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Interview with
ART OF FIGHTING

(30th August 2022)

Interview by Dave Bruce

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This year you are celebrating the 21st anniversary of the ‘Wires’ album – can you tell us about the significance of the album for the band?
Wires was our debut and that’s always a big thing. We’d spent a few years slowly building a small but ardent fan-base and by that stage had released four demo tapes and two six-song EPs. But for any band the first album is allays going to be a definitive moment in the evolution of a band’s sound. It’s a bit like the demos and EPs are dress rehearsals and the album is opening night, so you want to make an impression. It took us longer than most bands (maybe 5 years) to reach our debut album and perhaps that was a good thing as we were more confident in our sound and what we wanted to do creatively. It also got more radio airplay than our previous releases and hence was a big step up in the venues we could play at knowing that it wouldn’t be an empty room.

How did the writing and recording of the album come together?
It was fairly standard for us. Peggy and I write the basic chords and melodies for each of our songs (and maybe early snippets of lyrics) and then we just shape those sketches as a full band from there. It’s pretty collaborative. As far as approaching the songs as an ‘album’, we started form maybe 25 of these early sketches and then whittled those down to 10-12 that worked well together and told a story. Then we’d hone them some more and Peggy and I would finalise the lyrics. The final stage was doing pretty extensive demos before going into the studio to make sure all the little details were ironed out. As for the recording process, we’d always been big fans of Sydney producer Tim Whitten and we nervously asked him and he thankfully said yes. It was also the first time we’d recorded outside of Melbourne, up in Sydney at Megaphon Studios (where a lot of our favourite Australian albums have been made), and that was awesome.

Where is the ‘Wires’ Anniversary tour taking you and what can fans expect to hear in the setlist?
We’re doing shows in Brisbane, Brunswick Heads, Sydney, Newcastle, Canberra, Melbourne, Castlemaine and Archies Creek. All the dates and details are on our website. As for the set, it’s a ‘Wires’ tour so we’ll be playing that album, in order, start to finish. It’s a longish album so should work quite well as its own setlist. And then I guess if we do a good job of it and people cheer for more maybe we’ll do some numbers from our other three albums, too.

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How did the band come together?
We started out as teenagers jamming in my mum’s basement, so pretty cliche really. We’d just play for hours and then when we had some songs we liked we did demos of therm on a classic old Tascam four-track cassette recorder. The band went through many names and line-ups (and bad gigs) before it became Art of Fighting, but it was always essentially the same thing, an outlet for Peggy and my songs. The band as it is today had two formative moments, in around 1997 when our second drummer Cam Grant joined and Miles Browne (my brother) not long after (on guitar). The band as it is today was solidified in early 2000 when Marty Brown (no relation) joined on drums and we started working up songs for Wires.

How would you describe your sound? Why do you think people resonate with your music?
We play a sort of really slowed down guitar pop music I guess. ‘Slow Core’ is a term that is thrown around a lot and I guess we fit into that vague definition. When we started we were more of a classic sounding indie rock band along the likes of Sebadoh or Sonic Youth. But over time we started enjoying the tension we could create by playing really slowly and quietly and it kind of became our thing. And while we’re certainly not the only band that does this, I guess because it’s not a standard approach to rock music it helps find fans in people who like a different or interesting approach to guitar-based music.

Any plans to record new music?
I’ve always got songs bubbling away, various little snippets and demos, so there’s always ideas for more music. But these days I live in Copenhagen with my family and the rest of the band lives in Melbourne, so it’s more of a logistical challenge. So at this point there’s no concrete plans but maybe this tour might tempt us toward planning album number 5?

What is the best thing about performing to a live audience? What’s been the career highlight so far?
One of the things we noticed when we started playing really quiet music in a live setting is that people started paying a lot more attention. Now, I should say first that, ironically, we’re not an attention-seeking band at all, and also, that we genuinely feel that when people are at a rock show they should be as (respectfully) loud and have as much fun as they want. But what we notched when we played so quietly is that it gave us far more space for dynamics in the songs because there was more sonic ‘space’ in the room. And then when a crescendo happens, everyone, band and audience, feels it a lot more. A career highlight would probably when we played against the sunset in Paris on Montmatre. Hard to beat, really.

