The totally far out British India

The Melbourne Rock and Roll scene is stronger than ever before. Jet and The Living End have recently returned from a whirlwind tour of the U.S., and it is incredibly evident that there are more local bands making a mark at home and abroad than ever before. According to their press release, Melbourne rock and roll quartet, BRITISH INDIA “observed their rise with a twisted smile. It may not be their time right at this very second. But their time would come.” With the way they’re traveling at the moment, their time is closer than we can all imagine.

Recently, nakeddwarf.com.au spoke with vocalist Declan Melia about everything from Harry Vanda to Ravi Shankar.

So, I can hear all of you asking, “But why are they called BRITISH INDIA?”

Well friends, it’s funny you should ask that. Declan put it down to an influential mixture of Rudyard Kipling, George Harrison and Ravi Shankar. Sound complicated? Maybe. Perhaps the simpler answer would come from Declan’s tales of how the boys pillaged the local guitar store.

“We were all unemployed, and what little money we did have was quickly spent on cask wine and bob Dylan discs, so when musical equipment was required we were forced to steal. This started off innocently enough, a guitar pick here and there, guitar strings maybe, but like all vices our thievery quickly expanded to tuners, effect pedals and acoustic guitars.

"Upon joining the group soon after Matt proved only a corrupting influence on our already sliding social principles, we began stealing things we didn't need; stools, clocks and even part of a mixing desk that we found not only un-useful but also unintelligible. (This) seemed to mirror pax Britannica’s century of abusing the Indian people and geography. The name was also a good choice because its simply a great name for a band, the words British and India coupled together evoke many different responses from many different people, its also far out. You know like far out.”

The sound the boys get is quite “far out”. Often compared vocally to Swedish cousins in rock and roll, The Hives, Declan explained “My voice often gets likened to (Howlin’) Pelle's (Almqvist) which I find most flattering, the references never bother us because we feel confident that when the masses hear the rest of our music they'll see that most of our songs aren’t quite so, well, “Hivesish” and that we employ of lots of different styles and sounds.”

All that’s left now is for the masses to hear their music, and who better to help them than Harry Vanda, former Easybeat, who has recently finished working with the boy sin the studio on their new EP.

“Working with Harry was great for every reason that could be considered relevant. The sessions were always relaxed, creative and funny… Harry has a great way of getting the best out of us in the studio, for example when I was doing a vocal take he would tell me to 'sing it like you were singing to your worst enemy' or 'try and break some one’s heart', which makes things a lot more easy and fun, we're a very high energy band anyway and Harry has been great at getting that to translate in the studio.”

From two humble Melbourne kids playing Blur covers in the kitchen, to a feisty Rock and Roll quartet selling out shows at Melbourne icon, The Duke of Windsor and recording an EP with Rock God, Harry Vanda, there must be something very special about the bond the boys have, and it must take a very strong unit not to become overwhelmed.

“We cope with it quite well and it’s never been overwhelming, we tend to take things quite slowly from our perspective and everything builds gradually. We just count ourselves as lucky and carry on kicking the shit.”

The boys have recently scored two very impressive tour spots, more recently with FAKER, but the prized spot on the TAMBALANE tour is a bit more random, and as it turns out, ever so useful.

“There was a lot of difference in our sound. Their management asked us if we'd like to do it and we were at a stage where we really wanted to play some far out shows so we accepted immediately and it was the best thing we ever did. It was our first (national) tour and we came out the other end a different band, we had like ten new songs. Being stuffed into a van for a month is great for the creative juices.

“When ever we're unlucky enough to be cornered by a veteran Melbourne rocker we're repeatedly told (in a most stereotypical fashion) how easy we have it and how different it was back in the old days, and we appreciate that as being the case (even if it is tedious to hear repeated). But we also have noticed an increase of young beautiful people on the Melbourne scene, which is great to see, and great to play to. Exposure wise Melbourne has been great, take a look and compare Melbourne’s gig guides to Sydney’s or Adelaide’s and its clear that our scene is bigger and better, so it makes sense that the bigger scene would provide the most exposure. BRITISH INDIA has been whispered in the trendiest back alleys and most exclusive art galleries.”

If the boys have their way, it won’t be long ‘til everyone else is shouting their name.

The new Harry Vanda produced EP, COUNTER CULTURE, will be in stores from the 25th October. Mark that into your diary.

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