LUKE HALSTEAD Interview
February 13, 2011
By Lena Lamoray
JERICCO Press Release: From the opening bars of the juggernaut that is their debut self titled EP, it was clear in 2009 that Melbourne based progressive rock outfit Jericco possess a sound and wisdom that is both ancient and eclectic in its origins. It is now 2010 and Jericco are back with their highly anticipated and brilliantly written second EP titled "Nice To See You". This EP will be released Sept 17th and will contain many crowed favorites that the band have included in their set from time to time at the many sold out headline shows and alongside bands such as Karnivool, Mammal, Dead Letter Circus, MM9, Trial Kennedy and many more...Comprising five seasoned and highly respected players, the act features Brent McCormick's distinctive vocal delivery of the band’s haunting lyrics, Roy Amar’s wandering bass lines and mystical Oud (Egyptian Lute), Luke Halstead’s Middle-Eastern inspired percussive grooves, Jordan Nagle’s wall-of-sound guitars and Fetah Sabawi’s imaginative programming and melodic keys. Sabawi joined the band on the back of his success with chart toping heavyweights Superheist and the critically acclaimed Revolucion Street with Mark Hosking from Karnivool. In two years Jericco have managed to cement their name in the national music scene. They have played to rave reviews, have sold out shows in Melbourne and Sydney and have played huge shows in most capital cities. The band's live performances have gone from strength to strength, always aiming to out-do themselves. Jericco's live show is a moving display of musical and technical prowess, delivered with emotion and substance. Every punter carries with them an unforgettable experience, spreading the word after every show. This passion for performing, not to mention a musical and technical prowess, has guaranteed more additions to a rapidly expanding fan base. Proudly independent and self Managed, Jericco have achieved all their successes through hard work and the loyal support of their fans. Adventurous and hard hitting, the recording is a sonic temple beckoning to be explored by any music lover, appealing to both rock instincts and primal Middle Eastern longings. Jericco’s ‘Nice To See You’ available physically and digitally from September 17, 2010 MGM Distribution.
The very intriguing LUKE HALSTEAD, drummer for the Australian band, JERICCO took some time out to chat with me about his band, life, the environment and so much more. Luke has confirmed the ongoing theory, if you want to hang out with the most exciting band member, hunt down the drummer. If you don’t believe me I have two words for you, JOE LETZ from COMBICHRIST. Luke reminds me of Joe in some ways, which makes him the best to converse with. Luke has such an incredible sense of humor and I think that is the most precious trait to posses. It helps you deal with anything that is thrown your way because throughout one’s lifetime things are going to get real and ugly and if you can’t laugh about it you will spend a good portion of your life wallowing in self pity and that gets you nowhere. Luke is awesome and so is JERICCO so read our exclusive interview and if you are lucky enough to be able to catch JERICCO live then do it. They are going to be touring with another Australian band that is near and dear to my heart, SYDONIA.
Lena: How would you describe JERICCO and what are your thoughts on how your band fits into the realm of music in Australia?
Luke Halstead: If I wanted to be a complete wanker, I would describe JERICCO as an alternative/progressive rock band with electronic and Middle Eastern influences. I'm not sure how we fit into the broader spectrum of things other than to say that JERICCO, and a few other bands coming out of Australia, have been exposed to a certain flavor of progressive rock that has come out of oz over the past 10 years, this flavor is uniquely Australian and bands like Cog, The Butterfly Effect and KARNIVOOL have been the mainstays during this time, now a new generation is coming through and we are part of that wave, so everything combined we are melting pot of our musical influences, not only locally, but globally and culturally.
Lena: What can you tell me about your drumming style and who you admire the most as a drummer?
Luke Halstead: I’m primarily self taught, I started bashing on things from a very young age, I was mesmerized by KISS and in particular their mammoth stage shows, and of course the drummer. I have this memory as a kid, I used to grab my mother’s knitting needles and set up pots and pans and just bash the shit out of them with wild abandon. A family friend, who saw how obsessed I was, decided to lend me a kit and it was placed in my mother’s room but I wasn’t allowed to play it all the time. I had no idea of what to do, so I spent most of my time just sitting at it, looking at it obsessed and with this feeling that somewhere inside me was the ability to play these things. At the same time, this fear of what to hit and what to play would literally stop me from touching the drums. Well that all changed the moment I saw the film clip of KISS's, “I Was Made for Loving You”, when it came to the drum fill round the tom's just before the breakdown, well that changed my world. In the film clip not only could I hear the fill but I could see how he was doing it, everything clicked into place right then...so needless to say that my purpose in life at that point was to nail that drum fill. One morning at about 7am I took the drums out into our back yard and started trying to nail this part. The old lady from next door had just had an operation on her throat and had this hole in her throat that you could see and it used to freak me out but she couldn’t talk so she would just make these really scary sounds when she tried. Anyway, I’m drumming for my life in the back yard and I feel what I can only describe as a wet hand slapping the back of my head...I turn round and there she is, propped up on her fence with her garden hose. She was making creepy sounds with her throat, trying to yell at me I guess, whilst hosing me down, the police came and everything. The drums were taken off me and I didn’t pick them up again until years later, but what it showed me for better or worse was the awesome power of drumming, ha, ha, ha, ha. Who I admire the most is ANIMAL from THE MUPPETS. I lived to see him play and when I watched an episode, I would lose it when I saw him play and he has that rage in him that free spirited rock drummers possess. I took one look at him and said to myself, “That’s me”.
