{"id":22176,"date":"2014-07-14T09:00:06","date_gmt":"2014-07-13T23:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=22176"},"modified":"2014-07-13T15:52:32","modified_gmt":"2014-07-13T05:52:32","slug":"save-the-clock-tower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2014\/07\/save-the-clock-tower\/","title":{"rendered":"Save The Clock Tower"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>\u201c\u2026I think that while Tassie does have its drawbacks, for us its actually become a thing, like those dudes are from Tassie, they\u2019re pretty good or somewhere along those lines because I think it surprises people that we\u2019re actually from Tasmania most of the time\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

From Bio: SAVE THE CLOCK TOWER\u2019s reputation was enhanced and a solid fanbase started to evolve across the country following the release of their two EP\u2019s\u00a0\u2018Letters\u2019\u00a0in 2011 and\u00a0\u2018The Human Condition\u2019\u00a0in 2012. During this time the band has impressed fans and critics Australia wide and captured attention from American audiences and beyond. Having toured Australia on numerous occasions playing alongside such luminaries as\u00a0Parkway Drive, The Amity Affliction, Dream On Dreamer, a co headline tour with\u00a0Alesana\u00a0in 2013, and appearances at the critically acclaimed charity event,\u00a0Breath of Life Festival\u00a0in Tasmania\u00a0SAVE THE CLOCK TOWER\u00a0are ready to stand alone as a headliner in their own right!<\/p>\n

We had vocalist Luke Vaessen\u00a0of the band fill us in on all things Save The Clock Tower, their new album, touring and what it\u2019s like being a band from Tasmania\u2026 definitely one to watch out for!!<\/p>\n

To start, I have to say that you guys by far have the best band name I’ve heard in ages\u2026<\/strong>
\n*laughs* Thank you very much\u2026<\/p>\n

So who’s the Back To The Future fan?<\/strong>
\nAll of us\u2026 our guitarist he is the one that initially came up with the name, me though I\u2019m a huge fan of number 1 because it\u2019s a classic, but I do love number 2 as well.<\/p>\n

In terms of where you all hail from, has it been a hard slog being a band from Tasmania?<\/strong>
\nYes\u2026 *laughs* yeah man, it\u2019s really hard to get across that little bit of eater to play shows on the mainland, and I guess you also have that little bit of a stigma attached when you come from Tassie as well, but we just push through it as best we can, try and play as hard as we can and try and win new fans.<\/p>\n

Have you ever thought about a move to the mainland?<\/strong>
\nWe have, but I think that while Tassie does have its drawbacks, for us its actually become a thing, like those dudes are from Tassie, they\u2019re pretty good or somewhere along those lines because I think it surprises people that we\u2019re actually from Tasmania most of the time, so I think if we were to move from here it would be kind of starting again in a sense, and I think what we\u2019ve done for ourselves here came through well enough to the mainland and the rest of Australia, at the moment anyway\u2026<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve just released your debut album, what\u2019s the feeling like when you know that it\u2019s done and out there?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s a massive, massive amount of relief like obviously there\u2019s still nerves about what people will think about it because we haven\u2019t released any music for two years so we\u2019re always nervous to hear what people think about it, but overall we\u2019re just really relieved to have something out after two years like we worked on it, so a solid eight months including pre-production and tracking it was about eight months that it took to get it all done, so we\u2019re just kind of happy that we\u2019ve closed that chapter for the time being.<\/p>\n

With two EP\u2019s out previously, did you go into making the album any differently than what you\u2019d done previously?<\/strong>
\nWell with the song writing, we really wanted to make the songs more cohesive by themselves and as a whole album I think just work on the structure of the songs. Like with the first EP the structure was all over the place and while that worked for us then I don\u2019t think that works for us now. People want to hear some form of repetition most of the time, whether that\u2019s the chorus that\u2019s done two or three times, or it\u2019s the verses with a different sounding riff but it\u2019s still the same verse, and I think that repetition is really, really important and we really focused on getting the song structures right for \u2018Wasteland\u2019.<\/p>\n

So can you give us one word that you feel sums it up perfectly?<\/strong>
\nPersonal\u2026 *laughs* I mean like I could definitely say that it sounds aggressive or that it sounds powerful, but for each of us the album reflects a lot of what we\u2019ve been through, especially in the last two years of getting everything ready to do this album and then to release it, it\u2019s very personal to all of us.<\/p>\n