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Which artist’s music and/or performance, past or present, inspires you today? 
Just after Wires came out we toured Australia with Songs; Ohia which at the time was the moniker for American songwriter Jason Molina. He made some totally incredible music under many names and with with many collaborators but on that tour he was playing solo. His shows were amazing but what really inspired me about Jason (aside form the incredible songs, and also being a very lovely and funny person) was his work ethic. I remember we were on the plane to Adelaide for one of the first shows of the tour and while we were all reading books/relaxing he was studiously writing in a notebook – lyrics, he told me later. He did this all the time, soundcheck etc. I wish I had that dedication. Very sadly, Jason has passed away, but he’s left behind a legacy any songwriter would be extremely proud of.

How has COVID affected you to date? What have you introduced to balance the losses from missed events?
We were supposed to do a double headline tour with Youth Group in 2020 which got cancelled twice. That was pretty annoying. And also, as I mentioned earlier I moved with my family to Copenhagen in early 2020 (and was meant to fly home for the above mentioned tour). So this upcoming tour is the first time I’ve been back to Australia for more than two and a half years. Never saw that coming. Luckily Denmark is also a very nice place to live.

Finally, a few questions for some quick answers –
FAVOURITE:
Album – Too many, but today it’s Built to Spill’s ‘Perfect From Now On’
Artist – Today it’s Rufus Wainwright, tomorrow, probably someone else
Movie – When I first saw ‘You Can Count On Me’ that had a big effect on me
Place to visit – As an expat, Melbourne
Venue to play – That place we played in Montmatre, Paris
Food – I love legumes
Drink – A good shiraz
Person in History – My wife and daughters
Tattoo – (If you don’t have one, what would you get?) – No tattoo, but maybe one day my wife and daughters

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Follow ART OF FIGHTING
Website – Facebook – Spotify – Instagram

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Press Release 22nd July 2022 (below)

ART OF FIGHTING 
Announce
‘Wires’
21st Anniversary Tour 

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To celebrate the 21st Birthday of their debut full- length album ‘Wires’, Art Of Fighting have announced a run of Australian dates this coming September / October.   Performing headline shows across the East Coast in Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne, and visiting regional areas in QLD, NSW and VIC, the 9-date tour will see the band performing every song from the iconic ‘Wires’ album.

Tickets for all shows are on sale @ 11am Friday July 29 and are available Here

The record’s eleven tracks are beautifully crafted melodic gems, from the opening track ‘Skeletons’, ‘Reasons Are All I HaveLeft’, ‘Just Say I’m Right’, and ‘Give Me Tonight’, the album is a stand-out from start to finish.  This record remains one that is etched in the minds and hearts of their fans and peers, so much so, that 20 years later Rolling Stone Australia listed ‘Wires’ as the 159th best Australian album of all time.

Also one of the band’s most successful albums, ‘Wires’ went on to win an ARIA Award for Best Alternative Release in 2001. Not expecting to win, the band headed off on an overseas tour and were famously told of their prize while packing up after a gig in Germany, on their first European tour.  The success of the album not only locally but also internationally, with releases in the USA, Japan, Germany, and Taiwan, led to extensive touring both overseas and across Australia.

To coincide with the anniversary and tour ‘Wires’ has been released on vinyl for the first time as a deluxe double album with gatefold artwork through Hobbledehoy Records

Art of Fighting
‘Wires’
21st Anniversary Tour

Friday September 30 – The Zoo, Brisbane / Meanjin
Saturday October 1 – Brunswick Picture House, Brunswick Heads / Bundjalung Country
Thursday October 6 – Lizottes, Newcastle / Awabakal Country
Friday October 7 & Saturday October 8 – The Vanguard, Sydney / Gadigal Country
Sunday October 9 – Kambri at ANU, Canberra / Ngunawal Country
Friday October 14 – Theatre Royal, Castlemaine / Djadjawurung Country
Saturday October 15 – Melbourne Recital Centre / Naarm
Sunday October 16 – Archies Creek Tavern, South Gippsland / Boonwurrung Country

Tickets for all shows are on sale @ 11am Friday July 29 and are available Here

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AMNPLIFY – DB