ThisWayIn

Q & A WITH ART VS. SCIENCE

By Duncan Byrne for This Way In

Congratulations on your second place berth in the Hottest 100 - you must have some pretty rabid fans out there?

Haha rabid. I'm picturing AVS fans with foaming mouths and unquenchable thirsts. Thankfully most of our fans are disease free, yet still very excitable.

Fans can be freaky at the best of times, what's the worst/best thing a fan has said/done/worn when at your shows?
The best thing a bunch of people in the crowd has done was to have some legend ride a giant inflatable horse at Falls Festival in Lorne in 2009. I was doing the intro notes to New World Order and had to stop and say "that's awesome!" and make sure every body saw it. It would have taken great skill. When I was in high school I used to see pictures from Big Day Out of people riding bodyboards on the crowd. That guy at falls took it to a whole new level.

You're playing bigger and bigger festivals to bigger and bigger crowds. Tell me how your nerves are holding out.
It's strange but we get less nervous when there're more people in the crowd. When there's 12 thousand people at a festival who've come to watch you play all that normal nervous energy gets transformed into excitement and we all have a party.

You've done them all, so as a bunch of young bros on tour what's been your favourite festival to play and party at so far?
Falls 09 - that was really special for us because we were so stoked to be playing on the main stage at that beautiful place and I think the crowd could see how excited we were and it lifted everyone up. Afterwards it rained, then, at night, the moon came out and the sky cleared.

I understand you guys were in a band together before Art Vs Science, what was it called and what kind of stuff did you play?
It was called Henry and the Romper Stompers and it was a phenomenal fusion of jazz, classic rock, and roast lamb. The result: needed more mint sauce.

So where and when did the concept for Art Vs Science come about? Did the songs or the band concept come first?
The songs came first - before the band - in a series of dreams. They demanded physical expression in the form of a modern day Electro Duo. Dan W and I formed the duo and thought we should call it "One Dan Too Many" (we never decided which Dan would be the one too many). We would have made a killing but unfortunately Jim Finn (Keys) wanted to get involved and insisted we call the group something cool like Art vs Science. At night I still look back and wonder what might have been.

Everyone's doing it, so are we going to be seeing a bunch of Art Vs Science remixes floating around the interwebs in 2010?
Maybe. I think it's sometimes hard for people to remix our stuff because we don't record to a click track or anything in the studio, so the tempo's all over the place. Secondly, the vocals, when heard on their own, are often rather silly, cheesy, or both. So you can't just make up a different electro-banger riff then stick our vocals on top because it doesn't end up sounding that great. Having said that, the Hey Now remix of Parlez Vous Francais was awesome, as was the Bumblebeez one. So, in summary, if any one wants to remix AVS stuff they'd be more than welcome to try, but it's tough. Believe me, I've tried!

Has your band ever played in/on a moving vehicle (like a train) before?
Not as Art vs Science. But before AVS Jim Finn and I used to play on Steam Boats which ferried people across Sydney Harbour. We couldn't afford the fare across to the city, where we worked as shoe shiners, but the ferry master would let us ride for free in return for entertaining the other commuters. We would play the jug and a primitive form of banjo that I made from a soap box, bits of gum tree sticks and several locks of Jim's long, golden hair.

Fans have dressed up as penguins and French mimes for your shows. Tell us about any new material you'll be flexing on the Bacardi Express...  are there some costumes keen fans should be hiring early?
We've got some new songs coming out on the new album including one called Magic Fountain. But you can't really get dressed up as a fountain. I have always wanted to see someone get dressed up as a chicken at our shows though. In fact, I would like to get dressed up as a chicken at least once in my life. Nothing is more comical than a serious man in a chicken suit.

Speaking of music on trains, if some westie was playing one of your songs on the speaker of their mobile really loudly on a crowded morning train, would you feel like:
a) punching them in the face
b) giving them a high-five?
I'm not sure. I wonder if we're all so connected electronically that we've actually become supremely anti social in the real world. Imagine you're getting on a train in the morning and everyone goes "hey! welcome, welcome!" and they give you a glass of champagne. And you would actually talk to the person who was six inches from your face. And if they were boring it would be ok because you could just get off and move to another carriage. So if this were the case and someone was playing our song on a speakerphone I'd definitely give a high five. In fact, I'd give high fives all round! No charge.

What's your favourite rum-based beverage?
Mojito por favor.

And also on the Rum tip - complete the following sentence: We went to Cuba and all we got to show for it was this ....

Nice tan, relaxed demeanour and newfound appreciation for some aspects of socialism. We actually saw the original Bacardi building in Havana. Fidel was elusive unfortunately.

Thanks!

Love,

Dan Mac (Vocals, Keys, Guitar)

(And by the way, Dan W is the drummer, and Jim finn is "Keys and Vocals")

Art Vs. Science playing OFF THE RAILS, Bacardi Express Sideshows:

·        Perth – Paddington Ale House - Thursday 11th March 


·      Adelaide – Live - Friday 12th March


·      Albury – Paddy’s - Saturday 13th March

Art Vs. Science are onboard the 2010 BACARDI EXPRESS. Check out www.bacardiexpress.com.au for more details.