Sydonia: 'We Play'

Wed 19th Jul, 2006 in Features

“What do you do if you have three drummers in the band? Shoot two or let them all play” jokes Sam about his Sunshine Coast-cum-Melbourne hard-rock four piece, Sydonia. “When we got started we were playing to an audience of bar staff and cleaners, so we’re all really happy to have the audience we do now.”

That group of esteemed fans are about to get much larger with Sydonia’s ripping new album Given To Destroyers due out on September 11. With a pure indie philosophy, Sam, Adam, Dana and Sean have toured the coast route and released self-produced EPs for nine years before utilising the Backbeach studios and DW Norton to record their full-length album.

In Sam’s room, telling jokes and stories with him are Tania, Sam’s ladyfriend and the band’s new publicist, and Dana – it’s clear that Dana and Sam inextricably share a sense of humour. “We want to play the Big Day Out, we’d be happy to play as ‘the guests’ so we could point to the posters and say ‘that’s us, the guests’” said Dana, Sam chuckles about that spot on the bill being pretty forgettable: “We still wouldn’t say no, though”.

“We’ve done just about everything ourselves to this point” said Sam, including producing a tour DVD and a music video directed by Edwin McGill. Tania prods Sam to recount the story of running into Ed. “I found his wallet after a gig at Pony” explains Sam, “and [for finding it] he offered to make a video for the band.” Tania adds “it’s a funny way that things happen with the group, they have good things happen to them.” Yeah, Sam said, “but I told him ‘easy tiger you can call us tomorrow or come and see the next gig’ because I didn’t want him to promise anything he might regret.” After the next gig Ed had a script ready to go.

Releasing all of this extra material, a tour video and a music video, seems overzealous in comparison with other acts but Sam plays it down, they are releasing it all “to pay off debts” he said. In a rare display of his band manager hat, Sam adds “to me it seemed important as a promotional tool. If [the fans] see it and like the look of it they might come to the gig.” “Some people can’t get into the venues” he said as more reasons come to him, ”[it’s great] to be able to involve so many people” referring to their open invitation to Sydonia’s Melbourne fans to participate in the making of the video.

The thing that gave Sydonia the momentum to produce a studio album, Sam said ”[is] years and years of home recordings and the constant sentiment of people saying our recordings don’t represent our live performances”. “We’re always a bit out of whack, we play new songs all the time. In this recording we’re playing songs that are six years old and six weeks old…there’s probably only two tracks on [the previous release] (Man)ipulate that we regularly play live” he said. These days it’s harder to choose songs from their repertoire for a live set, he adds. Their current release incorporates the songs they are “happy to have out” he said.

An impressive percussion setup sets the band apart from other rock acts in Australia. Sydonia’s show means fireworks. “Percussion is a seminal ingredient” Sam informs, “we’re going to pull guests out of the crowd to play with the band”, his mind already on the album launch. Their usual kit that they haul up and down the coast includes Sean’s 15 piece drum kit, a couple of floor toms for Sam and Adam to beat like crazy, a specially made piece of percussive hardware called a p’tang (the top of an old gas cylinder that goes “p’tang” when struck), crasher plates, a Rolf Harrisian bent piece of metal which makes a sound like a slide whistle and three cracked cymbals salvaged from Sean’s refuse. “The kids go crazy” reports Sam about their recent Sydney and Melbourne appearances.

The wheel, Sam’s metaphor for his band, “the machine they have become” keeps growing, changing form. Words like ‘self-sufficient’ and ‘independent’ pop up in conversation whenever they talk about the band; they want the world on their terms. Whether this clashes with their aims to play summer festivals and supports for international acts remains to be seen. “We just want a bit of breathing space” Sam whistfully adds “like Tool, Janes Addiction or Radiohead.”

With an impressive tour planned for September/October of the nation’s capitals, and the sunshine coast, plus a new video planned, Sydonia keep their wheel rolling.

Sydonia launch their single at Revolver on the 22nd of July. Visit Sydonia online on their website.