Brisbane band Like Thieves are celebrating the release of their debut EP The Wolves At Winter’s Edge . The four-piece, including former frontman of The Butterfly Effect Clint Boge, perform hard-hitting prog-rock and have fast amassed a fiercely loyal fanbase across the country.
We chat to them about their achievements and upcoming appearance at Rock The Bay festival.
You guys have all had experience with other bands. How did Like Thieves come to be?
Oden [Johansson, guitarist] and Clint Gough [bassist] met randomly about five years ago via an ad in Rave Magazine looking for likeminded musicians and hit it off from there. I was introduced to them through a mutual friend, who was auditioning to be their singer at the time. We got on like a house on fire, and after I had parted ways with a few bands, I was doing sessions for the lads when they approached me to take the spot as their drummer. And as for our frontman, he happened to be a right place, right time sort of thing. Clint Boge had finished up with this previous endeavours and was looking for something to put his heart back into and we were looking for a singer who was willing to give it their all. The fact that he has one of the most badass voices in the country was just a bonus.
Who would you say are your main influences musically?
Between us we have a wide variety of music we turn to for inspiration. Big ones would include Foo Fighters, Muse, and Devin Townsend. Basically, bands or artists doing it for the music – not for the popularity.
The EP The Wolves at Winter’s Edge was well-received, can you tell us a bit about the recording process?
It all starts in the jam room. Someone will come in with the idea and between us it grow to become the finished product. The good thing is, because we have been writing together for so long now, we have the faith in each other to take the song in the right direction. With Wolves, we had been in pre-production for months leading up to tracking, so we knew the EP inside and out, making recording a breeze.
We’ve seen some videos of you behind the scenes in the studio and you guys are obviously really good at working together. Any funny stories from the studio?
One of the funniest things was how abusive we got towards each other when playing Mario Cart in our down time, haha. Any time we broke for lunch or rapped up for the day, it was on!
You’re pretty active on social media, is that important to you, to be connected to your fans?
Absolutely! Without the fans we don’t get the opportunity to do what we are doing. Even down to this interview, it all comes back to the fans. We want them to know that they are most important to us. Next to us writing the best music we can, to keep them happy of course.
A bunch of your shows sold out around the country. What can we expect from your live show?
A journey with as much fun as possible. We love playing live and we love nothing more than when the crowd gets involved.
You’re playing Rock The Bay, which has a great lineup. Who are you looking forward to catching?
It’s always good to see our mates Greenthief and Helm, but I am definitely keen to catch Engine. There is a lot of hype circling those guys at the moment and I can’t wait to see it live.
What else have you go in store for 2014?
We are back in the studio in March for our second release. The first single is due around May, and we are also focusing on overseas this year. So we will keep you up to date on all of that.
Like Thieves play Rock The Bay at The Espy on Saturday 15th February featuring 40 bands across four stages. The lineup includes Dallas Frasca, The Love Junkies, Engine, Born Lion, Helm, Head Filled Attraction, Battle Axe Howlers, and heaps more. Check out rockthebayfestival.com for all the details.
