Interview with Warning Birds, 15.01.12
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How did your band meet?
Warning Birds began as a solo project (for Perth songwriter Sam Carmody), a simple acoustic/folk recording effort that ran off the rails and that almost naturally, without ever intending it, became a rock and roll band. A mix of friends, and family blood too (Sam and lead guitarist Bensen are cousins). The result of people being drawn into a recording studio in bits and pieces and then accidentally, or unexpectedly, rusting together. A lot of luck really.
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Where did the idea for your band's name come from?
Warning Birds had been a phrase that has followed me around since high school. When I was twelve or thirteen I learnt to surf with a friend of mine, Alex. Whenever we were out in the water alone we would try and scare each other about sharks. Everything was a shark, every shadow, every sound. Alex would always say that any bird that flew overhead or circled above us was trying to warn us that there was a shark nearby. It used to freak me out. Warning Birds we came to call them.
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What music has inspired your band?
Difficult to say on behalf of everyone. I grew up listening to the parent's folk records, Neil Young and Cat Stevens, and later antipodean songwriters like Paul Kelly and Neil Finn. I think that got me thinking about music as a "song" game, which of course it doesn't have to be, but I was kind of programmed to see music as more about the song - structure and lyrics - than about the sound. Now I'm still driven by songwriters. Paul Dempsey (Something for Kate) would have to be the contemporary songwriter I've most followed. Bensen (lead guitarist) has always been more attentive than me to how things sound, and his record collection speaks to that. Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Sigur Ros, that kind of thing. Carmen (bassist, singer) has a fairly similar background to me, growing up listening to Carole King and James Taylor and writers like that. Tim (on drums) has a music collection that is genuinely eclectic, and drives around listening to jazz and classical radio stations. He even sings in a classical choir.
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Use three words to sum up your band?
Moody. Energetic. Melancholic.
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What venue would you most like to play at?
A cruise ship
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If you had a choice, who would be your support band?
Fleetwood Mac. Things would likely get pretty entertaining on the cruise, and dramatic.
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Three people dead or alive you would invite to your gig, and why?
My late grandma - a cool woman, novelist and historian, who might not have understood the music we play but I think would have appreciated its wordiness, and it's ties to Western Australia. Jay Z - I hear he's pretty popular so he'd likely bring a crowd Aristotle - for deep, post-show conversation
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What are you listening to at the moment?
Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys
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Where will your band be in five years from now?
If 2012 is the Mayan firecracker it is touted to be, hopefully we'll be selling out festival shows on the newly settled Mars
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Any tips you would like to share with your fellow muso's?
Don't drink Coopers green before a set, particularly if you have to sing. It's like that scene in 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' where Charlie and his grandfather drink Willy Wonka's Fizzy Lifting Drink and have to burp repeatedly to keep from floating to the ceiling
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Do you live the Rock n Roll lifestyle?
Not really. To be honest, I think our post-gig nights are pretty sedate for a young band. We need to get our shit together.