‘Habitual Slack’ is the name of your LP who did you record it with and what is the meaning behind the title?
We recorded “Habitual Slack” at Atlantis Sound with engineer Dave McCluney. We thought “Habitual Slack” captured the laid back approach we took to writing the record. We wanted to make music to blow off commitments to.
For the readers who haven’t heard your music how would you describe it?
Getting stabbed with dirty indie rock guitars.
What’s your earliest memory of performing and who inspired you to start?
Angus: Andrew and I driving to our first gig hoping the entire time we could just bail on it. I was just a bedroom guitar player and I needed a drummer so I turned my brother into one. Later on we started getting support from Caz Tran at JJJ which pushed us to try and get it together band-wise.
Do Darts any musical influences we wouldn’t expect? If so who?
We could probably write a five author thesis on why Toto is the greatest band of all time. Those guys and Nina Simone!
You must answer this question honestly. What and where was the first gig you went to?
Angus: Mine was my uncles blues band at the local pub. The rest of us include a cool selection of the highly influential Savage Garden, Christine Anu and Tom Jones.
Do you have any particular ritual before you go on stage?
We give The Best of Toto and Jefferson Starship a spin in the car. Angus: I will usually drop a few Quick-Eze after hurling one or two times.
If you could curate your own festival, where would it be, who would be on the bill, how many people would you let in and what features would it have?
It would be on a cruise ship in the middle of the Caspian sea. Barack Obama would headline backed by The Roots with special guest Bruce Springsteen. We would invite the casts of our favorite TV shows and with a line up like that, no one would decline! The festival would simply be called SHACKLETON.
Because it’s more fun to do things together, which living Australian artist would you most like to collaborate with?
Given the chance, we would cut a Christmas album with Dennis Walter. “A frosty evening with Dennis Walter and his Darts”.
What are top five Melbourne bands currently?
Our bros Udays Tiger, Alpine, Damn Terran, Beat Disease and Digs Flannel.
Where we can see you play next, what releases do you have available and where can we get them?
We will be playing Liberty Social on Wednesday 21st November, as well as Inca Roads Festival on November 30th to December 2nd.
You can hear “Habitual Slack” on Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/30qfD9DFz20N1ZEasvNMjx or purchase a physical copy via our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/dartsmusic
