Sun:19-10-2008

- Skye Harbour Rock The ARIA Red Carpet!

Kickstart Winners Talk Victory, Hangovers, And Jesus Christ Superstar

Thanks to two solid days and nights of celebrating, Skye Harbourwere a little worse for wear when we rang up for a chat.  Still fizzingfrom the news that they had prevailed over 700 bands to become the MTV Kickstart 2008 winner,the Adelaide boys are feeling mighty chuffed with $15 000 cash in theirback pockets and a leg up from MTVs promotional and label-networkingarm that will help launch their careers into the stratosphere.   

Despitedoing little promotion during the voting period, Skye Harbour caughtthe ears of the judges and the Australian public with stonking tunesand catchy hooks.  Explains Frank, 'We were beatingourselves up about it because we really didn't put enough efforttowards the end of the voting period.  I 'spose we didn't really wannapiss anyone off, because we thought it may have had a bit of an adverseeffect [if we pushed too hard].   But once the voting period was closedwe found out that the Rocketsmiths and others had done heaps and heaps of promotion so we were stressing out.'

The Adelaide boys were convinced they'd blown it, so Josh, the lead singer, had the bright idea of calling Virgin Blue Airlinesto see if they'd been booked on a flight to Sydney. 'We thought we'dfind out that way for sure but they wouldn't tell us because we didn'thave a reservation number!'

So they were left to find out ifthey'd won the traditional way (i.e waiting for the announcement).  Theboys were completely blown away when they found out they werevictorious, especially because they didn't know they'd actually beenentered until it came time to play the Adelaide finals.

'Joshcomes over one day and says, 'oh yeah I just got this call from MTV,and oh by the way I put us in this competition called MTV Kickstartand we've just gotten down to the last five in Adelaide.' And you know,we thought we must be like one of the 5 bands that entered in thecompetition in Adelaide, turns out there was a few more we didn't knowabout! (laughs)'

Come time for the national finals, Skye Harbourby their own admission played the 'most amazing fucking night out ofall time', and their dedication to throw forth everything paid off. Their energetic set and clear talent resulted in the five-someprevailing over talented contenders Polo Club, The Moderns, The Mischief, Rocketsmiths, Emcee Able to take the winner's crown and also some warm accolades from the judges and punters attending the event.

Post-Kickstart,Skye Harbour had been playing in bedrooms and school band rooms aroundAdelaide for years.  'I left Adelaide some time ago to pursue my actingcareer in Sydney,' explains Frank, 'then the boys gave me a call afterabout six months and said we're going to move to Melbourne to make areal go of this band, thing do you want to be involved? And I was likefuck yeah! I'm in.'

Even though Skye Harbour are at thebeginning of a burgeoning tour, they are already well aware of thechallenges in an industry that is currently flooded with indie acts ofhigh calabre.   'It's funny, we pull much better crowds in Adelaide nowthan when we lived there. It's really great to go back and have thatkind of support, because in Melbourne, there's that many bands thatit's still extremely hard pull a decent crowd. So we were kind of inlimbo, being able to pull crowds back home but still struggling inMelbourne.

One year later, the band released their EP 'Houses'online.  As Frank explains, the cash injection from MTV Kickstart willhelp push the EP and hopefully help their mission to take over stagesand airwaves nationally.

'The money will go a long way withpromotion which is invaluable, also touring, our EP isn't released inphysical form it's only available online as a download so we're reallyinterested in pressing some copies and trying to put it in some shops. The other idea is to have a big Skye Harbour bar which would save costson touring!'

It seems the challenges that nearly every youngband experience when trying to crack the scene will be significantlyreduced for Skye Harbour.  Only a few days after taking out thecompetition, they've been fast-forwarded into the limelight with anappearance on the MTV At The 2008 ARIA Red Carpet, airing this Sunday at 6.30pm.

'Awman, this is so clich but we've been thinking about this moment [goingto the ARIAs] since we've started playing music.  This is exactly wherewe want to be and it's just amazing that it's happened this early andin these circumstances.' Asked who they most like to bump into, theanswer is not what one would expect.

'We've all got a pretty mad crush on Johnny Farnham; he's really shaped what we've done.  Especially in Jesus Christ Superstar.' Surely they jest?
'Nah man I'm serious! Andrew Lloyd Webberis one of our influences. Jesus Christ Superstar really really has hada major influence in our songwriting and attitude to it all, so if wecould meet John Farnham who played Jesus in 1992 that would be prettyremarkable. And Johnny wasn't just any Jesus, but a Jesus with aformidable mullet.  Daniel Johns has also had a massive influence on our work and I just imagine that he'd be a super cool dude as well.'

Aspart of their ARIA experience, Skye will also rock up in a pimped outlimo, walk the red carpet with the biggest stars of Australian musicand be interviewed by MTV and a bunch of other media outlets, allbefore they sit down at a VIP table to watch the 2008 ARIA awards intrue rockstar style amongst their idols.

Looking forward, SkyeHarbour already has a clear plan of what the next five years willhold.  'In five years, hopefully we're at the ARIAs again!  We'd liketo have some releases under our belt and looking at taking our musicinternationally, that's very important to us.  Whether it be England,the US, Japan... Japan would be the best! The fans there take crazy toanother level.'

And who would be the ultimate act to support?   'We'd love to support Arcade Fire, that would be awesome. And Muse.  Can we support Kings of Leon too? Wicked, that would be great if you could hook that up (laughs).'

We'llsee what we can do boys!  Meanwhile, with fire in their bellies, freshsounds and a desire to rip the local and international music scene toshreds, we can be sure to see Skye Harbour as a formidable force on theAustralian music scene.  And MTV is stoked. 

By Penny Newton

To check out pics of Skye Harbour on the red carpet, click here!