Jason Strange strange talks to Short Pants Romance about working on their new film clip, playing at Worldbar and why they changed their name from The Detours.
SPR: Well we have a debut single called Queen of the Sunshine, which was mixed by Liam Judson (from Belles Will Ring) and is mastered and ready to go, so we’ve been working on a film clip and generally planning our attack. Keep an ear out in the next few months. Oh, and we’re playing at World Bar on the 30th, so that should be a great night.
MF: What was the reason for the name change from The Detours to Short Pants Romance?
SPR: Well we were working on the single (mentioned above) and we became aware of a Scottish band called The Detours, who were signed and on iTunes, so it was a kind of pre-emptive strike, to get in before it became an issue. (There are heaps of bands called The Detours so it has always been in the back of our minds that we might have to change at some stage…)
MF: I know it’s cliched to ask, but how did the name Short Pants Romance come about?
SPR: It was just kind of hanging around. Ages ago, Josh our lead singer had a MySpace page where he started to put up some songs he’d recorded at home and didn’t know what to do with, and he called it Short Pants Romance. We even once played a show under that name when we’d agreed to do a show as The Detours, and then one of us realised he couldn’t do it, so rather than go ahead as The Detours we called ourselves Short Pants Romance and played a bunch of different songs. So when it came time to decide on a new name, Short Pants Romance became the logical decision. It’s also part of a line from Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan.
MF: Your sound seems to be heavily influenced by that classic 50’s and 60’s rock. Who would you recommend for Music Feed’s readers to check out from that era?
SPR: There are so many but Richie Valens is great. Most people would know La Bamba, but he has so much great stuff and his voice is amazing. Donna is one of the most perfect love songs; and he was so young when he died. From the 60’s I’d say The Kinks; they’re pretty amazing and diverse. Ray Davies is a great song writer; if you took the songs All Day and All of the Night, Waterloo Sunset and Strangers then you’d have a pretty good cross section of The Kinks. Also The Band; everyone should listen to The Band, especially their album called The Band.
MF: Best gig you’ve played so far and why?
SPR: That’s a hard one. There was one in Katoomba with We Say Bamboulee and Baby X, which was pretty great; and another in Katoomba at the Clarendon with Tracey Redhead, which was also great cause we played well. We’d just come back from Melbourne playing a few shows down there, so we’d spent a lot of time together and were pretty tight. We also had a bunch of friends come up, which made it feel like coming home. The next one at World Bar on the 30th. That’s always the plan; to be improving, which I think we are and as Bob Dylan put it;
‘The best is always yet to come, That’s what they explain to me, just do your thing, you’ll be king, If dogs run free..’
MF: What’s the best way to keep warm in the middle of winter in the Blue Mountains?
SPR: Ah, ‘get born, keep warm, short pants, romance, learn to dance, get dressed, get blessed, try to be a success’, that’s the best advice right there, and layers; layers are very important, that or just stay inside and listen to music.
MF: What’s an interesting fact about the band that not many people would know?
SPR: We mime all our vocals at live shows; and once we played lawn bowls together, but none of us took it too seriously.
MF: Finally, first song you’d put onto a mix tape?
SPR: Queen of the Sunshine… ah no, ah, probably; King Harvest (Has Surely Come) by The Band
