{"id":18515,"date":"2013-10-12T13:54:05","date_gmt":"2013-10-12T02:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=18515"},"modified":"2013-10-12T13:54:05","modified_gmt":"2013-10-12T02:54:05","slug":"suze-demarchi-of-baby-animals-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2013\/10\/suze-demarchi-of-baby-animals-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Suze DeMarchi of Baby Animals"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\n<\/a>\u201cI was just doing that because I wanted to do it, and we\u2019re very lucky as we\u2019ve always had a very loyal fan base, they\u2019re quite rabid our fans, they stick there, they want more and they never sway, so they\u2019re reliable.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Tour Release: Since exploding onto the scene in 1991 with the release of their first single, Early Warning<\/em>, Baby Animals have become one of Australia\u2019s most successful rock outfits. Their eponymous album spent six weeks at No. 1 in Australia, going eight times platinum and becoming the highest-selling debut Australian rock album until the release of Jet\u2019s album 12 years later. The band toured internationally and struck up friendships with music legends Van Halen, Robert Plant, Paul Rodgers, and Bryan Adams. This Is Not The End<\/em>, <\/em><\/strong>the band\u2019s first full-length release since 1993, marked a return to the charts. It made its debut at number 19 on the ARIA Album Chart and number three on the Australian Album Chart when released.<\/p>\n

We chatted to Suze DeMarchi of the Baby Animals about their newest album \u2018This Is Not The End\u2019, their upcoming \u2018Feed The Birds\u2019 tour and how so long away has helped the band\u2026<\/p>\n

Twenty years for a new Baby Animals album\u2026 what took so long?<\/strong>
\nWell you know I went and had children and it took us about eight years to get off the label we were on and we couldn\u2019t record anyway, so it was kind of good to have a bit of a break and raise my kids a little bit because it\u2019s hard to do both, it\u2019s a bit too crazy with touring and everything. I did the solo record and I think the actual catalyst was doing the acoustic record kind of lit the fire under us again, and when I moved back to Australia that was Dave and I saying, well now that I\u2019m back here let\u2019s go crazy and get some songs and see how we go and we just kept working until we had enough songs, well the right songs\u2026<\/p>\n

The title, what was the idea behind calling the album \u2018This Is Not The End\u2019?<\/strong>
\nActually that was the name of a song that I wrote for the album and it didn\u2019t make it on the album\u2026 but when we were thinking and looking for different album titles I really liked it as an album title, I thought well it\u2019s good, it really doesn\u2019t mean, it can mean anything, it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean this is not the end of the band, it\u2019s such a nice image on the cover and it could mean various things so we leave that up to the interpreter basically.<\/p>\n

With some of the songs around for a little while, when you had these a few years back, did you have any idea that you\u2019d be using them on an album to be released in 2013?<\/strong>
\nWell we always hoped I guess, and we put them on because a song like \u2018Stitch\u2019 that\u2019s been around for a while, it never got to be recorded properly and we wanted to make sure that we did that properly and that it got a bit of a Guernsey as well. \u2018Got It Bad\u2019 I guess, we hoped that they\u2019d all be on an album, these days you know albums are starting to fade away a little bit you know? It\u2019s a strange old music business these days and you can kind of do things the way you want to do them now I guess, that whole format of the ten song album or the twelve song album is sort of not the case anymore. YouTube is the biggest marketing tool there is\u2026 biggest media asset there is\u2026<\/p>\n

Well hopefully it\u2019ll come back one day\u2026<\/strong>
\nI know\u2026 I doubt it; don\u2019t get your hopes up\u2026<\/p>\n

There is a vinyl resurgence at the moment though which I\u2019m loving\u2026.<\/strong>
\nYeah, I know, but it\u2019s not really, it\u2019s never going to come back like it used to, there\u2019s just no way. People have so much easier access and cheaper other areas, streaming is it for the young kids, they don\u2019t even know vinyl, vinyl is a resurgence that seems to be hitting the thirty year old market. Kids sort of knew they were around but never really got the chance to listen to music that way, that\u2019s sort of a cool thing but it\u2019s a novelty\u2026<\/p>\n

