Sydney five-piece The Scare is currently raising hell around the country to mark the release of second album oozevoodoo. With a steady run of shows right into 2010, the rock – œn roll knockabouts chat to FasterLouder about life in a band on the rise.

You’ve been on the local scene for quite a few years now, yet have only released two albums and are still relatively independent and under-the-fold. How does that feel when compared to the effort you’ve put into the band?
We’ve always wanted to create our own sound and be independent. Although we do get contributions from a major label, we still have creative control, which is always what we wanted to do. So on top of it being a struggle, being an artist in Australia, no matter for how long, makes it three or four times harder. The pro of that being that we do have creative control and we can travel overseas and start things over there. Lots of young bands sign deals to Australian record labels that have no pull in any other country. So they’re stuck here, basically.

Earlier this year you played a few secret warehouse shows for hardly more than 200 people; then in October played the Parklife festival with an attendance of over 20,000. How does the contrast of crowds and atmospheres affect the way the band goes about the live show?
It’s hard to compare, but the positive of playing a place like [Sydney warehouse space] Hellen Rose’s is that everyone who shows up is showing up because they were looking in your direction in the first place.

They weren’t looking at posters in the fucking train station. They were on the internet and they were following you as a band. They’re all going to be die-hard fans and if you can pack it out it’s a really great feeling. And you know that they’re going to be at your next gig because they’re following you, and just a really rewarding thing, even on a small scale.

But they you go to a festival. And it’s great to play to a bigger audience because you get a chance to show those people what you’re made of and maybe they’ll be a part of the 200-or-so people who try to pack themselves into a 50-capacity room next time. You’re showcasing yourself at a festival, but you’re living the dream at your own gig. It’s a much more passionate affair.

On the note of being a ‘showcase’ act, you’ve had a long history of playing festivals and support acts, including dates with Jet, Wolf & Cub and the Across the Great Divide tour, as well as many of our largest festivals. What have been some of your more memorable moments playing to what is not normally your audience?
Well, amazing things happen when you play with other bands on a personal level and a part of their tour. We just did two shows of that Silverchair/Powderfinger thing and before then we were already beginning to forge a friendship with Daniel. After we did those shows, it gave him a chance to actually be there side of stage and see us in that format, playing massive a fucking PA system in front of heaps of people. Since then, he started coming to all of our private and secret gigs in Sydney. Didn’t miss a beat, kind of thing. Then he fell in love with the idea of making a record with us.

There isn’t much that’s negative, although sometimes fans do email us asking why we’re playing support to whoever or why we’re playing this festival. All we can really do is tell them to come down, it’ll be fun and stuff.

When you worked with Daniel Johns for oozevoodoo, how do you think his view on music influenced your record?
He was there, I mean, when we first met him he was at Big Jesus Burger Studios while we were recording Chivalry, – œcause his wife was doing something next door. At the time he came in and had a listen and really liked what we were doing. And after the record came out, we were back in Australia; we didn’t have enough money to go back to the UK, where we really should have been promoting that record because it really wasn’t an – œAustralian’ record. But that’s neither here nor there.

So while we were here, he wanted to do what we did on that record and simplify it. He wanted to make some more pop-sensible tune but at the same time maintain the rawness of the live set. He saw the potential, but we all needed a bit of coaching.

You mention the troubles you had with the first record, especially when promoting it in the UK with very little help. How has the time spent trying to make it overseas affected the band?
Well, we had no help from anyone trying to make it overseas. We did sign a strange deal with EMI Publishing, which gave us the money to fly five guys overseas. But once we were there it was up to us to book gigs and entice the interest of an agent and a possible co-management deal. We did all that ourselves.

We worked our arses off for two years, and when Chivalry finally came out, it was all ready. The package was there we set up for ourselves. But we just couldn’t get back there. After having toured it here, we all kind of lost hope, because trying to promote an album like that on a commercial level, or even a semi-commercial, indie level, was just impossible.

It felt like we were up a creek with no paddle. We definitely had fans and had people coming to our shows. But the word wasn’t spreading, the hype wasn’t there like it used to be. So we just had to rethink what we were doing and start again.

Do you think that in the future there’s a chance to get back into the UK?
Definitely. I think that’s what we want to do. We always felt at home there, as musicians. There’s so much more versatility and so much more room to grow. Here we just feel limited. Even on a personal level, all the guys we knew when we were 16-17 are all overseas trying to do what we do now. It kind of feels like the only natural way forward. Which is sad, because I love Sydney, Australia. But if I want to further my career, I have to go there.

But we’re not gong to abandon our Australian audience, because we’ve worked so hard this time. It’s not going to be like last time where we went away for nine months and forgot about here. We were surprised anyone even remembered us.

For all the benefits of the UK recording industry, do you ever feel like effort can often be pushed aside for magazine-produced hype?
Well, when it comes to getting a cover on NME, for example, people bag it out. But it’s the most useful tool for independent musicians and young musicians to make it. People read that thing like gospel: whatever it says they go by. There’s a strong readership. There’s ways of getting big without the NME knowing who you are, but it’s useful hype. I know I’ve been speaking of it like it’s a Mecca, but it’s not really any better. It’s just a lot bigger. And a lot of NME-hype band have a shelf life of 12 months.

On the upside to that, several bands that are still playing small venues around Sydney and Australia, including yourselves, have been getting a lot more exposure and interest on sites like Mess and Noise, FasterLouder or even Pitchfork for a select few. How do you feel that music publications are turning more towards music that is not derivative of the mainstream or even the semi-commercial level, as you mentioned before?
I think it’s fucking amazing. I think to get noticed by websites overseas like that just because of the internet and websites like FasterLouder. I mean, you guys probably have some sort of traffic thing that tells you when people visit from overseas. So I guess that if people listen to our music and get some sort of indie status overseas, they’ve now got the chance to take that overseas. And that’s how you really start to feel like you’re a part of the global industry.

The Scare is currently in the thick of a national tour, with these shows left to come. They’ll also take the stage at Homebake and Falls Festival over summer.

Wednesday 4th November – ANU Bar, Canberra
Friday 6th November – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne
Saturday 7th November – Pelly Bar, Frankston
Thursday 12th November – Republic Bar, Hobart
Friday 13th November – Hotel New York, Launceston
Saturday 14th November – Jive Bar, Adelaide
Wednesday 18th November – Sands Tavern, Caloundra
Friday 20th November – Alhambra Lounge, Brisbane
Saturday 21st November – Miami Tavern, Gold Coast
Sunday 22nd November – Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay
Thursday 26th November – Prince Of Wales, Bunbury
Friday 27th November – Mojo’s, Fremantle
Saturday 28th November – Amplifier Bar, Perth
Saturday 5 December – Homebake, Sydney
Thursday 31 December – Falls Festival, Lorne