Canberra’s alternative rock band, Hands Like Houses have embarked on a tour for their highly anticipated 3rd studio album, Dissonants and this weekend they’ll be in Canberra. We caught up with them for a chat chat:
What are three words that best describe Hands Like Houses?
Good vibe Battlers.
Tell us about your 3rd studio album, DISSONANTS. What’s the inspiration and/or story behind it?
As it started coming together lyrically, the album felt like it was disjointed – connected but not necessarily reflecting a core theme or idea. It got me thinking that we are such scattered beings, we are all a balance of jumbled thoughts, beliefs, strengths and weaknesses, and the only unifying factor is our inextricably individual “self”, formed of all our experiences. So to say ‘i am dissonant’ is to say that I am a unique collective of all my experiences and influences. I suppose that’s the point of the album, to explore, accept and respect the dissonance in all of us.
Tell us about your support bands, Lower Than Atlantis and Far Away Stables. How did having them involved come about?
We are very stoked on what these bands will bring to the show! We’re all fans of UK rockers LTA, and their last album has several catchy jammers on it. When we were working on the world tour lineup we were lucky enough to lock them in for our Aus and US legs of the tour. Far Away Stables are a band we have toured with and played with before, we think they write great music and they’re a fantastic group of dudes. Should be a grand ol time.
What do you guys do for work/play when you’re not being ‘rockstars’?
This year we haven’t been home a whole lot so work hasn’t really factored into the equation. We are quite fortunate the band is managing to get us all by. When we have time a few of us work as support workers in schools around Canberra. Matty P is the tradie of the band, he can be found installing AC units or even being a plumber. Jimmy our sound engineer is a legendary painter/drinker for Integra. I think we are all far from being rockstars. We simply love the fact we can create music and share it with other people.
Who in the group is the biggest party animal?
Alex would have been leading the race here, although these days we aren’t too wild. So I’ll have to extend this to our crew and give the crown to Jimmy. He can drink beer like water and seems to enjoy the taste of jäger and white sambuca. Straight up leg-end.
What’s a typical day in the life on the road for Hands Like Houses?
This will vary depending on where in the world we are. In general we arrive at a venue to load in, then walk around in search of local sights or food/coffee. A game of hacky or Kubb is always a fun time, or anything that gets us moving more then sitting in a greenroom. After that it’s the standard sound check, warm ups, play the gig and pack down. A day in Barcelona for us would be very different to a day in Little Rock, Arkansas. Haha.
Where’s your favourite place to eat when touring in Canberra?
Asian noodle house takes the cake here. Although there are so many wonderful places to eat, it’s hard to beat a laksa from the Noodle House.
Where’s your favourite place to party when doing live gigs in Canberra?
I have to chuck a throwback to good ol Bar32. Even though it closed years ago, man we had good times there. Currently we tend to favour Phoenix bar.
Catch them at ANU Bar on Sunday, 18 October 2015.
Doors open from 7:00pm.
Click here for tickets.
