A Free Man

A Free Man’s Best of South Australia series continues with Adelaide’s No Through Road. Founded by Matt Banham in 2000, No Through Road has been churning out fetching lo-fi tunes at a heady pace. Matt’s hooked up with a regular band these days and their most recent record “Too Much or Not Enough” has just been re-released by Unstable Ape records. Matt was kind enough to take a seat on the virtual couch for a chat with A Free Man.

AFM: First of all, from what I’ve been able to glean from the internet, it seems that you are the soul and core of No Through Road but that you’ve recently added some regular players. Can you tell me who’s who in the band and what they play?

MB: Well, it started as just me in my room with a 4-track making songs that I didn’t really expect that many people to like but I just had to do it. I did that for a few years and then in early 2005 I picked some of my fave musicians from Adelaide and got them to join my band. Since then its been lots of fun because I was gettin’ kinda bored playing on my own all the time, and they have helped me to write a lot.
Currently the members are Steph Crase, Ianto Ware, Nic Datson, Marcin Kobylecki and Dexter Campos. They all swap around a lot so they don’t really have any main instruments.

AFM: I love the spontaneous, shambolic, sing-a-long quality if your 2005 internet only release “Lo-fi Sandwich”. Based on your most recent track on your MySpace page (“Rock N Roll”) I get the impression that your sound might be changing. This track is cleaner, more polished and straight-ahead rock? Is there a stylistic change in the works?

MB: I wouldn’t say too much of a style change just a change in how we record. Everything before this has been pretty much just done at home one a computer or multi-track tape recorder thing. Now with the band it’s gotten a lot harder to do that. And the live sound is great so I really want to capture that. I guess I’ve also been trying not to repeat myself too much so the songs on the upcoming album are a bit different from my older stuff. I guess I just don’t really wanna keep repeating the same old thing again and again.

AFM: One of my favorites off of that LP was “The Final Song for Ally McBeal”. Is there a story behind that track that you’d like to share?

MB: A lot of people like that song. I have grown to hate it now, I think probably mostly cause its so repetitive which I grow quickly bored of. I stole parts of it from a Modest Mouse song. I guess it’s just a song about the repetitive nature of my reaction to failing relationships. When I played it to a friend he said it sounded like a song you would hear on the end of “Ally McBeal” hence the name.

AFM: Okay then, you hate Ally McBeal, fair enough. What’s your favorite track from your archives these days?

MB: I think “Reason to Fight” and “Girl” are probably my favourite songs from that album. I think “Black & White” from “Monkey on a Rock” is probably my best song. I’m quite proud of that one.

AFM: What made you decide to release ‘Lo-Fi Sandwich’ for free on the net? Did you get what you hoped out of the experiment?

MB: Before I got signed to Unstable Ape, I made music on CD-Rs. I sold them for cost price to people just in the hope to get as many people out there to hear my music. I have never really expected to make much money or any money from my music, but I love the thought of lots of people hearing it. The internet is so good for that so I am happy to put lots of mp3s up. I made that album when there were delays in recording our last album ‘too much or not enough’. I was bored of waiting so I did it really quick and stuck it on the net. It’s gotten a good reaction over the years it’s been online, and heaps of downloads, which is pretty cool. It’s nice to know that people all over the world have heard my music.

AFM: That experimental lo-fi sound prevails in a lot of the tracks I listened to on your site. I hear Stephen Malkmus, Scott Kannberg, Mark E. Smith. Who do you hear when you’re writing and playing?

MB: Well, Pavement is one of my favourite bands ever. Them and Weezer and R.E.M. were very big influences for me when I was young – simple, melody based songwriting. I would say my biggest inspiration is probably Smog. tho. His 90’s stuff still amazes me, I aspire to be half as good as him.

AFM: You were really prolific between 2000 - 2005, releasing more than an album a year. But things have slowed down a little bit of late. Is it a creative dry patch or regrouping to paint your masterpiece?

