JON STOCKMAN - Bass player with KARNIVOOL
How
did you get your start in the music industry?
We developed
a profile in Perth by playing plenty of gigs with other Perth acts and that got
us our own fan base and a good relationship with everyone in the Perth scene.
We got a bit of attention winning the National Campus Band's Perth Final and that
lead us to be able to get some fairly decent supports for international acts such
as Fear Factory, Sepultura, Strapping Young Lad and Soulfly (national). The national
support helped a lot and was the first time we got to really play in front of
decent crowds on the east coast. It was the Cog tour of 2005, however, that really
allowed us an in-road to the east coast, playing a lot of shows with quite substantial
crowds. After that our national profile developed into what we have now.
Best
part of the job?
Um, playing music for a 'living'? Although,
we often have to supplicate that with other income streams but we do get to see
a lot of places we wouldn't get to see if we weren't touring in the band. Also
drinking on the job is pretty good too!
Worst part of the
job?
There's not a hell of a lot of money in music, but
none of us are in it for that anyway. Some of the tours can be pretty gruelling
as well, putting up with 5 or more guys in a van day in day out can get pretty
stifling and the non-stop unloading/loading/driving can be a bit shithouse, but
a cup of concrete normally helps to remedy the pain.
Any
interesting experiences you can share?
The U.S. tour we
did in Oct-Dec of 2007 was full of eye-opening experiences, just seeing the country
first-hand and being in each others faces for 9 weeks really was a challenge.
One of the most comical parts of the trip was the tour van. I mean, it stank pretty
bad when we first jumped into it at LAX, but it was horrendous by the end. And
also, it slowly fell apart over the course of the 9 weeks. A side window flew
off for no reason across the state of Texas, it was the beginning of a multitude
of 'events' that transpired; we had flat tyres, the sliding door stopped opening
and we had to pile in through shotgun, the in-built DVD/TV caught on fire, even
the engine seized, a point at which we thought we'd finally killed the van. I
think we all felt a little sorry for it when we left it at the airport, neither
us nor it were the same since.
Favourite CD of all time
and why?
Hmm, that's a tough one for me, I'm really not
sure, but it would definitely be out of Pantera's 'Far Beyond Driven' (because
it's such a monster of a release) Jeff Buckley's 'Grace' (because the song-writing
and lyrics are so amazing) or Radiohead's 'OK Computer', because as a teenager,
I liked purely heavy bands and they were the first band to expand the genres of
music that I listened to.
Tell us about the best live show
that you ever saw?
Probably Tool on the Lateralus tour
at Perth Entertainment Centre. Was a huge show, hadn't seen them before and it
was the first time I'd seen a band do a 'performance' rather than a 'gig'. Was
truly an audio-visual-sensory experience.
Favourite bars/clubs/pubs
to hang out in?
In Perth, if it's going to be a big night,
probably Black Betty's! For socialising, I really dig either Hula Bula or Devilles
Pad. Other than that, Clancy's Fish Pub on Canning Highway has Mango beer from
Broome, only pub in Perth that I've found that serves it. Great summer beer!
Take
us through a typical "day in the life of Karnivool".
It
varies depending on what time we're spending together, but since the most recent
stuff has been pre-production, I'll look at that perspective. Ok so we would get
to the studio and listen to unfinished tracks a couple of times. Stop and discuss
what we need to do. Listen again, go to the jam room and try to write either new
bits or work the bits we've got to link to other parts that we may want them to
go into. If that works (average once every 2.5 weeks), we'll record it and put
it in the song. If it doesn't, we may:
a) get a 6-pack
b)
play cricket
c) watch DVD on Hos's laptop
d) jam drum and bass/funk (Steve
and Jono only)
e) try writing a new song
f) go and annoy another band that's
jamming there, usually Gyroscope
g) listen to unfinished tracks again and then
start at a)
What advice would you give to someone looking
at getting involved in the music industry?
If you want
your band to be noticed, give the audience a show that they will want to come
back for, make every show as important as the next, it's the only way you're going
to spark an interest and get a following. And practice a lot. Rehearsals as a
band are the most important thing, and don't be afraid to pull each other up on
ways to make yourself better as a whole.
Any news or final
comments?
No, just that we're very, very, relieved to have
the new album out. It has been an enormous effort for all of us and it's great
to have it finished finally!
Karnivool's
new album 'Sound Awake' is out now!
© Danny Canak
