Hey ninja-minions! That last post wasn't a trick of the light; I really am back- though probably with less free time…
So in case I hadn't gushed enough to you about On The Pulse, here's what it was: a bunch of up-and-coming bands of the pop-punk genre all playing in Brisbane on one night for the enjoyment of the general public. I'd talked about it to PJ for months on end and it was the best news ever when we found out we were going! Put our excitement this way: PJ got banned from talking about it at all starting the week before we actually went and my friends stopped talking to me. But it was totally worth it!!
I was keen for the whole show in general, but there were a few bands on the line-up that really stood out to me straight away. For starters, obviously Tonight Alive, as the headlining act, in bold print, caught my eye first. Then, reading down, I saw The Never Ever and The Monster Goes Rawrr! By this time, I was fangirling so tragically I couldn't concentrate on anything else. And the fact that I was doing this down the hall from my host sister who already thought I was crazy didn't exactly warm her heart. But besides those obvious three who I never shut up about, there was another band I was excited for.
A one man band now with all the trimmings- a drummer, a guitarist and a bassist.
A band with a catchy, unique and fun sound that immediately had me listening (and dancing, though that was probably better left unsaid).
A band very close to home.
An epic little band called The Electro Kid!
I found out about them when Giles (the lead singer) followed me on Twitter. This is one of the reasons I adore Twitter- just because that's pretty much why I've filled up more than three-quarters of my iPod with music alone! Anyway, I followed all the links and adored what I heard! I'd barely looked at the line-up properly at this stage, so when I saw a tweet about On The Pulse, I double checked the line-up and got really excited!!
At the concert, I was not disappointed! There are four guys in the band- Giles Higginson (vocals), Luke Iles (guitar), Aden Bignell (bass) and Tristan Higginson (drums). The show was awesome- the songs were just as good live, they got the audience into it and they were just generally fun to watch and sing along to!
PJ and I met up with them a bit later and got our shirts signed and Giles took a photo with us. (Unfortunately, said photo was rather unflattering for PJ and me because she had an interesting facial expression and I looked like an oompa loompa made of melting plastic. Nice.) But the horridness of that photo is beside the point- what's awesome is that Giles, the lead singer did an interview with me just for your entertainment!
So in case I hadn't gushed enough to you about On The Pulse, here's what it was: a bunch of up-and-coming bands of the pop-punk genre all playing in Brisbane on one night for the enjoyment of the general public. I'd talked about it to PJ for months on end and it was the best news ever when we found out we were going! Put our excitement this way: PJ got banned from talking about it at all starting the week before we actually went and my friends stopped talking to me. But it was totally worth it!!
I was keen for the whole show in general, but there were a few bands on the line-up that really stood out to me straight away. For starters, obviously Tonight Alive, as the headlining act, in bold print, caught my eye first. Then, reading down, I saw The Never Ever and The Monster Goes Rawrr! By this time, I was fangirling so tragically I couldn't concentrate on anything else. And the fact that I was doing this down the hall from my host sister who already thought I was crazy didn't exactly warm her heart. But besides those obvious three who I never shut up about, there was another band I was excited for.
A one man band now with all the trimmings- a drummer, a guitarist and a bassist.
A band with a catchy, unique and fun sound that immediately had me listening (and dancing, though that was probably better left unsaid).
A band very close to home.
An epic little band called The Electro Kid!
I found out about them when Giles (the lead singer) followed me on Twitter. This is one of the reasons I adore Twitter- just because that's pretty much why I've filled up more than three-quarters of my iPod with music alone! Anyway, I followed all the links and adored what I heard! I'd barely looked at the line-up properly at this stage, so when I saw a tweet about On The Pulse, I double checked the line-up and got really excited!!
At the concert, I was not disappointed! There are four guys in the band- Giles Higginson (vocals), Luke Iles (guitar), Aden Bignell (bass) and Tristan Higginson (drums). The show was awesome- the songs were just as good live, they got the audience into it and they were just generally fun to watch and sing along to!
