Legs Electric seem to be going from strength to strength and there are more exciting times ahead for Perth’s all-female rockers, as they gear up for the release of their second EP Two Sides, in the next few days. Saturday 14th July sees the girl’s host the opening night of the 2018 EP Tour at Indi Bar in Scarborough, as they embark on a quick-fire 6-date Australian Tour, to show off their hard work. Bass player Erin Gooden took time out of rehearsals to talk extensively to The Rockpit’s Sean Bennett about the new EP, playing live & musical influences…..
Sean: Hey Erin, how have you been? All good?
Erin: Pretty good thanks Sean. We’ve had some really good gigs over the weekend in Perth (Indi Bar) and then Bunbury (Prince of Wales) supporting the amazing Radio Moscow, so we are all still recovering from that (laughs).
Sean: I was hoping to come down to the Perth show but couldn’t make it. But I had a listen to Radio Moscow in the afternoon – what a great sound.
Erin: Yeah they were really good. We were blown away by their skills. They were amazing.
Sean: Some of the local venues are putting on some great gigs right now. There is so much interest and support for these smaller venues. The energy levels from the bands show how much they are into it, just like your opening slot for The Iron Maidens recently at Badlands. The place was full to the brim even before you struck the first note and you repaid them with a fantastic set.
Erin: Aw thank you. We’ve noticed that in the last 18 months to 2 years there has been a renewed interest in local bands. It feels like it’s alive. And there are lots of new bands out there with different sounds which help too.
Sean: So I’ve been lucky enough to listen to the new EP Two Sides and it’s a cracker. You’ve been sneaking a couple of the newer tracks out into your set of late like Dark Paradise (new single) and Kingdom. How did the name Two Sides take shape?
Erin: Well, now we have settled into this new line-up, it kind of represents the two halves of the band. You have Kylie (Soanes) & Ama (Quinsee) who was the foundation members and now with me & Elana (Haynes) being the newer members, we feel we have a new energy and direction moving forward. We have different musical influences between the four of us too – so we are keeping with the spirit of the old music but also branching out with new sounds too.
Sean: And this new energy is so evident to the audience. You all seem to be having a blast up there and really enjoying yourselves.
Erin: Oh yeah, it is so much fun. We can all speak with our eyes (laughs) at each other on stage. We just look at each other at parts of certain songs and just rock it out.
Sean: The guitar intro on Dark Paradise has such a 70’s Sabbath feel to it…
Erin: Well we all kinda all grew up listening to our parent’s music. The likes of Black Sabbath & Deep Purple, so when I met up with the girls and found we all enjoyed the same taste in music, we knew we would really click musically. I just love anything that has that classic sound – so it’s nice to try to take that forward in a new way.
Sean: And I think that 70’s classic rock sound is also evident of late with many bands.
Erin: It’s one of those musical eras that will never fade away. It’s so nostalgic. It kinda feels like we grew up in the wrong decade sometimes. I grew up with the 90’s sound which I love but the 70’s is so cool.
Sean: How do you feel Two Sides moves on from the first EP Maximum Rock n Roll?
Erin: It’s interesting because when I first heard the Maximum EP I loved it and was totally hooked. I saw the girls play live and knew I wanted to be in the band. But I had to wait my turn (laughs). Maximum had more of the classic rock sound, whereas we feel Two Sides has evolved in a slightly different direction, where we have been able to be a bit more experimental in the studio, with Kenny (Watt) producing the 3 new songs. All four of us can sing, so we have been able to bring in a few more harmonies to the songs, which also bring out our strength as a group.
Sean: Did it take long to put the EP together?
Erin: We’ve been working on it a little while. There were times through the year where it was difficult to co-ordinate everybody and it was a different process to what we are used to. But it’s really turned out well and we wanted a bit more of that retro-rock sound, which we feel we’ve managed to capture.
Sean: Is there a stand out track for you personally on the EP?
