Violent Soho Ecstatically Peaceful in Prospect Heights
“Violent Soho live = a make out session with the devil’s daughter. In other words: good times!” is the Thurston Moore-approved blurb about this Australian born grunge revival where long hair and flannel reign once again.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a band rock an opening slot at as hard as Violent Soho did at Southpaw recently. Despite the low turnout on a frigid winter night, the (small) crowd pumped some serious fist. This Brisbane bred band is grunge made holy again, and spent the last year since signing to Mr. Moore’s Ecstatic Peace label opening for Band of Skulls, Jack White’s Dead Weather, Built to Spill, The Raveonettes, and Dinosaur, Jr. They’re about to embark on part two of their American dream, touring the country culminating with a showcase spot at South by Southwest in March.
Luckily for you they’re playing the Mercury Lounge this Thursday, January 28. In the video above, drummer Michael Richards, 25, chats with Mr. Moore before playing a show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg last October. I caught up with Mr. Richards over email recently to ask about culture shock and the ’90s.
BTB: Are there any similarities between the two? Is there a "Brooklyn" of Australia that we should know about?
MR: I don’t think there will ever be a Brooklyn of Australia. Nothing against Brooklyn, but it is in no way anything like any part of Australia.
BTB: We would assume that ecstatic peace is what you would feel if you were a band signing to Thuston Moore’s record label – how did that happen?
MR: Not sure of all the details exactly, but effectively what Happened in that Thurston Moore and his pals went to a showcase performance that we did late last year in New York. We met him there and he asked to put out our record in the US. A few weeks later we were signed to Ecstatic Peace. It was pretty simple how it all happened, but life changing for us all the same.
BTB: Who are your biggest influences?
MR: Mainly all just Australian indie bands like Eat Laser Scumbag!, The Hymies, Turnpike, The Sips, The Straight Arrows, Nova Scotia, Hy-Test, Midget etc.
BTB: You have a song called ‘Jesus Stole My Girlfriend’ – is that true? We knew he was a jerk all along.
MR: It’s not true that Jesus stole anybody in our band’s girlfriend. That would be pretty crazy, and I think that you would at least have heard about it in the news. However one of the guys in our band did break up with his fiance once because of religious differences. I think the song is based on that actually.
BTB: What should our readers look out for – shows, records, tours, etc?
MR: We’re playing loads and loads and loads of shows. Keep checking our MySpace for one coming up that’s near you as we’re going to be all over the country and back again many times over the next year or so. Our self-titled debut is due for release in early March so keep a look out for that also. Cheers!