The album is in a way a bit more subdued than the rockier Baby Animals we all grew up with, is this testament to the place you are in today?<\/strong>
\nI disagree, I think it\u2019s quite heavy this album, there\u2019s a lot of it that\u2019s equally as heavy as the first record, and I think maybe the difference is the slower ones are a lot less produced and a lot slower, maybe a little bit lighter. Like \u2018One Word\u2019 I may consider a bit a slower pop song, but this album has slow ones like \u2018Warm Bodies\u2019 and \u2018Stitch\u2019 so they\u2019re really light, but the heavy ones are really heavy, \u2018Hot Air Balloon\u2019 is heavy, \u2018Got It Bad\u2019 is heavy, I think \u2018Email\u2019, \u2018Bonfires\u2019, \u2018Under Your Skin\u2019 is one of the heaviest songs we\u2019ve ever written\u2026 *laughs* I think we always like to do a good mix of heavy and soft and there\u2019s a good combo of that.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Don\u2019t get me wrong, I loved it\u2026<\/strong>
\nThat\u2019s OK, a couple of people have said that to me but I don\u2019t necessarily agree with it because when I listen to it I think \u2018fuck that\u2019s pretty heavy.\u2019<\/p>\n

Were you at all worried about being away for so long and if in a way, anyone would care again?<\/strong>
\nYeah a little bit, in a way I wasn\u2019t doing it for that anyway, I was just doing that because I wanted to do it, and we\u2019re very lucky as we\u2019ve always had a very loyal fan base, they\u2019re quite rabid our fans, they stick there, they want more and they never sway, so they\u2019re reliable. I think you really have to do it for yourself no matter what, it\u2019s such a different level to the first album which was nuts, but that\u2019s Ok too.<\/p>\n

How has the addition of Dario and Mick helped to make the band what it is at the moment?<\/strong>
\nWell Mick we\u2019ve been playing for for about four years now and he\u2019s just a really easy dude to be with and I like his style, he reminds me of Mick Fleetwood a bit, and what he brings is his solid playing, he\u2019s very easy, he\u2019s an easy character to be around, he\u2019s hilarious and he\u2019s very loyal too, he\u2019s brilliant to work with. Dario, he\u2019s just a master of the bass, he\u2019s been around forever, we\u2019ve known him for a long time, he\u2019s such an amazing player, he could play anything really, and he just seemed to fit with what we were doing and the difference is that we all kind of like hanging around each other a little bit, so it helps when touring.<\/p>\n

Your live show has not suffered in any way, in fact your show at the Standard earlier this year was one of the best I\u2019ve ever seen you play, what is it about this band that shines on the stage?<\/strong>
\nWe just get this energy on stage that I don\u2019t know how many bands have it, I think that\u2019s what you need to have in a band, and I think as Dave and I have played together for so long that there\u2019s a real knowing and you can just enjoy yourself and get into what you\u2019re doing and just know that the right by your side and you don\u2019t have to worry about what they\u2019re playing or maybe they\u2019re playing something wrong, or whatever it is. I\u2019ve seen so many band implode because they\u2019re mad at the guitar player for playing something different, you know what I mean? We\u2019ve never had that, I get blown away by what he\u2019s playing every night and having that dynamic creates that kind of real solidarity on stage. Maybe that\u2019s it\u2026<\/p>\n

Not to mention that your voice is sounding better than ever by the way\u2026<\/strong>
\nOh thanks, thanks, I had a nice break, I needed to you know. I\u2019m feeling great, I feel vocally better than ever. Actually it\u2019s weird, I was in rehearsal yesterday and I felt really strong vocally, and back in the day I would\u2019ve been struggling, so I think it was good to me to have a bit of a break *laughs* and now I use inner ears and that makes my life a lot better.<\/p>\n

Well that\u2019s good because you\u2019ve got a run of shows coming up on the \u2018Feed The Birds\u2019 tour, what can fans expect if they come out to see you play?<\/strong>
\nOooh! It\u2019s going to be along show too, I think we\u2019re trying to do all the songs the fans have asked for, something like twenty three songs we might be doing. A long set, give them what they want, tell them to bring lunch, pack a snack\u2026<\/p>\n

You also have Steve Balbi opening for you guys\u2026<\/strong>
\nHe is, yeah, we love Steve, he\u2019s a good man he\u2019s a great musician and we feel very lucky to have him on board too.<\/p>\n

I do have to ask about the tour name \u2018Feed The Birds\u2019 is that a specific reference to something?<\/strong>
\nFeed the birds came about from one show where I accidentally on purpose started feeding one of the girls up the front the red wine that I\u2019ve just had a big mouthful of, so I obliged her and gave her a bit of the red wine out of my mouth and then it became feeding the birds and because they look like little birds when they\u2019re standing there and I don\u2019t know why they let me do it but they do. It\u2019s nuts but I love it, so that\u2019s where that came from\u2026 *laughs*<\/p>\n