MB: I have huge dry patches from time to time. Then I write heaps over a short period of time. When I was younger I definitely wrote a lot more, now I think I’m a bit more picky and hard on myself not to make the same old song again and again, so it takes longer. It’s also different now with having a band, that makes things take a bit longer due to practicing and working everything out, and also recording, touring and all the other stuff that comes along makes things take time. And also jobs. That slows things down a lot.

AFM: And what do you have to do to pay the rent?

MB: I work in a university just doing admin type stuff. It’s an alright job. But can get a bit boring. But definitely a lot better than some of the jobs I’ve had before.

AFM: Your 2004 record ‘Someone Else’s Song’ is a set of pretty diverse covers (Outkast to The Carpenters). Two questions - first, is the title a shout out to Wilco? Second, which was your favorite song to re-interpret?

MB: Hehe, yes the title is a reference to the Wilco song. I thought about covering that, but then i thought that might be too obvious, as far as re-interpreting. I think the two would be “Hey Ya” and “All Is Full of Love”. I’m proud of the way they turned out. That “Hey Ya” cover got downloaded more than anything else I’ve put on the net. Someone told me they heard it playing in a bar in New York. That made me pretty darn happy!

AFM: Shifting gears a little, let’s talk about your home town? What does a clueless immigrant need to know about Adelaide?

MB: It’s an awesome place. I love it to death. It’s pretty quiet and sleepy but if you know the right places and people you can have a hell of a time. I have lots of great friends here and would find it very hard to leave.

AFM: What’s the music scene like in Adelaide? What other South Australian bands should we be paying attention to? Who are the forefathers of the scene?

MB: It’s damn good as far as I’m concerned - I think the best in Australia, but I’m pretty biased. The best acts in town right now are Hit the Jackpot, Birth Glow, Shame Spiral, Antony of the Future, Skeletons, spindickle and Home for the Def. But there are lots and lots of really good bands here. It’s thriving. I think the forefathers for me would be bands like The Moonies and Home for the Def who always stayed very lo-fi and just wrote damn amazing songs. Fiona Beverage were also damn good. In the 80’s there were a lot of great bands on a label called Greasy Pop that apparently got lots of people out to shows. But that’s before my time and I haven’t heard too much of the music.

AFM: What about labels? I know you were with Unstable Ape records from Melbourne? Is that relationship still OK? What other Australian labels are worth paying attention to?

MB: Yep we are still good with the Ape. Lovely people. The best label in Adelaide is Fuking Stoner records. They put out great stuff - mostly CD-R stuff but all very interesting. Interstate ones to watch out for are Chapter Records, Dot Dash and Nervous Jerk.

AFM: What are the best places for live music in SA?

MB: Best pubs are probably the Exeter, Rocket Bar, The Grace Emily, and The Jade Monkey.

AFM: Bear in mind that this is coming from someone who’ s never been to your fair city, but I have the impression of Australia as being isolated from the rest of the world and Adelaide being a little isolated within Australia. Is that the case? If so, how does that affect you creatively? Is it a disadvantage in the sense that the creative pool is pretty shallow? Or is it an advantage in the sense that you’re unencumbered by what’s hot on MTV?

MB: It is pretty isolated in a way that we don’t get all that much attention from the other states. A lot of people openly make fun of Adelaide which pisses me off but it’s their loss. I think the isolation does make it interesting down here in that not many people really expect to ‘make it’ or anything but are just doing it because its fun and they have to make music. People don’t really follow the fashions as much as they do in the eastern states, which can make for a very refreshing change. There are exceptions of course but it can be great making music in a place where only 50 or so people may ever hear it.

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Like your attitude, Matt, and thanks for the time. Check out these tracks from No Through Road. Matt’s got several more on his website. Buy No Through Road’s latest “Too Much or Not Enough” here.

MP3: No Through Road - “Hey Ya”
MP3: No Through Road - “Black & White”
MP3: No Through Road - “Reason to Fight”

 

 No Through Road - "Hey Ya!" [2:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 No Through Road - "Black & White" [3:47m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 No Through Road - "Reason To Fight" [2:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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