PJ and I met up with them a bit later and got our shirts signed and Giles took a photo with us. (Unfortunately, said photo was rather unflattering for PJ and me because she had an interesting facial expression and I looked like an oompa loompa made of melting plastic. Nice.) But the horridness of that photo is beside the point- what's awesome is that Giles, the lead singer did an interview with me just for your entertainment!
20 Questions with… Giles Higginson (The Electro Kid)
1. How’d you all meet?
Giles: We all met each other at our high school, and me (Giles) and Tristan are brothers.
2. How’d you go from a solo project to the whole band?
Giles: Well it started off as a solo project in early 2010. As I started to get a little bit better and released my debut single, I decided I wanted to start playing some shows. This then lead to getting a live band and then that went to the full band thing. It's great because it gives us so much more diversity and depth.
3. How long have you been playing your instruments?
Giles: I literally started playing the day I started TEK, so about a year and a half; I'm not very good though.
4. Where did your name come from?
Giles: There's no huge, super deep meaning behind the name. I basically just wanted to have the word electric or electro in the name, and at the time I was listening to heaps of electro pop, lots of those MySpace bands from back in the day, so I decided on The Electro Kid because it was the type of music I wanted to make and the type of music I was listening to.
5. Who would you name as your biggest inspirations?
Giles: For me personally it would be The Ready Set; my excitement was unbearable when I found out he was coming to Australia.
6. What’s the best part of playing a gig?
Giles: The two best things for me would be seeing what the people who are watching react like, it's great to see people enjoying something that you have created. Also, just being able to have fun and get into the music on stage is a great thing.
7. What was the first gig you ever played?
Giles: We opened for a Sydney band called The Never Ever in Brisbane on May 21st 2011. It was crazy because I had listened to TNE for a while and really looked up to them.
(Yep; told you TNE were amazing!!)
8. How do you replicate the electronic sounds live?
Giles: We have a backing track with some synths and beats. Also, I have played a midi trigger pad with some samples and synths on it before, and looking to incorporate some live synth in future shows.
9. What’s the best show you’ve ever played?
Giles: The best show we have ever played was On The Pulse Festival in Brisbane, we had a good crowd for the first band on the smaller stage and every band playing were really awesome.
10. Who writes most of your music?
Giles: I write all of the lyrics and the basic synth and other keys, then the other members build around that with their respective instruments.
11. How would you describe your music?
Giles: I would probably say electro power-pop or electro pop-rock something like that.
12. What inspired ‘For Yourself’?
Giles: 'For Yourself' was inspired by situations i see a lot where good people are brought down by bad friends, when people try and change themselves to be someone they're not and fit in with the wrong crowd.
13. What’s the best song you’ve written?
Giles: My favourite song I've ever written would be 'Actress', but I do like the lyrics for 'For Yourself' because they have a relatable message.
14. How and when did you start to get heard?
Giles: MySpace is where this all started; Twitter is where i have reached out to a lot of people. The first time people really started to hear us was when we started playing shows.
15. What’s the biggest ambition you have for the band?
Giles: For this to be what we do in life.
16. What’s the best song ever?
Giles: My personal favourite song is The Ready Set - Unender
17. What’s on the agenda for 2012?
Giles: Hopefully play lots more shows, tour, get bigger, release a new EP and/or single and to make a music video.
18. What can we expect from your next release?
Giles: The new EP is called Stargazing; it will be out before the end of 2011. You can expect similar stuff, but with more powerful hooks and more guitar.
19. What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Giles: Follow your dreams.
20. Any messages for the people of general cyber-space?
Giles: Thank you so much for all the support so far! Expect to be hearing more from us. You can like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/theelectrokid
I honestly can't recommend these guys highly enough. I don't know whether it's the fact that they're locals, that they're completely lovely or that fact that their music is- oh, I don't know- AWESOME!! (The fact that they opened for TNE is cold, hard proof of that!) but you have got to check them out! And there's no excuse- there's Twitter, Facebook, Triple J: Unearthed and PureVolume just waiting for you to log on!
Sayonara, fellow ninjas!! xoxo
