A very interesting interview held over a cup of coffee between the very passionate, creative and obviously, hardworking band “Duck Egg Blue” by Vermilion Records Blog writer Shifa Mehra. Here’s the most awaited part two of the conversation.
Shifa
What would your professions be? If not music?
Dan
Probably a psychologist.
Nick
I haven’t considered anything else which scares me a little bit but when I think about it, maybe cooking. I’ve started to cook quite a bit this year, having moved out of home and I think it is something that if I wasn’t doing music, I would be cooking. I make a mean beef!
Dylan
I would have been a furniture maker or something to do with my hands or a model.
Shifa
That’s awesome. And what about you Angus?
Angus
A mechanic or some kind of engineer. I think I’ve been really like interested about the space at the moment.
Shifa
How do you cope up with a wild schedules and hustle lifestyle due to performances?
Nick
That’s a really hard question. Because we’re very anxious people. Most of the band is going to QUT studying music. And it’s a good course. But it does take it out of you a little bit. And having that on top of everyone needing to have jobs because a good portion of us are living out of home and trying to manage that. And then just ever, like a band of five trying to get everyone free at one point is really difficult. We’re all very spread out. And we used to do rehearsals at Dan, our drummer’s house and it’s really hard to manage. But somehow we pull it together. Somehow. I think it looks like a very well oiled ship from the outside inwards.
Dan
There are so many holes in the ship, just like bucketing.
Dylan
I think our real passion really helps us stay motivated. Like we are very excited to do music. I’m excited to do performances and excited to get music and we all have this, I would say like a shared passion to do this band. We’re very, very invested.
Nick
And I think that comes out of the fact that we we don’t pay ourselves a cent it all goes to the band. I think that’s special in itself finding five people who are passionate enough and driven enough to dedicate so much time to something that is inherently a bit of a risk and life to lose because try to take anything physical from it. It’s like it is pretty special.
Dan
To be honest. Yeah.
Shifa
Very similar to like really big bands that we know of. Your story is like there’s and yeah that’s a good sign. Really good to know that. So What are your sacrifices that you’ve made from music career?
Dylan
I’ve been fired from two jobs.(Everyone laughs) Because I chose music over my job.
Shifa
That’d be good for your Wikipedia page I reckon.
Dylan
It was hungry Jack’s and Red Rooster. And we had a gig and I am like, look.I am not coming, and I’m not going to find a replacement. Honestly, no one can replace me. Yeah. I just, I was way too invested in this band to just pass up a gig like that. So I didnt. And like, when you’re brand new, you just want to be constantly on it, just so we can make a name for yourself. And that was a good experience as well. But my bank account didn’t like what I was doing. I did.
Shifa
Any other interesting story like that.
Nick
I don’t think I can top that. I think we all manage as best we can. But I do sit and wonder every now and then about the things and opportunities that I just like, we as people sort of have inherently miss because of sort of not being at specific places a specific time because we’re with the band or or like the I essentially, like I didn’t fail the last few years of school but I started playing music and then within the space of six months, I was doing six music lessons at school. And just spending as much time as I could in music rooms and whether that was me skipping classes or like just being dodgy big grades. I was doing it for the music.
Angus
Actually, I didn’t know I wasn’t a police watch list for a little while because I had the police call on me three times in a row for rehearsing too loud.
Shifa
That is really cool!!.
Angus
No one wants you to do anything.
Nick
Everyone wants to hear the music but not on a song. Neighbourhood
Angus
like if we did end up getting somewhere that’d be the same people be like oh, I live next to him.
Dan
No one wants to deal with rolling sort of like the stuff before actually getting somewhere. Then once you get someone they’re like oh my god. Oh my god
Angus
and then they are like can I be your friend.
(All laugh)
Shifa
And the last question is where do you find inspiration for your songs? What is the mental toll that it takes on you?
Nick
I think as as a band we’re all very mentally ill in different ways. But I wouldn’t say that comes out in the music I feel like it’s one of the things that is helped for the side by the music.
Dylan
How I look at it music has been like really steady thing in my life. And it’s really been the greatest hobby I’ve ever had in my entire life. I go through hobbies pretty quickly. But music has been the most substantial thing throughout my life. And having music helps and keeps me motivated just to keep doing it. And I can’t ever see myself doing anything else other than the music. But yeah, I think just my love for music. Definitely keeps me keeps me motivated for sure.
Shifa
So it’s a great way to end this interview on a great note. Thank you so much.
Dan
Thank you for the Interview.