With their energetic pop-rock-mod-soul stylings full of infectious harmonies and plenty of kick to get the kids dancing, Little Red have been one of the hottest new bands to emerge in 2008. As well as winning the national Garage to V competition, the Melbourne-based five-piece have toured with the likes of The Panics, Operator Please and, most recently, US band Vampire Weekend. They also lived out the dreams of many by appearing on an episode of Neighbours.
On the eve of their first national headlining tour, yourGigs spoke to Little Red's Tom Hartney as he was sitting in (a very noisy) Sydney Airport.
yourGigs (yG): You just played Splendour in the Grass. How was it?
Tom Hartney (TH): It was actually really good for us. It was on Sunday morning. We didn't have the best time slot. It actually worked out alright for us because everyone had just woken up and they were all there waiting for us. We'd had a break, we hadn't done any gigs, so it was kind of our first show of this run. We put in a couple of new songs, we've introduced keyboards. We're trying to do a few different things just to make it interesting. It was really successful, I think.
yG: Before the break, you were quite busy. What have been some of the highlights of the year?
TH: When you look back at all the stuff we've done, it's been incredible. The highlight was the V Festival. We won the Garage to V competition and we got to open on the main stage which was where Smashing Pumpkins and Queens of the Stone Age were playing. That was kind of our first experience of what it's like to live the good life. They put us up in the same places as all these rock stars and it was really incredible. They treated us so well. We got to meet those people who were our idols when we were teenagers and to play on the same stage was amazing.
yG: I'm surprised you didn't say Neighbours.
TH: I didn't even think of that. We were really looking forward to that. In the end, I never actually saw it on TV. By all accounts, it was a very brief thing. We went in and we recorded the song, 'Witchdoctor'. The only one we met was Dean Geyer because he's sort of the muso there. It was fun but no-one ever noticed us on there.
yG: Aside from what you've already done, this national tour is a nice step up in the band's life.
TH: That will be our first time to headline shows outside of Melbourne. It's hard to get a sense of how popular you are away from your home. That will be a big test for us. We're always kind of ambitious. We just booked the full tour and we hope people come along and support us. It's great to be the main attraction. Supporting a big band is cool because you get people who wouldn't otherwise come and see you and you win over new fans. When you headline, the crowd are there to see you so it's a nice feeling.
yG: For people who haven't seen Little Red, what can they expect?
TH: Usually, people who haven't seen us before just end up smiling or dancing. We just have a good time and I think that it's conveyed to the audience that we're having just as good a time as anyone else. We're not trying to look cool or anything. It's just an old fashion rock 'n' roll show.
yG: Once the tour is finished, what will be next? Time off?
TH: No, I don't think we'll ever have time off. What we really want to do is take the album overseas. We either want to do our second album and get it out early next year or see if we can take this album overseas to England. It's kind of the unknown, which is exciting.
Michael Hartt
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