So, why was \u2018Wasteland\u2019 the choice for title and what does it represent?<\/strong>
\nThere\u2019s a couple of different meanings for it, the first one and I guess probably the most obvious one is that it kind of reflects what we as humans are doing to the Earth, not to sound like all hippy and stuff, but that\u2019s probably the most obvious one, but the main reason for me as I came up with the name is I was in a relationship for six years and it came to a pretty abrupt end, and it\u2019s kind of how I thought about what\u2019s left in a person after they\u2019ve been with someone for that long and what\u2019s left after the break up and also to do with substance abuse and alcohol abuse, what\u2019s the hole that\u2019s left in someone, doing those things before or afterwards.<\/p>\n

So to get a bit of an idea of where you guys came from, who did you or do you listen to helped shape you as a band?<\/strong>
\nWe all, I know it\u2019s a very generic answer but we all listen to different stuff, but I guess the thing that we all come back to probably more so for this album and I wouldn\u2019t say influence for the sound of the album but we all went back to listening to that kind of stuff, probably early 2000\u2019s screamo, post hardcore type stuff like Underoath, Senses Fail, those types of bands. I know for a fact that our drummer Owen, he\u2019s 21, he\u2019s the youngest guy in the band, that\u2019s how we actually met him, from him going to concerts and liking the same type of music like the rest of us, so I think probably early 2000\u2019s screamo music.<\/p>\n

In only four or so years as a band, what do you feel has been the biggest challenge?<\/strong>
\nI guess probably being from Tasmania, as generic as it sounds, but that\u2019s probably the hardest thing we\u2019ve actually found, especially with actually trying to do something with the band too, it\u2019s fine if you just want to go and jam with your mates it doesn\u2019t matter where you\u2019re from, you can do whatever you want, you can go to the garage, smash out a few tunes. I think when we made the conscious decision and really wanted to try and get out so people could actually hear the music we were making, I think that the initial battle with that is getting over that little stretch of water, and also breaking into the different scenes in the different cities, that\u2019s quite hard as well.<\/p>\n

You were just out on tour, so for those that missed you can we expect to see you out again anytime soon?<\/strong>
\nYeah definitely, we\u2019ve got a few things in the works at the moment, I know we\u2019ll be doing a few weekenders here and there, so going to play a show in Adelaide and Melbourne, so we\u2019ll do a few of those, I know there\u2019s two or three tours we\u2019re looking at at the moment we\u2019ve been offered this year and there\u2019s one definite in February which will be nationwide.<\/p>\n

Hard to do but can you describe a typical Save The Clock Tower show?<\/strong>
\nJust a really energetic, passionate type of performance. We do run backing tracks and all those sorts of things which I think helps us sound\u00a0 as close as we can to the album and how the album sounds, but we don\u2019t run everything through the backing tracks so it doesn\u2019t sound like we\u2019re not playing because we are playing, and I think we just try and move as much as we can on stage so we don\u2019t look as though we\u2019re standing there being bored.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say that you can open for any band in the world, who is it and why?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s not an easy one to answer\u2026 for me it would have to be Deftones because they are probably one of my top five bands of all time. It would be incredible even to be in the same space as that band would be amazing.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the one thing you want to cross off your bucket list as part of being in this band?<\/strong>
\nWe definitely want to get overseas and tour overseas, I know that we are looking at doing that as well and hopefully we\u2019ll get around to doing that next year.<\/p>\n

Lastly, let’s predict the remainder of the year. So finish this sentence for me, by the end of 2014, Save The Clock Tower will…<\/strong>
\nHave toured the country numerous times and that\u2019s about it\u2026 actually I mean to tour as much as we can.<\/p>\n

\nEssential Information<\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> Launceston, Tasmania, Australia<\/p>\n

Sounds like: <\/strong>Post Hardcore<\/p>\n

Band members:<\/strong> Joel Hallam – guitar, Luke Vaessen – vocals, Owen Broad – drums, and Alex Mcnulty – bass<\/p>\n

Latest Release:<\/strong> Wasteland (out now – Faction \/ Sony)<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> Official Facebook page<\/p>\n

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