Interview: Poison Oak

[gallery type="slideshow" link="none" size="full" ids="122642,122643"]

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today? Back when I was in school, I tore my ACL in my knee. I couldn’t play sport for a long time… so I took up music and continued from there.

What do you like to do when you're not playing music and how does that influence your creativity? I play a fair bit of sport, all of us in the band have a fair range of hobbies. Some more include watching films, camping. I guess anything is influential to your music because music is an expression of your experience of life. Lately, I have been getting into a lot of crime podcasts. 

How long has your band been around? It’s still early days. We started jamming for fun for about 3 -4 months. Then we decided to become a band. So I guess all up around a year and a half now

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you.

The name is from Bright Eyes song, “Poison Oak”. I guess it means there is a lot of emphasis of the lyrics and the makeup of the lyrics. I guess Bright Eyes is well regard for their lyrical brilliance, and in Poison Oak, we try to captivate a little bit of that.

Tell me about the best and worst shows you have played.

Best show I ever played was with a band called the Bacchanales, at festival called Valley Fiesta. The venue we were playing in was so packed, that it felt like the stage was moving every time they jumped. Worst show would have been hmmm… There was this bar in Brisbane called the Caxton Hotel, (not sure if it is there anymore), literally playing to no one, just the room, in the middle of the day.

Tell me about your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you haven't already?

Favourite venue would have to be the Zoo in Brisbane Australia or the Beresford Hotel in Sydney Australia

If you could play any show with any lineup who would be on the ticket?

If you asked me this 7 years ago I’m sure I give you a list of well known rock bands. But now, my friends band would be more than enough, some include Ghost College. However, well known bands would be Violent Soho and Powderfinger.   

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band?

Have no expectations, the reason you are doing this is for fun and enjoyment right? As soon as you have high expectations, you kinda of lose the point you started doing this in the first place.  

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

Don’t drive through the swamp river, on the dingo island. I’ll know what I’m talking about. 

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why? 

Start Again, probably or maybe A Little Time. Start Again sort of signifies the start of the band as well, as a turn around in different thinking. It’s about restarting from where you left off and changing things for the better. It’s always been a powerful one. 

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most? Feeling Numb On Sundays, is always a band favourite to play and people usually like it a lot. 

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

 Most of the time I’ll bring a half-cooked idea, and then everyone will start laying there parts down. Then we sort go through each section, working out what instrument is doing what, so it all melds in correctly. I guess we’re pretty methodical about it, but it’s also we enjoy doing the most. 

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

Messages about everyday life, love, work, relationships, people, just the regular ups and downs we all experience in life. Just painting a picture through words.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

Not really, we may disagree about how a certain song is structured. But nothing serious, I guess we all live pretty full lives, so we don’t really get stuck on things in the band. 

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that's coming up? We are about to release our next EP, 1996 in March of 2021, and our next single Sarah will be out in February, so keep an eye for it.