Carlton Dry Independent Music Awards: Violent Soho

Carlton Dry Independent Music Award Nominations: Best Independent Artist; Best Independent Single Or EP (Covered In Chrome); Best Independent Album (Hungry Ghost); Best Independent Hard Rock, Heavy Or Punk Album (Hungry Ghost).

Answered by: Michael Richards (drums).

What was the last thing you guys won? We played a game of basketball against the fellas from The Bronx once and beat them – take that, America!

You’ve received the most Carlton Dry Independent Music Award noms for this year, how did you find this information out? I read about it on our Facebook page. Someone tagged us in a media post. It was probably you guys. So, you guys “told” me about it.

How did you finance Hungry Ghost? I understand the confusion that comes from the whole “independent” thing, but seriously, we are signed to a record label, called I OH YOU. They’re the real indies and, yeah! They paid for it (legends).

What are some memories you have of the album’s recording process? I spent six days tracking drums so getting into some great shape was the best bonus ever. A truly golden memory indeed.

How would you say being with I OH YOU has impacted your band’s career trajectory? I OH YOU have got tonnes of cred, so we got mad hype at the start and then just built on that. I’ll have to wait to hear back from the analytics department to give you a more thorough report. Soz.

How many people work for Violent Soho who are not actually in the band these days and what do they do? We’ve built a really great team down here at Violent Soho Pty Ltd. So proud of the team. So proud!

How did you find the experience of performing at last year’s Carlton Dry Independent Music Award ceremony? It was an honour to share the stage with Archie Roach, Cosmic Psychos and the fat trumpet guy from The Cat Empire.

What does being independent mean to you guys as a band? We’ve always valued our individuality and feel that in any case, if you drown that out with marketing strategies and business plans, then you’ve lost all value as a real entity. Corporate music is an abstraction. By that I mean: it’s not concrete art, it’s like a proxy for experience – like non-alcoholic beer or decaffeinated coffee.

Who will get to keep the trophy/ies if you win and where will you put it/them? Luke [Boerdam, guitar/vocals]’s house. He never shares trophies!

Will you pre-prepare a speech or just fly by the seat of your pants? I’m a big theatre sports fan so, yeah! Improv for sure!