Q&A: Drawn From Bees

With a strong new single new single in “Of Walls and Teeth”, news of a new album and now a tour, Brisbane’s Drawn From Bee’s take 5 to give us a back ground on how they came to this point.

What did you have for breakfast?

My servants usually bring me a pot of tea and the newspaper, along with some marmalade on toast. I
will then sit and enjoy the news as the sun flows through the palace windows while I contemplate the day.
(That’s what happens in my mind)

Realistically, I stumble out of bed bleary eyed and try to scrape some vegemite across a slice of toast
while I wait for a coffee to brew, I then spend the next few hours trying not to pass out due to the standard
lack of sleep that musicians get.

Tell us in your own words what your sound is.

Our Sound is the music that David Bowie and Clint Eastwood would be listening to while they sit on an
asteroid and watch as the world explodes in a chain reaction of nuclear power stations.

Who makes up your band? How did you meet?

Stew (Bass Player) and I (Singer) met at Uni and proceeded to spend days chatting up at the coffee shop
while we were supposed to be attending lectures. We chatted about the important stuff like what cars we
would buy when we were famous and which girls we liked at Uni. (I am now the proud owner of a 1984
Toyota Camry) Stew happened to be working at the local supermarket with our drummer Matt who we
ended up poaching from another band. (sorry)

I think we found Raven in an old Indian burial ground, we dug him up and resurrected his corpse and he
is currently aging in reverse.

What were your influences when you first started writing music? And what are your influences
now?

I come from a long line of Opera singers and artists. I have early memories of my Father coming home
from work and practicing parts from “Carmen.” I would usually come down from my room and sing along
with him until way past my bed time. My sister is still an opera singer now and is regarded as one of the
best sopranos in the world. See link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyTiCFJWU38

My current influences have diversified from The White Stripes to Tom Petty to whatever is playing on
my record player at the time. I tend to spend way too much time focusing on the sounds coming out of
the speakers, to the point where I forget that I am listening to music because I am totally absorbed in the
mechanics, structure and sound.

What are you working on at the moment?

I am recording an EP for a Brisbane band I love called Buick Six, I have just finished recording an EP for
a band called Drone Child who are a massively talented collection of seventeen year old boys. I am also
working on writing and recording as much material as possible for the Drawn from Bees record which will
be released next year on vinyl.

Do you have a procedure for writing music?

Please replace Statler and Waldorf with Stew and Raven…

STATLER: Boo!
WALDORF: Boooo!
S: That was the worst thing I’ve ever heard!
W: It was terrible!
S: Horrendous!
W: Well it wasn’t that bad.
S: Oh, yeah?
W: Well, there were parts of it I liked!
S: Well, I liked alot of it.
W: Yeah, it was GOOD actually.
S: It was great!
W: It was wonderful!
S: Yeah, bravo!
W: More!
S: More!
W: More!
S: More!

If you could collaborate with any musician in the world, who would you collaborate with? And
why?

David Gilmore, I would achieve absolutely nothing and spend the entire time bugging him about how he
played certain parts to records that I love. I would also love to collaborate with PJ Harvey just so I could
spend time in a room with her

What do you think about your local music scene?

My local music scene is part of my life. I can’t live without watching the amazing bands that play all the
time in Brisbane. I feel spoilt when I can go out and see bands like Skinny Jean, The Slow Push, Hunz or
Ball Park Music and just enjoy a night out with friends listening to some of the best bands in the country.

If you could play anywhere, where would you love to perform?

I really want to play in the Hollywood Bowl and I would love to do it with as many Lasers as possible, I
want everyone to leave that show with permanent retina damage!

Seen any good bands lately?

I think I covered some of my favorites in the Local scene question but to add… Grand Atlantic, Hungry
Kids of Hungary, City Riots (I got drunk with them and jumped on stage to sing Bruce Springsteen…) Ben
Saltar, TSOL and many more.

Any interesting stories? (Gigs? Moments? Meetings? Bad experiences?)

There are two venues we have played in the States and it is a tossup between them. In NY we played
an amazing show at the Bowery Ball Room and then went out on the town with some New York locals. I
remember that Raven passed out in the bar at one point and eventually we all got separated, Stew had a
fight with a cab driver and I chatted to other bands all night, I can only hope that I didn’t embarrass myself
as the wine was flowing freely that night!

The second venue was the Whisky a Go-Go in LA. We had the worst sound check in history, everything
that could go wrong went wrong. (feedback problems, pedals breaking, boomy unclear foldback) It is also
quite an intimidating venue that was famous as the home of The Doors, they still have the same stage
that Jim Morrison performed on. We walked on stage with nothing but fear and stood in front of a packed
house and struck the first chord. From then on all the problems somehow disappeared, nothing went
wrong and the atmosphere in the room was electric, it still stands out in my mind how good it felt to really
belt it out on the same stage as the Doors. Raven and I later ended up partying at the Rainbow Room
and watching a Mexican blues band that were awesome! I remember later that night cursing that our
apartment was three flights up as I had to carry a passed out Raven up the stairs thanks to our old friend
Bourbon.

Where are you playing next?

I believe our next gig will be at Yah Yahs in Melbourne along with a whole string of dates for our tour.
I am excited about the Melbourne show because it is my first gig at Yah Yahs which is a venue I have
admired for a long time.

Saturday 1st October – Yah Yahs, Melbourne

Saturday 8th October – Bonefinger Masquerade Ball @ The Zoo, Brisbane

Saturday 15th October – Oxford Arts Factory Gallery Bar, Sydney

Friday 21st October – The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba

Saturday 22nd October – Restless @ The Loft, Gold Coast

Saturday 29th October – Darwin Railway Club, Darwin

www.drawnfrombees.com