Interviews
A Means To An End

Q. Does A Means To An End have any recordings out
or coming out? Can you tell us about the name, release,
tour, experience while recording it, etc?

Our name, it comes from a Joy Division song..called A
Means To An End, we've played something like 30 gigs
and our first gig was the 24th of October 02.

AMTAE have recorded somewhere between 8 and 12 tracks for our first EP, which we have been taking our time putting together for an official release, but you can hear some of the incomplete and unmixed versions of the albums tracks online.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about the band and its history? Has the band changed since forming?

We have some really old jam tapes from when we used to jam at my parents house and drink fruity lexia and it was just horrible, screaming and swearing and playing nothing but really messy punk songs. We've gone through 4 lead guitarists, played as a 3 piece for a while and then got a new lead guitarist again. At the moment, we're thinking of adding
keyboards and the new songs we are writing certainly aren't punk...so yeah we've changed alot.

Q.  What is the songwriting process for the band?  Do you write the lyrics and music together or one first and then the other?

I, myself have always made my songs up by myself, same with the rest of the band. we'll go over eachothers house and show eachother some stuff we've been playing around with.
sometimes the lyrics come as we are writing the songs, other times a song will go weeks without them and then we'll play it on the night of a gig with lyrics made up that day.

Q.  When playing live shows, is it important to make every show a spectacle or does it just happen naturally.  Do you feed off the crowd's reaction or do you try to create a reaction?

When we're playing we see ourselves as a bit of a spectacle regardless, our image and our sound is a little out of the ordinary and so i think we get peoples attention anyway.  The crowds reaction can really help with how you view your songs, and helps you compare how good the songs actually are.  We definetly feed of the crowd..when there is one.

Q. Is there a story behind the name A Means To An End? Do you prefer A MeansTo An End or AMTAE?

We prefer AMTAE, not so much of a mouthfull and people always call us "Means to an End", which pisses us off.. so we called up the monkey king, and he sent the fish down to clean her liver. Shortly after serving a year long sentance in Jail, we decided that we love the A, and without it theres a good chance I'm pregnant.

Q.  There is a lot of interest in Perth bands and Perth music at the moment, do you think there is a particular Perth sound and is it very different from bands from the Eastern States?

Having never been out of WA, I don't think i can comment fairly. But i will say that in our experience in Perth music, we've played with alot of bands that sound absolutely nothing like eachother, we've gone to gigs and watched bands that don't even come close to sitting in the same ball park.

So my opinion on what the Perth sound is? A unique blend of whatever us Perth musicians are coming up with, and performing where ever the hell we can perform, even if it means playing with bands we sound nothing like.

Q. What bands have had the greatest influence on you and who are your favourite bands at the moment both from Perth and from elsewhere?

Influenced by Joy Division,The Eighties Matchbox B-line Disaster, Killing Joke, Public Image, Bauhaus, The Misfits, AC DC, The Cramps, New Order and Danzig. Check them all out.

In Perth we like to play with, The magoos, Zxspecky, Nice Box, Beverly Killbillies and MF & his truckload of hope. Yep.

Q. What is your favourite live music venue in Perth?  Do you prefer small pub shows with a small audience or bigger shows with lots of people cheering you on?

The Carlton!
The Rosemount!

Q. Do you have any gigs coming up that you would like more people to come along to?

Just be at the Carlton for October 24. thats gonna be huge. In the meantime, stay on the lookout for the AMTAE ep, or new tracks to download off http://www.mp3.zoob.net

Interview by Justin

For more information visit the official A Means To An End website.