Lena: You are going to be playing some gigs with SYDONIA, so can you throw KARNIVOOL into the mix and drive to the United States for me? The drive should not be too bad at all and John Mayer Chinchilla, Anton Spider Chinchilla and Jared Leto Bunny have already given me the thumbs up on having a party at my place.
Luke Halstead: Ha, ha, ha, well I would not DARE consider planting my foot in The States let alone a party at your house without the blessing of the all seeing, all knowing chinchillas and bunny ha, ha, ha, tell you what if it’s on your credit card consider it done (laughing). What can I say, we have had the privilege of touring with both KARNIVOOL and SYDONIA and they are both role models for not only their music but also their ethics as touring bands, and most importantly they are nice guys with nice hair (laughing).
Lena: Speaking of pets, I always have to ask, what do you guys have? Hairy and smelly band mates do not count!
Luke Halstead: Well, we have hairy smelly band mates in abundance, they are not tame enough to be classified as pets and several injections would be required to ensure that certain diseases weren't transferred. Okay, for me there is my housemate’s cat called Paris...we have this relationship where we communicate by hissing at each other pretty much the whole time we are in the same room. She swipes at me and tries to bite me and sometimes she makes out like she want me to pet her and she comes close and when I put out my hand she launches at me, it’s a full trap. Brent (singer) has a cat from Canada that cost him 6 grand to get into the country. It came here was quarantined and then they found out it didn’t have all the paper work. It got sent back, quarantined again, then sent back again than quarantined again, so now it’s totally institutionalized, it basically does laps of the room bumming cigarettes and offering to whack anyone for a small fee. Jordan (guitar), has a dog called nails but I call him balls. He always lays down and spreads his legs and exposes these huge testicles, like when alpha male kangaroos walk past and you say, damn (laughing). Fetah (keyboards) has kids (enough said), and Roy kidnapped a kangaroo from his first outback trip when he arrived from Israel, sorry I will correct that, Roy got the shit beaten out of him by a kangaroo who then made Roy drive it back to his place where he now lives, and where Roy is a kangaroo slave.
Lena: Your singer, Brent McCormick has a fantastic voice and I love that he can actually sing. It is a dying art form in today’s music. That is one of the reasons why I feel in love with SYDONIA, KARNIVOOL and now JERICCO. Tell me a bit about Brent and what he is like to work with.
Luke Halstead: Brent once told me a story of how he was blessed with the gift of singing, he was lost out in the Australian desert for days and he didn’t have food or water and had lost all sense of direction. His mouth and throat had dried up so much that he couldn’t swallow and could hardly breathe, so he lay down to surrender to death's warm embrace and right at that moment he claims that about 7 angels flew down from heaven and stood around his head and proceeded to pee in his mouth. That is what saved his life, hence the expression that when Brent sings it’s like angels pissed on his tonsils...coz they literally have.......true story. Brent is one of the most beautifully spirited people I have ever met, in his lyrics, in the way he sings and in the way he engages with a crowd. He invites you in, wears everything on his sleeve, and in doing so dares you to let go enough to do the same, to not stand there as an observer but to let go and participate as the crowd should. That is what makes for magic in a show, when there is that transference of energy between the crowd and the band. Brent has a great way of creating and maintaining that experience for all of us at a show, he is a very engaging front man ...us musos at the back aren't too bad either (laughing).
Lena: Your music reminds me a bit of my favorite AFI album, SING THE SORROW. What bands have you been compared to?
Luke Halstead: Thank you, AFI are an amazing band, unfortunately there is a culture of comparison that exists, whilst I certainly don’t mind people comparing us in their bid to describe us but the risk of us being pegged or shrugged off as a rip off of something else, and it has happened in the past. I will give you an example, our bass player Roy learned to play music on an Egyptian lute, certain technique and certain scales etc, he then went on to play bass guitar and adapted that technique to his playing. Well, what comes out is something that could be likened to a tool type sound and most people being ignorant of his history would just peg him as a tool rip off when his history is far more interesting. We have been compared to TOOL, KARNIVOOL, COG, DEAD LETTER CIRCUS, OPETH, MUSE, THE TEA PARTY and PORCUPINE TREE, to name a few.
