Official Bio: “My Dynamite is more than just another Rock n Roll band. My Dynamite is akin to a monolithic orb of white light and electric energy. A congregation of highly tuned frequencies that weave and dance across your inner mind. A living temple of radiant power. A vehicle, for the Shining Ones to manifest into your astral plane, to uplift and rid you of burden and sorrow, and ultimately make you wanna shake your ass!”
Let’s start with the basics first, when did the first band get together and what was the inspiration behind the band name My Dynamite?
We first got together sometime around the summer of 2008. After a few lineup changes and spending a bit of time honing our sound we came to what’s now known as My Dynamite. We like to think of the term “My Dynamite” as being a way to describe a certain energy or life force that flows through us all. A “mojo” if you will.
Can you introduce each member of the band and give us a rock ‘n’ roll fact or myth about each?
Simon Aarons: Drums. Races vintage Alfa Romeos in his spare time.
Benny Wolf: Guitar. Nickname “The Bloodhound”. I cannot tell you why.
Trav Fraser: Bass. Budding stand up comedian and naturist.
Jorge Balas: Guitar. Once shot down a plane by pointing at it and saying, “BANG!”
(me) Pat Carmody: Vocals. Keen waterskier and master of interpretive dance.
80% of that is fact.
You have twenty seconds in an elevator to try and convince someone to listen to your brand spanking new debut album, without resorting to threats or violence, what do you tell them?
I’d just tell them the truth. That My Dynamite’s debut album makes you smarter, more attractive and gives you the power of flight.
Speaking of your album, looking back on the whole process of creating it, what did you find to be the most enjoyable aspects of the journey?
As much as we’re a band that’s all about the live show we also love being in the studio. We are pretty lucky in that Simon (drums) is a studio engineer and we were able to do the majority of the recording ourselves and do it exactly how we wanted. We had a great time experimenting with different mic techniques etc and we learnt a lot of little tricks along the way that we’ll take with us to album number 2.
In terms of song writing, what do you consider to be the most important ingredients that need to feature in a My Dynamite song?
Number one ingredient has got to be the groove. We’re all about making people want to dance so when we’re jammin’ something, usually my first question is, “can I dance to that?”. When I look out in to the crowd and I can see everyone moving in some way, I know we’re doing our job right.
Speaking of songs, here’s a few of our favourites from your debut album, can you give us a bit of a background to each…
Dirty Game – This was written about a girl we know that used to hang at a bar in Melbourne that we frequent, Cherry Bar. This person was the kinda chick that just went out to be seen and always shooting her mouth off about how great she is and tried to shoot people down to feel better about herself. At the end of the day “does anybody care, does anybody give a damn?”
Raise Your Glasses – This has got to be the closest thing to a flat out party anthem we’ve got. It’s purely to get your hands in the air, scream the chorus at the top of your lungs and have a great time. Everyone likes that feeling right?
Singing Stormy Weather – This one was written about a friend of a friend who really hit hard times and was basically living on the streets. I guess the song’s about braving the storm and just keeping up the fight and one day you’ll come out of it. And she did.
Over the course of the bands evolution, what or who have you found inspires and influences your music the most, in both a lyrical and musical sense?
As cliché as it sounds, life is the biggest inspiration. You only need to walk through the city, watch the news or hang out in a bar for a while to see countless life stories unfolding around you. It’s just a matter of remembering to write them down as you see them.
Musically we try to take influence from anywhere and everywhere while still keeping the My Dynamite sound along the bluesy rock n roll line.
Hypothetically speaking of course, if you could travel back in time (or into the future even, say tomorrow….) and play your music to any one of your musical heroes, who would it be and why?
I’d probably go right back to someone like Robert Johnson. Someone like him who had no idea that he’d go on to influence millions of people throughout the world. His music influenced other blues players who influenced the first rock n roll players who are influencing today’s rock n roll players. It’d probably freak him out a bit, haha!
You hail from Melbourne, arguably the rock capital of Australia…for the benefit of those in galaxies far, far, away…what do you have to say about the Melbourne rock scene at the moment and My Dynamite’s place within it?
The Melbourne rock scene is alive and well and has been for some time. There’s an abundance of great talent around and no shortage of venues willing to give you a gig. Compared to other music scenes there’s definitely heaps of mutual respect and love between bands and there’s no stepping on whoever you can to get to the top. Everyone is doing their thing cause they love it and it’s something we can all relate to.
If you were a person in the crowd at one of your gigs, what five words would you walk away using to describe the performance you just witnessed?
Fun, energetic, passionate, soulful, sexy!
Gigs, gigs, gigs…do My Dynamite have any coming up that you wanted to tell the people about, if so here’s your chance!
We’re playing on the main stage at Cherry Rock, April 29th AC/DC lane Melbourne. We’re on at 1:15pm so be sure to get down early.
Then we’re putting on a big album launch gig/party on 19th May at The John Curtin, Lygon St, Melbourne. That’s going to be a big night with an extra long set including full “big band” with keys, horn section and two lovely ladies on back up vocals. Going to be a great show!
With 2012 already a couple of months down, here’s a chance to gaze into your crystal ball. By the end of 2012, My Dynamite will have:
1. …starded pre-production for album number 2
2. A European tour planned or even underway
3. A continuingly growing number of fans who love to shake their hips and have a good time with us!
Check out our review of the bands debut album My Dynamite right here…
Essential Information
From: Melbourne, Australia
Sounds like: A whole lotta hip shaking rock ‘n’ roll!
Band members: Patrick Carmody – Lead Vocals, Jorge Balas – Guitar, Travis Fraser – Bass, Simon Aarons – Drums, Benny Wolf – Guitar
Website: http://mydynamite.net
Latest release: My Dynamite (26 March 2012, Listenable Records)
