Interviews
Pete Sykus
The Meaning Of

Q. How is the debut album coming along?
Can you tell us about the name, release,
single, experience while recording it, etc?

We have finished mixing the album a few
weeks back now and head into the studio
to master in a couple of weeks. Finally we
would have completed it. It has been 6
years since our first attempt and this is now
our third, but thankfully it’s done. Not too sure what will be the single as yet, we have decided to wait till it’s finished and get a few opinions on what some people outside of the band felt. Then we would sit down and make the final decision.

We recorded it at Barking Ted Studios (Russell Smith – Crawlspace) Russ has been a good friend of the band for a few years and we knew he had a good idea of the sound we were after and the style of music that we play. We recorded all the tracks at Elite Studios, basically live, and have gone back to BT Studios for the vocals, samples, percussion and mandolin. The actual recording stage of the album was done almost a year ago.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about the band and its history? Has having the band between Perth and Sydney been a challenge? Has the band changed since forming?

The band has been around since 1996, and was originally known as The Iron Youth.  The Iron Youth released 1 disc, “Man Bled Impure Breath” in 1997. After spending the initial 2 years of the bands life in Perth developing a strong local scene with the likes of Dirty Whittler, Greenroom & T-Cells, The Iron Youth were asked to head east and join that leg of the Vans Warped tour with Pennywise, Deftones & Suicidal Tendencies. The band decided a permanent move east was what needed to be done and relocated in 1998. Spending 2 years in Sydney saw The Iron Youth gain a strong local following regularly sharing the stage with likes of Frenzal Rhomb, Toe to Toe, Neo Ezi & Front End Loader.

Due to unforseen circumstances the band had to return to Perth in 2000, and after playing a huge comeback show took a break due to the health problems of one of its members. With this situation in the band things slowed immensely and an acoustic act was formed, The Meaning Of, which kept most of the members of The Iron Youth on the stage. It was during this time that Raz (didgeridoo) joined the band. The Iron Youth took the stage a couple of times with help from good friend Hobbsi (End of Fashion, Greenroom) helping out on drums. May 2002 was the final chapter in The Iron Youth story. I got a phone call that my best mate and drummer, Gaz had passed away. The band hit the lowest of lows. Losing a friend and brother in the most tragic of circumstances, this wasn’t only the hardest time in the bands 5 year history, but the hardest times in our own personal lives. A pact was made in The Iron Youth, that if the line-up ever changed for any reason, so would the band name.

Here was where The Meaning Of really began. After an extremely extensive search, Lee joined the band on drums and things were slowly moving forward again. In this last year, The Meaning Of have enjoyed sharing the stage again with the likes of Dirty Whittler, Karnivool, Greenroom, HWC, Headshot, Tragic Delicate, HFA, BTP, EOF…. Too many to mention! And recorded our debut album, “What is Your Excuse?”, which we release on December 19th.

Q. With 2 brothers in the band is there any family rivalry or any family favourtism? Did Mike and Pete grow up playing music together?

There has never been any rivalry between Mike and myself. We have amazingly for brothers, been almost best mates all our life. It was only when Mike got back from the Institute of Music in Sydney that we started seriously playing music together. We had always grown up listening to the same music so it was kind of natural for us to start writing together. Its actually very complementary with the way that we both write.

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

We have no set way that we write songs in the band. Usually it is either Mike or myself that present the band with a ‘skeleton’ of something that we have been working on and it grows from there with every member writing their own particular parts. Lately we have been writing a lot more in the rehearsal room. Whether it be Lee with a drum idea, Craig with a bass riff. We lease our own space, so we can head in there with an idea anytime of the day. This has been great getting everyone contributing from the embryo stages of the songs. The back catalogue of songs in TMO is quite ridiculous. I think we are somewhere around 150 songs at the moment. Kind a good if we go through a dull period where we write nothing!

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?

I think any musician would be lying to say they don’t feed of the crowd. Getting a positive reaction from the punters is I think the main purpose to playing live, and when there is an energy between the 2 it’s a great feeling. Depending on what type of a band you are, will determine the type of show you put on. I personally feel that as long as its entertaining it’s worthwhile, no matter what it is that you do.

Q. Is there a story behind the name The Meaning Of? Do you prefer The Meaning Of or TMO?

The Meaning Of was the acoustic name that we had used when The Iron Youth was still together. And actually The Meaning Of derived from an older duet, The Meaning Of Sadness, that never actually left the rehearsal room. I personally prefer The Meaning Of, but as long as people recognise one or the other, I don’t mind.

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?

There are far too many genres of music for any city to have a ‘sound’ as such. The difference between the East Coast and the West Coast is population and opportunities. There are a lot more bands there, but that just means there are more good bands and also a lot more shit bands. The opportunities on the East Coast are excellent with all the touring acts, festivals and being in such close proximity to other states and capital cities. The main let down is the pokies that original bands are contending with, thankfully not in WA, and this is having venues close everywhere, and it has been happening a long time. Overall, I don’t think the music differs that much, you just have to sift through a lot more bands on the East Coast to find the good ones.

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? 

As a band we have a diverse range of influences, Mike and myself grew up listening to a lot of 80’s rock, Craig loved the Pixies, Raz loves his Dr.Octagon and Lee grew up on Nirvana. I wouldn’t say they are the bands that had an influence in our writing but definitely an influence in us deciding to play music. Some of my favourite bands would be Janes Addiction, Muse, Tool, RATM, Soulfly, Massive Attack and lately Lamb. Perth has a lot of good bands, and had a lot of good bands aswell. Dirty Whittler, T-Cells, Greenroom, Karnivool, Headshot, HWC, Tragic Delicate, Subtruck, HFA, Local Pricks. That would just be scraping the surface.

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?

Personally my favourite music venue was the Swanbourne Hotel. When it got knocked down it was a dark day for what was an excellent venue. Nowadays, I like The Globe and The Lookout. They both have great stages and can fit a few people. Small pub shows I like because of the intimacy with the crowd, but its an awesome feeling when a large crowd is in attendance. But most definitely in doors where the sound cant get washed away.

Interview by Justin

For more information go to The Meaning Of's official website.