Melbourne band, Horace Bones, unleash debut single, 'Tarantula' and announce debut east coast tour. Tomatrax caught up with the band's frontman, Oisen Kelly, to ask a few questions.
According to your bio you started after living in a share house, what was it like having the band living together?
We still do live together but in a new place and just band members.
That old joint where we met and formed the band is long gone. It was one of those places that at the time seemed really brutal, with a lot of trouble about and unsavoury characters lurking around. But now when I look back on it, there was a lot of trouble and unsavoury characters lurking around and it was brilliant.
When did you know the housemates would become a band?
We knew that each other were into music but we had are own projects going.
Then one night I came home and Christian (drummer) had dragged this big shabby looking barrel into the kitchen, where in he and Caz (lead guitarist) lit a fire and were slowly roasting a rubber chicken using a rudimentary rotisserie made from a coat hanger. I asked them "what the hell do you think your doing, is this another sacrifice?" and they said "yeh what do you think?" to which I replied " its ludicrous!.. There's no music." So the three of us started dancing about the flaming novelty bird making sounds. It was good but it was missing some lower end sleaze so we went and kicked Dan (bass) out of his hammock and there and then Horace Bones began to exist.
Did the landlord really evict you?
Yeah that's true I'm afraid. Though we hold no grudge against Ernest. He was a real good sort and really helped us out with the moved. We got home from band practice and he had already put all our stuff out on the nature strip for us.
Where did the name Horace Bones come from?
We were sitting at home watching some old 70's horror film called "I Drink Your Blood". It's about a gang of satanic acid-head hippies that are given meat pies spiked with rabid dog meat by the town folk. This turns the hippies into zombies. The name of the gang's leader is Horace Bones.
It's terrible. Go watch it now.
You've just released your debut single, what's it like to have it finished?
It's remarkable! We had a bunch of good times recording it with our friends at Alamo Studios and now we're looking forward to people being able to hear it and to play it live when we tour around the land in January and February.
What made you pick 'Tarantula' as your first single?
We had and still have a load of songs ready to be recorded but we chose Tarantula because we thought that it's heavy psychedelic energy was a good introduction to the band and our sound. Plus it's a real monster to play live.
You're about to tour Australia, what can fans expect from your show?
If they're willing and open, then they can expect to certainly have a good time, feel drunk even if they're not drinking, witness male and female and maybe animal nudity, experience a wild anarchistic rainbow of oneness with the bartender.
Do you ever listen to your own music?
Sometimes at rehearsal and usually at gigs, I'll jump down off stage and face the band in order to hear how things are going, in sort of a conscientious objector role.
What other music do you listen to?
I'd say we listen to all sorts of music. Predominantly "rock'n'roll" and other Australian bands like My Elephant Ride or Oliver Sol. We also listen to a lot of punk, hip-hop, electronic music, Bolivian toe tapping mongooses, yeah anything.
What do you have planned after your upcoming tour?
As I said, we've got a bunch of new songs to record and another single already recorded so the plan is to do the things with them. Record and tour, record and tour, repeat. These are the halcyon days my friends!
Dates for the upcoming tour include:
Friday 22nd January 2016
Ric's Bar - Brisbane QLD
Saturday 23rd January 2016
Rad Bar - Wollongong NSW
Sunday 24th January 2016
Frankie's Pizza - Sydney NSW
Friday 29th January 2016
Cherry Bar - Melbourne VIC (official single launch party)
Saturday 30th January 2016
Exeter Hotel - Adelaide SA
Friday 12th February 2016
Luna Park Moondeck (St. Kilda Festival) - Melbourne VIC