Jack Potter, bass player with Brisbane band Tin Can Radio took some time out from their tour to chat with us about their new EP ‘Open Ears With Open Minds’.
Your new EP ‘Open Ears With Open Minds’ is out now, tell us a bit about the recording process for this EP and who you worked with.
Recording ‘Open Ears Open Minds’ was an interesting process. It was unlike anything I’ve been involved in before. We had a bunch of songs that we wanted to record…too many for an EP, but not enough for an album…so we decided to make demo versions of them, with video clips, whack them up on our website and let our audience decide which tracks made the cut.
How would you describe your music to someone who had never heard Tin Can Radio before?
Tin Can Radio’s music is like eating a lollipop that has layers of sherbet and toffy all mixed together. It starts out sweet and smooth, then you hit a little sherbet ball that takes you by surprise…but hey, who doesn’t like a little sherbet surprise in their lollipop?
Do you prefer the studio or the stage? Which and why?
I’m going to be that guy and stay both. They are soooooo different. The stage is what gives me my fire. Looking out in to a sea of faces, smoke and lights, watching people sing along and dance so hard that they walk bow legged the next day. Where as studio time is more introverted. It’s all about precision and experimentation. Popping on my headphones and disappearing in to my own cone of ‘silence’ is a wild experience.
You guys have played many shows interstate, what venue have you enjoyed playing at most and why?
We tour quite a lot. I’m chilling on my hotel bed right now, in Bunbury, Western Australia after traveling around 7000km in the last 72 hours. We have had a week in Aurukun, in far north Queensland, worked with kids the community, then straight to the lights and sirens of Sydney and now Western Australia for a week. I have two favourite places from past tours, Alice Springs and Canberra…I know, I said Canberra. The crowds there are always so wild. The after parties are a ruckus. I can’t wait to get back to both of them on the EP tour.
How do you find the new music you listen to?
22 Tracks is a big one for me. Their site is such a winner. Triple J Unearthed keeps me pretty busy too. It’s a great way of tapping in to the immense pool of Australia talent. All the members of Tin Can Radio come from pretty diverse musical backgrounds too. ‘Hey, who are we listening to?’ is a pretty constant question in the tour bus.
Do you have a musical influence we might not expect?
MJ. That man. OMG. King of Pop.
How do you like your music? On digital, CD, or vinyl (maybe even cassette)?
Digital. For such a minor difference in quality, why would I not want to have my favourite 30 gig of music with me at all times? I find the physical size of CDs and vinyl cumbersome. I totally understand the cover art debate when it comes to vinyl. They do look beautiful. But you don’t hang them on the wall like a painting; you put them in a milk crate and stick it in the corner! I’d rather have a poster and a high quality MP3. Cassettes were pretty fun back in the day though. Dubbing tape to tape, rewinding the old shit ones with pencils. I still have old tape recordings of my sister and I when we were kids.
If you could curate your own festival what would your line up be and where would it take place?
On the moon. Imagine a mosh pit in low gravity! Best EVER! I would take Friendly Fires, Frank Ocean, Hamilton, Air, Flux Pavilion, Ben Howard, Jonsi, Bjork, Battles, Explosions in the Sky and Michael Jackson’s corpse turned in to a marionette.
What else have you got coming up in the next 12 months?
Heaps of shit. Touring the entire country…close enough to it anyway. Hopefully lots of festivals. We have started work on the next batch of songs. With any luck it will be just like the last 12 months, only with a better budget and bigger crowds.
Catch Tin Can Radio on the following dates:
Sat 20th Oct | Brisbane | Coniston Lane
Thu 25th Oct | Port Macquarie | Port Macquarie Hotel
Fri 26th Oct | Canberra | Stone Day Festival
Sat 27th Oct | Sydney | Upstairs Beresford
Fri 2nd Nov| Melbourne | The Workers Club
Sun 11th Nov | Alice Springs | Annie’s Place
Mon 12th Nov | Alice Springs | Desert Music Club
Sat 8th Dec | Sunshine Coast | Sol Bar
