It’s a huge local line-up for the State Of The Art festival on Monday, June 6, at Elizabeth Quay, with Jebediah, San Cisco, Ta-Ku, Koi Child and many more. Morgan Bain is part of the action…
It seems that WA, more than any other state, takes a real pride in the music and musicians who come from here. Do you agree and if so why is it?
I definitely agree; I think being in the most isolated city helps quite a bit for being proud… we gotta be. But people from outside WA really notice, the word has definitely spread there’s so many conversations ‘there’s so many good bands that come out of WA’ – which is the usual words!
For many years the old phrase ‘the tyranny of distance’ was applied to the ups-and-downs of being a Perth band trying to give it a crack. Is that phrase now completely a thing of the past?
I believe so, a few of my friends who have just started touring from the East Coast complain about the flight length, which is totally understandable when you’re not used to it but I suppose we are so used to it because we have to do that shit all the time us Westies. I love it; it seems like it’s the norm for us.
What’s it mean to you that you’re playing at an event such as State Of The Art?
It means a lot to me because – speaking on behalf of all the other local bands and bands in general, – I think this event really showcases WA people who are just passionate about their art and really trying to do the same thing as each other – just write something, play something, cool and hope that other people/audiences want to come along for the ride and support at shows like this. When a festival like this comes together it’s a great opportunity for all of the above, which is why we’re all playing music in the first place, really.
What acts are you most looking forward to seeing?
Quite a few of my buddies of course like, Jacob Diamond, Riley Pearce, Luke Dux and Helen Shanahan. I’m also a huge hip hop fan so I’m gonna be hanging to see all of Mathas and Koi Child. I’m also super excited to see Ta-Ku – I’m a big fan of his work!
Looking ahead, what musical plans are afoot for you?
I’m going to be releasing an EP this year which has been a long time coming but I didn’t want to release anything till I knew exactly what I wanted to do – sonically speaking – which I think I got pretty close. And I’ll let you guys decide what that is. It’s got some cool features on it and I have produced it with one of my best mates and basically mentor, Joel Quartermain. There’s a bonus track on the EP that I recorded and produced myself which is what I’m starting to delve into at the moment ‘home recording’ – it’s all very exciting!
