Dune Rats

Official press release: “With a one-two sucker punch that beats the word count of the Ramones call to arms Hey Ho, Let’s Go by two words, DUNE RATS new single ‘Fuck It’ is set to become the anthem of a new rock generation!

Already sounding suspiciously like a classic ‘Fuck It’ storms the barricades and does the business in two minutes flat, leaving even an ADHD affected generation in no doubt that they are indeed in the presence of greatness!

With nary enough time to catch a breath after their recent national tour of duty with the Bleeding Knees Club, Dune Rats will take ‘Fuck It’ to the streets throughout May in what will be their first ever headline tour. The song also marks the production debut of Last Dinosaurs’ front person (and part time Dune Rats bassist) Sean Caskey.

The ‘Fuck It’ tour will be as short and as perfectly formed as the song itself…a shambolic and fun fuelled five-date adventure through Coolangatta, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide intent on mobilising the hordes of Dune Rats fans left unwashed and somewhat slightly dazed in the wake of their previous shows with Bleeding Knees Club and international hipsters such as The Drums, Cults, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti and Best Coast.

A halcyon call to arms it encapsulates all that has been good about rock&roll since 1976 – from the heady days of punk rock through to the fuzz-pop sounds of the UK in the mid-eighties, the slacker ideals of Pavement and the raw energy of Nirvana.

‘Fuck It’ released on Monday 7 May and is the lead song from the bands upcoming EP due for release in June.”

Danny – guitar/vocals reveals more about what you unsuspecting people can expect from Dune Rats!

As this will be the first time a lot of our readers may have been introduced to Dune Rats, let’s start with the basics first, when did the first band get together and what was the inspiration behind the band name Dune Rats?
We got together a bit under 2 years ago, we’d  head out to the valley to drink and watch/play shows with our previous bands so eventually had a few nights drunk and talking shit to each other about how we could start a band. We’d meet up like on a Thursday/Friday/Saturday night and  jam at a studio close to the valley so we could walk in afterwards… and from there it sort of just grew.

Can you introduce each member of the band and give us a rock ‘n’ roll fact or myth about each?
I play guitar/vocals and BC plays drums/vocals. Prior to Dune Rats, BC was in a duo cover band named ACBC. My first ever mash up was La Bamba and Jingle Bells.

You have twenty seconds in an elevator to try and convince someone to listen to your music, without resorting to threats or violence, what do you tell them?
Listen to this person in elevator, it’ll make you feel like telling the man upstairs to go fuck himself.

In terms of song writing, what do you consider to be the most important elements that feature in a Dune Rats song?
The two of us singing about the shit going on around us and at the same time trying to be a little cooler at our instruments. We like to keep things fun and loose and always looking to change things around so it isn’t stale. I think writing the same fucking song over and over again is for fucking hacks.

Over the course of the bands evolution, what and/or who have you found inspires and influences your music the most, in both a lyrical and musical sense?
Lyrically it’s always about what’s going on at the moment with the band or us personally. Musically though it’ll be whatever mood we are in but we don’t play unless we feel like it so I guess it always turns out happy and chilled. We’ve always liked songs by The Ramones because they just had a feel for it, bashed it out and it worked…all in under under 2 minutes.

You have a new single and video titled ‘Fuck It’ what do you have to tell us about the concept behind the song?
I’m more into the idea of each person taking it how they want to, but I guess there’s an underlying notion of saying fuck off to anything or anyone that isn’t making you feel right.

Coming up next month will be your EP release, for those digging ‘Fuck It’ and itching to check out more, what can they expect from your EP?
Lots of different songs whilst still maintaining being the Dune Rats. We’ve had a heap of fun on this EP so we think it’ll show.

You hail from the Brisbane, Australia.  For the benefit of those in galaxies far, far, away…what do you have to say about the rock scene in Brisbane at the moment and Dune Rats place within it?
We think its pretty good in Brisbane, we don’t know our place but we feel comfortable here. All our mates who are in bands like Last Dinosaurs, Millions, Gung Ho, DZ Deathrays and heaps more are here too! Early on all of us would help each other out to get shows or to make sure we could tour other cities. Now it’s awesome because when we’re all back home everyone is doing other projects and helping each other out with how to tour better etc so yeah its pretty creative and supportive in Brisbane at the moment.

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?
Those chicks fucking rocked cunt.

Gigs, gigs, gigs… do you have any coming up that you wanted to tell us all about?
We start our single tour this week and that will be through Gold Coast, Brisbane, and Sydney. The next week is Melbourne and Adelaide.

With 2012 already four months down, here’s a chance to gaze into your crystal ball.  By the end of 2012, Dune Rats, will have:
1. Gone overseas
2. Released an EP
3. Pissed off some people.