This Providence is an up and coming pop-rock band from Seattle in the United States. Recently Brett Schewitz caught up with Australian-born frontman, Dan Young, about their upcoming performances at Soundwave Revolution, his fucked up accent and his thoughts on hair metal.
You’re on your way to Australia for Soundwave for what I believe are your first shows here? What took so long?
Yeah, it’s gonna be our first time in Australia, which is really exciting! We’ve been a band for far too long without playing Australia.
What took you so long to get here?
Aaah, finances, mostly. We’ve always wanted to go to Australia. I grew up in Melbourne, so I’ve always been like “I’ve gotta play Australia” and it’s taken until this point for the opportunity to come along. There’s been a lot of emphasis on the US. The only international stuff we’ve done is Canada and UK once, so, we might not be a well-travelled band at this point, but hopefully that will all be changing!
You were born in Australia. How old were you when you left?
I was 16. I’ve been here about 11 years now. My accent is kinda fucked up and a lot of people think I’m faking an American accent when I’m here and I’m sure a lot of people will think that I’m faking an Australian accent when I get there. You’ve gotta adapt a little bit so that people understand you, I guess.
How does it feel to be performing in your home country?
It’s so exciting! I’m just really proud of us as a band for staying together for this long and finally getting to do Australia. There’s a lot of extended family that has never seen my band play so that will be really awesome as well.
Were you in any other bands when you lived in Australia?
Well, I mean, I was only 16 when I left so I started little bands with my friends, but nothing serious. I was a bit young.
Seattle was at the forefront of the Grunge scene when you were growing up. How much or little influence did this have on your music?
Well you know, the grunge scene kinda happened when we were all a bit younger. I was definitely into Pearl Jam and Nirvana and they still play that stuff on the radio all the time here. It’s still very much the Seattle scene. I don’t think the sound of grunge has influenced us very much but the attitude has, you know, like, the kind of realness about music and not having it be a gimmick and that sort of thing. That’s definitely something that our band has upheld and it’s common with Seattle music. People don’t really like making bullshit music. It’s not appreciated by listeners.
Considering that, how do you feel about playing on the same stage as glam rockers and hair metal rockers such as Alice Cooper, Steel Panther and Van Halen?
You know, those bands are important bands in music too. Part of the gimmick scene. It’s not really my thing but I don’t have a problem with it if people like it. A band like Van Halen is a really important band and I’m sure there wouldn’t be a lot of really good music if it wasn’t for them and the influence that they had. On a musical level, even though they’re a hair metal band, they still made fantastic music. It’s a huge honour to be performing on the same stage as them. It’s gonna be really fun. I’m excited! I’ve never seen Van Halen before. I’m excited to see a little piece of history.
Over the years, you’ve had bad luck with members departing. How have you managed to stay inspired and carry on?
There’s been times when it’s been really discouraging, for sure. When our most recent drummer, who’s been with us about 3 or 4 years now, joined the band I was a fucking dickhead because I was just so depressed about the band not having a solid lineup. I always wanted to do music so I wasn’t about to let that get in the way. Since Andy joined the band it’s been the same lineup which has been great! We’re busy writing our fourth record now and this will be the first time ever in our career that we’ve had the same lineup on two consecutive records. It’s just a love for music and playing rock ‘n roll that’s kept us going. Gavin, the guitarist, has been with me the whole time. He’s been like a rock. It’s not so much an issue any more, though.
When can fans expect a new album?
We’re hoping that we can hit the studio by the end of the year. Usually there’s about 4-6 months between that and releasing the record so I would say early 2012 but I can’t make any promises. That’s what we’re kinda hoping for.
When you perform at Soundwave, will you be performing a mix of new and old songs? What’s it gonna be?
I guess we’re gonna have to gauge to see if people want to hear new songs or not. I think because it’s our first time performing there and we have three albums’ worth of material, we won’t need to play new stuff. Trust me, I would love to play new stuff. Every band always wants to play their new stuff more than their old stuff!
You’ll be sharing the stage with many of your friends at Soundwave. Which band is most fun to tour with?
