develops their own style over time through listening to a combination of their favourite artists as they're learning. I think I did actually ask him once but we were pretty drunk and probably arguing about something I said about him in an interview.”
They won the MusicOz blues performer of the year which really helped their career.
“It definitely gave us exposure that we wouldn't have had otherwise. The winning artists were published in street press and newspapers and we did a live performance at the awards ceremony which went to air on SBS television. You can't buy that sort of publicity so it was a great help to us.”
What can you expect from The Fumes musically?
“We have a web page at: www.myspace.com/gunsofgold and the description on there says "... like a Dukes of Hazzard car chase". I'm not sure where that came from but I reckon it's quite apt. From the classic TV show of course, not the Hollywood movie. But if you're after a specific genre I'd have to say it's rock 'n' blues with a touch of hillbilly. Is that a genre? Who cares, Steve’s gonna disagree anyway.”
Following the hillbilly genre, the content of the songs is fairly obvious.
“Generally girls, cars, work and alcohol. I know it's pretty standard but that's the way it is.”
Although the band is touring all over Australia now to promote the new album, they were originally based in Sydney which is not known for its great music scene although Battersby disagrees.
“I think the Sydney scene is fucking great right now, there's so many really great bands cranking at the moment. I mean Brisbane is going absolutely banana's too and Melbourne is definitely the capital of the live music scene with so many venues but Sydney has really stepped it up in the last couple of years (thank fuck) and you can catch a good band on any night of the week.”
So catch up with The Fumes on one of their tour dates around Australia, currently touring with The Beautiful Girls. Check out their myspace or webpage for further information.
