Soon to play as part of the mammoth Flip Out lineup, which includes Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Naked On The Vague and others, Warragul by way of Melbourne proto-punk outfit The UV Race are a band rooted in the energy and honesty of live performance.
With the band set to shelve out their fierce slabs of proto-punk to a Sydney audience for the first time we caught up to discuss Flip Out, Warragul, and the band’s view on the music industry from the perspective of an independent band.
Music Feeds: How excited are you to be playing flip out, be as specific as to how excited you are as possible?
The UV Race: I am very excited cos last year the UV Race played the first Flip Out in Melbourne and it was such a good day. The combination of local and international bands being friendly and hanging out eating from the BBQ and flicking through the records in the record stalls. I also get to hang out with my good Sydney friends Danielle and Selena they are amazing.
MF: Who are you most looking forward to seeing?
UV: I am looking forward to seeing Slug Guts, they played with us when we played Brisbane and they were really good and they are also top blokes, they helped put on the gig for us. They also have Slug Guts tats and I have a UV Race tat so I think it’s cool they also have the band that they are in tattooed on their bodies.
MF: Who would you recommend our readers not miss?
UV: Deaf Wish, Jensen is a legend and the whole band is very blokey but nice at the same time.
MF: Judging from the MySpace, you guys are both very energetic and passionate, do you have any pre-show rituals you use to wind yourselves up before playing?
UV: No rituals I just do what feels good to me and if the crowd is going crazy I try to beat them and go crazier. I am always trying to make the crowd uncomfortable, that’s why I take my shirt off and show off my fat gut, but recently it hasn’t been making the crowd uncomfortable.
MF: I read you’re from Warragul, how do you think living there has affected the way you write music?
UV: I still live in Warragul, the three other members of the UV Race come from Warragul but live in Melbourne. Warragul frustrates me cos it’s not creative so it gives me a bit of drive to write lyrics and express my self through them. It also gives me a different view on things cos in Melbourne people are spoiled for music but I live in a place where it’s seen as nothing, it’s just not important to most people who live in Warragul.
MF: What would you like to see change in Australian music industry?
UV: I think it should stay the way it is. If it was changed in a way where every band could have a label and the support to “make it big” then bands wouldn’t have the chance to be independent, or it would be harder for them because it would be tempting to let a label take care of that stuff. I think it’s good that bands can’t get labels so they then look harder or save up money and put it out themselves so they have complete control over what they put out. The UV Race is lucky cos we have Aaarght records who put out our first 7 inch, and our second 7 inch Malaria is out on SS records, and Aaarght records is putting out our album which should be out in October. We don’t have a label but we have labels keen to put our music out so we have control over what music goes on our releases.
MF: Do you feel as an independent band that there are any barriers holding you back?
UV: I don’t see any barriers. With big labels come big sacrifices like doing what the label wants you to do. Melbourne and Australia have a strong independent music scene at the moment. Look at Eddy Current Suppression Ring, they are fiercely independent and have done a lot of amazing things like being nominated for an Aria Award and wining the Australian Music Prize. Flip Out is a show of how independent bands can play festivals and there is a spot for them.
MF: What’s coming up for the band in future, what should we keep an eye out for in the future?
UV: Keep an eye out for the Malaria 7 inch that just came out and our album, which is coming out in October hopefully. Keep your eye on our blogspot, we put funny photos of us on there and news about us.
MF: Any Melbourne bands us Sydney-siders may not have heard of but should have?
UV: Acid casualty, Split Foot, Teen Archer and Sucio Poder
Be sure to catch them at Flip Out at Manning Bar on Aug 29th
Tickets from: www.oztix.com.au Ph 1300 762 545 AND www.manningbar.com Ph 9563 6000) & the ACCESS Centre at the venu.