I’m really looking forward to going to Australia with The Swellers. They kinda have that punk-rock attitude that lends itself to Australian culture – a genuine Australian attitude – so it will be really fun to see how they interact with Aussies. They’re just a fun bunch of guys to hang out with. They’re on the same label as us and we toured with them about a year and a half or two years ago. They’re just a blast. They’re hilarious! You can’t NOT love them. They’re just so fun. Great live band too! I hope that people take the time to check them out.
You’ve pretty much spent the past 2 years on the road. How do you feel you’ve grown as a band?
I think we’ve just grown in our professionalism. We just put on a better show now. It’s tighter. When we started we were playing “mathematical” music. We were fucking with time signatures and that sort of thing and we were kinda writing beyond our ability but now we’ve reached a point where we can play those songs properly. The live show is just a lot stronger and a lot more solid and I think that that’s been the main thing. Just the show and the performance. Also, I’m an introvert, so being the frontman of a band took a long time for me to kinda warm up to. It took me a while to get used to talking to people while on stage and moving around. I used to feel like a damn idiot.
You started playing more guitar over the past couple of years.
When we started we were a four piece and I played guitar the whole time. We decided that it was a bit sloppy with me playing and trying to sing and we wanted to make it a little more tighter and energetic so I stepped off the guitar for a while and we had someone else join the band. That was good but then I just got the craving. I just felt I wanted to play guitar again and I love the sound of three guitars, it just sounds massive live, so I picked up the guitar for probably 3 songs a set, or so.
Do you prefer having the security of the guitar or do you enjoy rather having your hands free?
It kinda depends on the songs. There’s certain songs that I’m like “aah, I feel like an idiot without a guitar”. There’s definitely a comfort with being behind a guitar. It’s like a safety blanket, I spose. I’m fairly comfortable without one now, so I’m good either way.
Your music has been described as pop-punk. Do you think it’s fair to pigeonhole artists’ genres?
Well, we kinda have to give them a label otherwise when people ask what type of bands you’re into and you say “rock” it could mean anything from Metallica to Phoenix, you know? I don’t think punk is us at all. There’s no punk about us. I’d sorta say pop-rock cause we are a pop band. We love rock ‘n roll. We try to give our shows have that rock ‘n roll feel.
What type of genre do you prefer playing or writing the most? Which type of song do you prefer performing?
I think when it’s live, I really like playing the more rocking stuff. It just sounds so sweet live. I’d rather not play the acoustic stuff as I feel it slows the show down a bit.
Panic At The Disco is probably the biggest band from your label performing. How well do you get on with the guys?
I’ve never toured with them or met them, actually. Hopefully that will change. They’re in a different league to us. I think Paramore is the biggest band we’ve toured with. They’re a lot of fun. Although, they’re not playing, unfortunately. It’s been a while since we’ve toured with them. We’ve kinda lost touch a little bit. When you tour with a band it’s like going on some kind of a camp and you just become best friends. Then you go off tour and you exchange phone numbers and you’re like “we’re gonna be best buds! We’re gonna stay in touch!” but that doesn’t really happen.
Do you think Soundwave is going to be a tipping point for the band?
Yeah, I hope so. With this next record, the songs are coming out ten times stronger than our last record so I’m hoping there’ll be more success. It’s kinda that point in our career where we need to start taking the music more internationally. With the internet, the world’s getting smaller and bands are all over the place so I think bands have to start thinking like that now.
Lastly, what are you guys planning to do when you’re not performing?
There’s a good 3 or 4 days between Melbourne and Sydney. There’s been some talk about doing some sideshows. So maybe we’ll do one in Melbourne, one in Sydney, I dunno. Hopefully I’ll get some time to see some family. The last show’s in Perth so we’ve decided that we’re going to stay a bit extra and hang out and go to the beach and just not have to work. I’m really looking forward to it. I grew up in Melbourne but I was never old enough to really travel around and see the rest of Australia. The only other city I’ve been to is Sydney. It feels like it’s my birthright.
Catch This Providence at Soundwave Revolution in September/October.
