raig: How did you start playing guitar?
Gill: I played piano since I was like five or something and I fucking hated it. It was just boring and I had to learn stuff like “Greensleeves” and I never practiced and then Mum said ‘well do you want to play something else’ when I was 15. And I said “fuck yeah, I want to play guitar”. In my first guitar lesson I learnt Nirvana songs and I went “shit this is awesome, this is what I want to do, this is amazing”. So then I’ve played guitar since then. Jim?
Jim: I started playing piano relatively early and got a bit sick of that. Then when I didn’t have to go to church anymore I really had no music to listen to other than my sister’s Abba albums. My favourite song was “Fernando”. Then played a little bit of drums and music in high school and bought a cheap drum kit. The guy I was living with had a guitar so I played guitar. Dulcimer, harpsichord, grand piano, oboe, contra bass, violins, viola, clarinet, you name it.
Gill: How about you Han?
Hannah: I never had a music lesson in my life. My sister was always the one - I did art classes while she did music classes. Then one day when I was visiting my mum we found this weird shop and I found the omnichord. I went “yep, here’s an instrument I can play”. I got back home, had a jam with my nephew who was about three at the time, busted it out and fell in love with it. I got back to Brisbane where I was living with Jimmy and he used to play drums and I’d play omnichord in our little room under the house. We sounded like Air.
Jim: That omnichord was the greatest invention ever.
Hannah: It is and that was my entry. I still didn’t sing. I didn’t try to ever. I’m learning as I go.
Gill: Yeah, we’re all still learning. I think that’s the important thing about our band. We all want to keep getting better, we’re not happy just playing three-chord crap. We don’t want to be another crappy post-punk band.
Craig: I like post-punk bands.
Gill: Yeah, but we don’t want to sound like that.
Hannah: Even bands that I admire I don’t want to sound like. It’s gotta have myself mixed into it and all you guys in there too. Gill, remember when we met and we bonded over music and sat in a goddamn tent and listened to Hole and got yelled at. And then we started experimenting. I think we learnt a lot from each other. And then Craig found us.
Craig: I bonded over losing my job at Flight Centre and crying on Gill’s bed while she patted my head.
Gill: You were on acid too.
Craig: That was good bonding time. But before that I didn’t play music very much.
Gill: You played in Lindsey Low Hand.
Craig: Yeah, but when I told my friends I played music, no one really considered me a proper musician but then when I came to your house everybody just said “you’re definitely a proper musician” so I just thought I’d try and learn everything else as well.
Hannah: I still don’t know what I’m doing.
Gill: No one knows what they’re doing.
Hannah: People have their strengths – you’re an awesome guitar player.
Gill: What am I Hannah?
Hannah: You’re an awesome guitar player. But when I met you, you weren’t even considering playing in a band. You at that point were still playing Nirvana covers in your room. And I was like “no, lets play”.
Gill: It was always in the back of my mind and was something I tried as a teenager but it was with retarded people and it never worked. I never found the right people.
Hannah: I think we complement each other and bring out each other’s strengths.
Gill: I think we give each other confidence to do what we want to do.
Widows Walk is out in June through Unstable Ape
BEYOND THE CALL | 1 | 2 | 3 |
