Apart From This

Melbourne's Apart From This have established themselves as one of the best up and coming pop punk bands in the country right now, and are a name you will be seeing more often in the near future. Their debut EP "Daydream" is out now through Takedown Records, the home of Tonight Alive and Skyway, and with the band hitting the road for their first East Coast tour next month with their mates Milestones, we caught up with the band's front man Tim to discuss the band and their plans for the future.

Start off by stating your name, your role in Apart From This, and the last movie you saw?

My name is Tim, I sing in Apart From This, and the last movie I saw was the new Pirates of The Caribbean movie in 3D, the only good thing about it was that Keith Richards had a cameo appearance in it, the rest was dogshit.

You guys have been going at it for a while now, what is your fondest memory you have with the band so far?

Definitely a recent house show we set up and played at our bassist Rathead's shed. The show was the night before our EP release in Melbourne and our good friends from Brisbane; Milestones flew down and played it. People were half naked, pissed, singing along and moshing in a room that could hold 20 people at the most. In my eyes that's the greatest memory so far.

Your debut EP “Daydream” was released early last month through Takedown Records, who has previously released records by Tonight Alive and Skyway. How did you hook up with those guys?

Well once we had the whole EP written and recorded, the time came around where we had to decide how we were going to release the record. At first we had plans to press a 7” with an independent Newcastle label Stay Home. Then our good friend Drew Brown, who later took on the management wing for us contacted Dan Field (Takedown owner) and discussed releasing the EP through Takedown. Drew showed him the tracks and he liked our sound. After the long process we finally made a decision to sign with them and then pressed the CDs under the final name “Daydream”.

What has the overall response to the EP been like so far?

They have been great, I mean we almost had “Daydream” written and recorded for a year and a half. So most of our close friends had already heard the EP beforehand. We were scared what other people would think of the tracks, but people seemed to be stoked on it so we were overwhelmed.

What was the writing and recording process like for the EP tracks?

Me and guitarist Stevo wrote these songs a year and a half back, so the writing process was quick and easy we didn't really take a different approach. We worked with our good friend Sam at Three Phase studios over the course of four days, he is by far the easiest person to work with and the made the process a hell of a lot easier.

The end track “Messed Up” is an acoustic song; do you think an acoustic release would be something the band might look into releasing down the track?

Well “Messed Up” is originally an electric track and we felt like we needed a fifth song on the EP, so we created an acoustic version that we thought worked well. We play a few acoustic shows here and there but who knows if we will write an acoustic release, maybe one day, but we don't plan on it at the moment.

Do you have any plans to press the EP on vinyl in the future?

I absolutely love vinyl and this was our original idea that I wished happened, but didn't end up happening. I guess we're not wasting time and waiting to press our next releases on vinyl, but we will definitely have vinyl in the near future.

From my understanding, even though the EP has only just been released, most of the songs are over a year old? How much new material have you been working on lately?

Plenty, we have a large amount of songs that we have been working on hard that will all hopefully be released this year.

Do you have any other releases planned for later this year?

For sure. We have a three or four song tour sampler planned which will be recording early next month, also our debut full length is currently in the works, which I cannot wait for people to hear.

What can people expect with the newer songs?

Matured songwriting, less pop more punk and trade solos.

Where do you draw influence from when you are writing lyrics for the band?

Apart from all the cliché everyday subjects such as heartbreak, love and society. Mostly 90's emo bands such as Jawbreaker, Mineral as well as acoustic acts such as Rocky Votolato and Right Away Great Captain.

You made a weekend trip to Sydney last month, which was your first interstate show. Can we expect to see you hitting the road more often this year?

Definitely. Next month we are doing our first east coast tour with our Brisbane mates Milestones and there is many other tour plans which we can't tell you just yet, but are overwhelmed to announce sooner rather than later!

The Australian pop punk scene seems to be on the up and up as of late, what are your thoughts on the current state of it?

It's great there are so many new bands forming out of nowhere and I can see the genre only getting bigger and better from here. Make sure you check out our good friends in Skyway, Milestones, First Base and Strickland.

Who are some bands and releases you have been enjoying lately that we should be checking out?

Too many to name but mostly friends bands like Milestones, Skyway, First Base, Strickland and Distance, all those bands have new releases coming your way!

2011 has already been a great year for pop punk, and with some great records scheduled to be released later in the year, what records are you looking forward to hearing the most?

The Story So Far – Under Soil And Dirt

Milestones – Untitled Full length

Skyway – Finders Keepers

Basement – I Wish I Could Stay Here

To name a few, these without a doubt will all be great.

So far you have already shared the stage with the likes of Fireworks, The Wonder Years, Such Gold and No Trigger, who are some bands you would really like to play with sometime in the future?

I'd love to share the stage with many bands but mostly small bands to get them over here such as The Story So Far, Living With Lions, Basement, Balance And Composure, Mother Of Mercy, Foundation the list goes on haha.

Now that The Arthouse has unfortunately closed, do you think that will have a big impact on shows taking place in Melbourne?

Of course, already small bands touring are struggling to find a decent suitable Melbourne venue, it's sad to see this place go but it couldn't have gone out in any other way than Mindsnare tearing it apart.

Do you have any goals that you would like to achieve with this band?

Just to be a successful band that is constantly touring whether it be interstate or overseas. I just want everybody to enjoy our music as much as we do.

What are the band’s plans for the rest of 2011?

A heap of touring, release a tour EP and finish writing and recording this full length.

Thanks for doing the interview, any last words or shout outs?

Thanks to everybody that has ever cared or supported us in any way, and thanks to you Maddo you sick cunt.

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