Interview
Rex Banner
Between growing a beard, shopping for Millencolin approved merchandise and knocking off a kilo of ribs, Kelly from Sydney punk powerhouse Rex Banner still found the time to answer these questions for us... Interview with Kelly (Guitar) of Rex Banner
Adrian John Kelly, I play guitar and I think 183 is my highest in Wii bowling. Wii tennis is where it’s at.
Can you please tell us a bit about how the band got together, past and present lineups etc...?
Not a lot of bands are flying the flag for mid 90's inspired punk at the moment – what made you guys want to start a group like Rex Banner instead of entering Australian Idol and making the big bucks!?
It was never a conscious decision which is pretty strange. Like I said before, Brendan and Jerry started it, but I have no idea how they avoided turning into a screamo band in 2003 seeing as that’s what everyone in the shire was doing. I’d like to pretend that they were very focused and had a clear vision but that would be lying haha. Loukas played in a skate punk band on the south coast in the late nineties, so he was keen for a resurrection. I just wanted to play fast and Cotter just wants chicks. In hats. That like Metallica.
The Sydney scene seems to be flooded with a lot of mosh friendly hardcore and metal bands – did you end up on a lot of mixed bills at first or were there some like minded bands you were able to get together with?
Sydney is weird. There is a “city” scene, where everyone is chilled out and really old haha, the music being pretty varied. Then there are the younger guys in the west and the south who produced all of the modern sounding metal/ hardcore bands. As time has gone by though, the good western and southern bands have come to the city more often and the gap is being bridged so that’s pretty cool.
When we started off, we played almost exclusively with the older bands. Our first show was with Perish The Thought, Omerata and Bad Blood. We played lots with Between The Devil And The Deep, Lungs, Furcurve, The New Justice Team, The Riot And The Trauma, TwinCity Faction… the list goes on. So like minded bands who sounded nothing alike.
A lot of bands are in a hurry to get a record out to the masses but you guys played off the back of your demo for a good 12 months. Was it important to you as a band that you showed people that you aren't afraid of a little hard work?
Hahaha no. The last few questions sound like you are checking if we have a master plan! Sorry Cam, we don’t hahaha. We always planned to do it, but you know how things are. You go to work, go to practice, go to a show, look at the calandar and 4 months have passed.
It has worked out well though as we managed to gain better control of our songwriting over the year and not just have 65743823 riffs per song. If Dave Hammer had not asked us to do a track for a compilation he was doing in Febuary and Loukas had not gone overseas mid-year, we probably would not have even started recording hahaha.
We are not afraid of hard work though (token hardcore sentiment)
Speaking of releases, your debut EP “The Good Times Are Killing Me” has been out for a little over a month now, are you surprised with how well the record has been received?
Do you have a favorite song off the EP? If so, what is it and why?
It's been suggested that your recent and very generous review on a particular website (which cannot be named for legal reasons) was the result of bribery – is there anything you'd like to say to that?
Jarule has not been laid in months.
Is there a main song writer in Rex Banner or do you guys get together over a few kilos of barbeque ribs and come up with all your tunes together?
Hahahaha. BBQing is definitely an important part of Rex Banner’s writing approach.
Either someone brings a riff to practice or something is noodled up on the spot, then we work on it from there and constantly review it to make sure it isn’t getting too shitty haha. There were times last year when we would spend close to 3 hours on about 7 seconds of music so it is pretty labour intensive!
As a band you guys listen to some fairly diverse music. Is it difficult catering to all your members tastes when it comes to writing?
Not really. We know (pretty much)
what we are after from our songs and there is actually plenty of room to move,
sound wise, so we can veer into pop punk or metal sounds or whatever without
too much trouble. The new songs that we have (post-EP) reflect that pretty well
I think. They are diverse but not stupidly eclectic so we are pretty happy with
them. If you listen to “You” by Horsell Common, that song has this lovely
uplifting chorus and then a dissonant noisecore breakdown, yet the song still
flows really well. That kind of thing is good motivation to not write the same
Pennywise song 20 times.
In your short existence you've been lucky enough to play with a lot of big name Australia bands as well as Strike Anywhere (USA) and New Found Glory (USA). What's been your most memorable show and why?
For me, I really enjoy the ridiculous shows we have played in Brisbane. Everyone is wasted and the crowd goes mental. Its awesome. I also really enjoyed playing with New Found Glory just because it was so fucking big haha. Any time we play with Amity, Horsell, Capeside or MDK is fun, dudes know how to party. And Lifetime will be amazing.
Rex Banner were recently announced as the Sydney support the almighty Lifetime (USA) and you've also been included on the massive Aussi Numbers lineup. What do you think it is about you guys that appeals to different kinds of audiences?
I have no idea, but I speak for everyone when I say we are totally stoked on it. The fact that we just played the Boomtown showdown with emo bands and then will be playing with hardcore bands at Aussi numbers is great, we get to spread it around. And Lifetime, wow.
I would guess that a lot of people who are now into the divergent metal, pop punk, hardcore and emo sounds in the scene grew up on that common punk rock sound that we are influenced by, so its either a nostalgia trip or something they still get down to.
Which member of the band behaves the worst on tour? Any particularly memorable stories you'd like to share with us?
Oh god. We can all be pretty terrible haha. Every night in Melbourne or Brisbane ends with us being totally hammered doing something stupid.
There's been a lot of great local releases this year. Who are some Australian bands that you think people should be listening to?
Apart from the obvious ones like Horsell Common, Amity, Miles Away and Kisschasy, I would say The Gifthorse from Brissy, Stolen Youth from Adelaide, Homewrecker and BTDAD from Sydney, Capeside, The Galvatrons, Wormz and Magentaline in Melbs. But don’t listen to MDK from Melbourne. Euurrrggghhh.
What have been your top 5 records of 2007?
Daggermouth – Turf Wars
Paramore – Riot!
Fall Out Boy – Infinity On High
Horsell Common – The Rescue
Miles Away – Rewind, Repeat
Final words?
What the hell does “Lunchbox” mean anyway.
Or, check out http://www.rexbanner.com if you want to know anything about shows, the EP etc.
THANKS CAM!
For all things Rex Banner head over to: www.myspace.com/rexbannermusic.
COMMENTS.
1.
Game over
2.
jarule