On that show, I got to see yourself and Sarah McLeod do \u2018Boys In Town\u2019 by The Divinyls, obviously Chrissy had just passed, how much of an influence was she on you?<\/strong>
\nWell I remember seeing those guys play when I was in Perth and I remember thinking, wow, she\u2019s got balls that chick and she was all over the stage a little bit demonic, she was really impressive and I think her song writing skills were really great too,\u00a0 as an influence on that sort of level, yes, but The Divinyls weren\u2019t really a band I listened to in my downtime, they were always there in my periphery though and I always admired her and always admired her relationship with Mark the guitar player and the way that dynamic was, every band needs that you know? I loved her vocal style so always had great respect for her and I worked with her a few years ago when we did the Australian Symphony Rock thing and she was really sweet and we both kind of trying to do the same thing, get past the boundaries of trying to be a girl in rock, without really making a big deal of it, it\u2019s not really, I don\u2019t think it was a big deal to her, it\u2019s just what she did. We just needed to honour her and we still need to honour her and it was really nice that Sarah came down and we got to do something together. She died too young you know? She was a real trooper man, she was a brave soul, a brave woman, she was sick when we were doing that tour and she hobbled on stage every night and was brilliant and it\u2019s tough to do that, expose yourself like that when you\u2019re that sick, but I knew she was struggling but she went for it and it was amazing to watch actually.<\/p>\n

Do you still have a favourite song to sing live?<\/strong>
\nMy God\u2026 I do have, I really love \u2018Under Your Skin\u2019 the new one, I love doing \u2018Warm Bodies\u2019 live, \u2018Stitch\u2019 is great too as it has an amazing kind of build. I really love doing \u2018Early Warning\u2019 still\u2026 in fact we\u2019re going to do a bunch of old ones we haven\u2019t done in years and years on this tour that people have requested.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s so awesome to me that songs like \u2018Rush You\u2019 and \u2018Early Warning\u2019 still get radio play up against modern music coming out, what do you think it is about what you created that still stands up after all this time?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t know, I think really it\u2019s about melodies isn\u2019t it? If people can sing along to something, people want to keep hearing it and I think that those songs got hammered so much back in the day that you remember them.<\/p>\n

What does 2014 have in store for the Baby Animals?<\/strong>
\nWe\u2019ve got some more touring do in the beginning of the year, we\u2019ve got some regional touring and we\u2019re going to try and get to a lot of places that we haven\u2019t been to in years, like Darwin and do Tassie and some of the country towns we haven\u2019t played for ages. Hopefully we\u2019ll go over to Europe and play, we\u2019ll just see where this record takes us. We\u2019ll definitely be doing some more writing for a new record\u2026<\/p>\n

I was going to ask, are we going to keep hearing new music?<\/strong>
\nYeah, we\u2019ve already started that, so yeah\u2026<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s definitely not the end?<\/strong>
\nNo, not the end, not yet\u2026<\/p>\n

Essential information<\/strong><\/h2>\n

From: <\/strong>Sydney, <\/strong>Australia<\/p>\n

Band members: <\/strong>Suze DeMarchi, Dave Leslie, Dario Bortolin, Mick Skelton.<\/p>\n

Latest Release:<\/strong> This Is Not The End (Social Family Records) out now! Check out our review HERE…<\/a><\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> \u00a0http:\/\/www.thebabyanimals.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Catch the Baby Animals on their \u2018Feed The Birds\u2019 tour at the following dates:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saturday, 12 October \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Cambridge Hotel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 Newcastle\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 bigtix.com.au<\/a>
\nFriday, 18 October \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The Zoo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brisbane\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 oztix.com.au<\/a>
\nSaturday, 19 October \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The Zoo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brisbane \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 oztix.com.au<\/a>
\nThursday, 24 October \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Governor Hindmarsh\u00a0\u00a0 Adelaide \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 moshtix.com.au<\/a>
\nSaturday, 26 October \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 ANU Bar \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Canberra \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0ticketek.com.au<\/a>
\nWednesday, 30 October \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The Wool Exchange \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Geelong \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 oztix.com.au<\/a>
\nThursday, 31 October\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Corner Hotel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Melbourne \u00a0 \u00a0 cornerhotel.com<\/a>
\nSaturday, 2 November \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Astor Theatre \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Perth \u00a0 \u00a0showticketing.com.au<\/a>
\nSaturday, 9 November \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Metro Theatre \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Sydney \u00a0metrotheatre.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n\n

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