Lena: You went on tour with a nasty injury, so can you talk about what you concentrated on to be able to play through the pain?
Luke Halstead: Yeah, I had a 70kg piece of steel crush my foot at work. I work construction and spend 5 days a week dressed as one of the village people. Yeah it hurt, it swelled up like a tennis ball and there was a bit of blood. I was taken to hospital and all I was thinking was that we had a launch in less than a week and a tour and I had work, and that I had broken my foot and to say goodbye to it all. Luckily for me there was no break, but my foot was put in a cast and I had to rest up. It meant no playing, no rehearsals and no work. There was just no way I could do that, there was no way I could play the songs properly or with any conviction. I did what I would not recommend to anyone, I ripped off the plaster after 2 days and rehearsed with the band everyday to be prepared and conditioned enough to get through the set. We played 2 shows in 2 states in 2 days, both of them launches for our second EP, " Nice to See You", and I/we got through, it wasn’t ideal but we pulled it off and I think the crowd got what they came for, and that was the most important thing, I think. Needless to say, there were a butt load of pain killers involved as well (laughing).
Lena: I was just reading about koalas becoming extinct within thirty years due to overdevelopment, climate change and the Chlamydia outbreak, so how are you going to help the koalas out? I am putting you in charge so you better have some ideas!
Luke Halstead: Well Lena that is quite a responsibility for someone who has trouble getting out of bed in the morning, hmm what can I do?...clear myself of Chlamydia?...stop having sex with koalas?... I think the challenge for all of us is to stop being arm chair activists, politicians, protesters, and conspiracy theorists. How many of us have discussions at work, on the bus, at home and at the pub, about the state of things in the world, in these forums we all have answers, and theories about change but nothing changes if you don’t do anything so, get off your ass and do something. Whether it’s a coin donation, planting a tree or not having sex with a koala whilst you have got an STD, do one thing. JERICCO is a band of mixed race and we have an Israeli and a Palestinian in the band. Roy (Israel), Fetah (Palestine), and guess what, Fetah is our manager as well as keys, so he gets to tell Roy what to do, go figure. I am from New Zealand and have a sheep fetish. Brent and Jordan, we have no idea where they are from but Jordan I’m pretty sure is a hobbit. All I know is that the power of music doesn't discriminate, it doesn't care if you’re a koala or a hobbit. If people are open and willing enough, music enables us all to leave our bullshit at the door and come together united in sharing in the experience that music can give us and hopefully motivate change in us, whether it be on a personal level or on a global level.
Lena: What would you like to accomplish on a personal level and in JERICCO within the next couple of years?
Luke Halstead: I think we have very realistic attainable goals as a band. We obviously want to broaden our listening base, want to tour more extensively, would love to get overseas, develop our song writing skills, record a full length release and grow as musicians and as a band. We are signed to MGM for distribution but the bulk of our sales come from shows and we have a fantastic relationship with our booking agent, New World Artists, who are supporting us as we grow as a band and give us amazing opportunities. We are very, very fortunate that we have someone in the band that is willing to take up a management position. Fetah Sabawi, our keyboardist has done an amazing job. He played in a huge Australian new metal band back in the day called Super Heist, they were massive in this country. Fetah brings all the experience from those years with him, we do almost everything in house and independently and we want to reach that next level where by the band is paying for its self completely.
Lena: What do your fans get treated to when they take in one of your live shows?
Luke Halstead: I think what people get is a very genuine experience. It’s not contrived, and it isn't cabaret, it is a Technicolor Dream Coat experience of music, lights, passion and emotion. It’s very engaging, we are there making eye contact and playing our songs directly to you giving all of our energy to you in the hope of getting the same in return, and boy do we get it in return, it's not all airy fairy like I have just described we are a heavy energetic band as well, we just don’t have as many razor blade moments as some others, I guess.
Lena: What are a few things that I should never say to an Australian and why?
Luke Halstead: Never say “cook a shrimp on the Barbie” coz no one actually does that (laughing). Don’t make references to “Crocodile Dundee” or “Kangaroo Jack” because Australia certainly didn’t make them spokes people for who or what we are. Never call anyone a wanker, a sheila, or a poofter...oh and if you want to win the heart of a beautiful Australian woman, (and they are gorgeous), you have to fight a kangaroo and wrestle a croc...good luck with that.
Lena: Tell me about meat pies.
Luke Halstead: Meat pies are basically a pie full of minced meat and gravy, and is part of a stable diet of any true Australian (apparently)...um they may be the equivalent of the hot dog in America? Anyway, the meat pie is not something to be discussed it is something to be experienced.
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