Oh hai – my name’s Adam and I sing and play guitar in a rock and roll band called Slow Chase – my partner in crime is Emily who plays drums and for the heavier bank jobs we’re joined by Alex on bass.
We’ve just released our three track debut called ‘The Blind Spot EP’ – which was recorded with Jonathan Burnside who’s previously worked with Grinspoon, The Living End, The Melvins, Fu Manchu and Faith No More.
What’s your earliest memory of performing and who inspired you to start?
My earliest memory of performing is aged 4 or 5 – dancing on the arm of the sofa singing Blue Suede Shoes. So Elvis would have to be the original source of inspiration for me to start performing. In a funny way Elvis was responsible for the genesis of this band too – not that’d you’d hear anything in our music that would suggest it – but Emily and I met through a mutual love of Elvis. RIP 35 years this month.
How did you come up with the name Slow Chase, does it have any particular meaning?
Before I lived in Melbourne I was heavily into hip hop dj’ing and promoted club nights in London for over a decade. Slow Chase is the title of one of my favourite DJ Krush tunes. It was on a compilation album called Royalties Overdue released on James Lavelle’s seminal record label Mo’ Wax. It’s been kind of cool to discover that Lavelle’s UNKLE project has since gone on to cross paths with other artists I was also being influenced by at the same time – artists outside of hip hop like Mark Lanegan, Josh Homme and The Duke Spirit.
Is it true you formed Slow Chase in 2010, but didn’t play a show until 2012?
Yep – it’s true. We’d already released our debut EP and recorded a second before we’d played our first live show. We felt it was important to take some time to develop as a band. There’s a daddy bull and a baby bull standing at the top of a hill looking down on a herd of cows. “Daddy! Daddy!” the baby bull shouts, “Look at all those cows down there! Let’s run down the hill and fuck one of them!”, “No son”, says the daddy bull, “Let’s walk down the hill and fuck all of them”.
Tell us about the concept for your current music video for Algernon shot being in black and white?
The concept for Algernon was that there shouldn’t be a concept. We did the concept thing on the previous video for You’ll Never See Me. A voodoo high priestess, a bonkers car stunt – the whole nine yards. This time we just wanted it to be the band, in a room, performing the song like we do live.
You must answer this question honestly. What and where was the first gig you went to?
How will you know if I’m lying or not? *wraps head in tin foil* The first gig I went to was BB King at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham in the UK. I was about 11. My mum can vouch for it.
‘Fess up. What records have you stolen from your parent’s record collection and why?
I don’t have them anymore – unfortunately I had to sell my vinyl collection before I left London – but I will confess here, for the first time anywhere, that Dad, it was me that stole your original 7” 45 of Little Red Rooster by The Stones. Sorry about that. Oh and my mum’s copy of Paul McCartney’s first solo album. Which believe it or not is all over loads of hip hop records including Paul’s Boutique.
What’s on heavy rotation on your iPod right now?
‘Getting Ready’, the album by Freddie King. Stand out stone cold cuts include – ‘Going Down’ and ‘Palace Of The King’.
Do you have any particular ritual before you go on stage, or even a lucky charm you take with you?
The three of us like to get together and have a little shot of something just before we go on. This month we haz mostly been drinking… Żubrówka.
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?
Wow that would be fucking awesome. I think I’d keep it really intimate – for a festival – maybe just a thousand people? don’t know Australia well enough to be sure exactly where I’d have it but somewhere scenic – without being crazily remote . And I’m pulling these names out of a very big hat but I’d put Gary Clarke Jr (I wanna to get to one of his Big Day Out sideshows), Emiliana Torrini, The Specials, Sweethead and Goldfrapp on the bill for starters.
Loads of rad food trucks. An authentic Mexican food truck. A grilled cheese sandwich truck like the one they have in LA. And a banh mi vietnamese sandwich truck. Nom.
Because it’s more fun to do things together, which living Australian artist would you most like to collaborate with? Tell us why?
Can I say Brody Dalle or is that cheating? I guess I’d prolly go with Nick Cave. I like the fact that he practices his art outside of music – I dig his passion for cinema in particular. And gothic style. And his sense of humour. I imagine he’s a fucking hoot out on the lash too.
What is your band’s music the best soundtrack for?
The classic heist movie Quentin Tarantino hasn’t directed yet. And the end of the world.
Where we can see you play next, what releases do you have available and where can we get them?
Easy. Click the link below and get a free download of our three track debut The Blind Spot EP. You’ll also be added to our mailing list – so you’ll get gig dates and release news delivered to your digital doorstep.
Click here now for a free download of Slow Chase’s debut EP: http://on.fb.me/xTMPoP