Erin: Yeah definitely. I love Kingdom, which will probably be the next single release. We’ve been playing it towards the end of our live set. It’s got great energy and everyone just rocks out to it. Also, Shine Right Through, which we haven’t played live much yet. So the next few days we have plenty of rehearsals to make sure everything is finely polished for the tour. We’ll be rehearsing at The Henhouse Studios so it’s all pretty full on at the moment. We get down to business, knock out our sets and then have a bit of fun and give each other shit once the hard work’s done (laughs).
Sean: The last two tracks were produced by Joel Quartermain, who has worked with Eskimo Joe.
Erin: Yes, they were laid down about 2 years ago and you can hear the two sides to our sound.
Sean: The tour starts on the 14th July at Indi Bar in Scarborough, before a long distance, countrywide trip over the course of one week.
Erin: Yeah the Perth gig will be such a big night for us. We are so excited. But the tour was made all the more possible due to us winning a competition back in February through Otherside Brewery, who had some grants available to help bands get out and tour. So thanks to them, it’s locked in and we’re really looking forward to it.
Sean: There’s some great support for you girls over in the Eastern States judging by comments on social media.
Erin: Yes, this will be my first trip over east with this band, so really looking forward to playing to our followers over there.
Sean: So the band has supported some big name acts in the last few years, and more than held their own; Rose Tattoo, Sebastian Bach, Uriah Heep, Baby Animals to name but a few, and one of my favourite bands, UK rockers Thunder.
Erin: That was actually my first gig with Legs at the Capitol that night.
Sean: Do you ever get any feedback or advice from these seasoned pro’s?
Erin: Sometimes it’s hard because everyone is so full on. We do get to chat to some and talk about the tour or playing elsewhere round the world and we do get some constructive feedback. At the weekend we were hanging with the guys from Radio Moscow and they were really impressed & loved our sound and were just so honest, which was great.
Sean: We touched on the 70’s sound playing its part but where do your other influences come from?
Erin: I listen to a lot of different music, so when I come up with bass riffs I get pretty inspired by bluesy-jazz sort of stuff because I grew up listening to a lot of jazz. Between us all its kind of bands like Fleetwood Mac, even listening to Radio Moscow has given us new ideas for some cool psychedelic riffs. Elana is a huge fan of The Living End and we both love Muse. Kylie is always listening to new music like Greta Van Fleet and she loves DeWolff.
Sean: Cool, I’ll have a look. I’m always looking for something new to listen to. Finally, if you could be credited with being the creator of any song ever written, what would that song be?
Erin: That is such an interesting question because there are so many songs I love to bits.
Sean: And that’s the thing. It could be a different answer tomorrow.
Erin: So hard, but I’m going to pick a song that started me on my musical journey a long time ago in jazz and it’s Blue in Green by Miles Davis. It doesn’t relate to anything we play now, it’s just my favourite jazz song.
Sean: Yet another answer to this question which has pleasantly caught me by surprise. So, exciting times ahead for you all?
Erin: Yes, the next 6 months are going to be pretty full on. We have 3 new songs we hope to get recorded and released before the end on 2018. And then something big in the pipeline for 2019 that we can’t say too much about just yet, but we’ve been offered a festival slot in the US and maybe some tour dates while we are there, so watch this space for more info.
Sean: That’s awesome, I look forward to hearing more. Thank you so much for your time and on behalf of The Rockpit, I just want to wish you and the girls all the best for the EP Launch Night and subsequent tour.
Erin: Thanks Sean. See you at the Indi Bar on the 14th July.
Two Sides EP out July 13 via Firestarter Distribution
Dark Paradise single out now
iTunes – Apple Music – Spotify – Google Music
Two Sides EP Tracklisting:
Dark Paradise, Kingdom, Shine Right Through, Strange Addiction, Wanna Riot
Legs Electric ‘Two Sides’ EP Tour
Saturday July 14 – Indi Bar, Perth
w/ Foxton Kings, The Ivory Lies, Joshua Garner (fb event)
Wednesday July 25 – Crown & Anchor, Adelaide
w/ Surviving Sharks, Imogen Brave (fb event)
Thursday July 26 – Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney
w/ Wicked Things, Carlo & The Monties (fb event)
Friday July 27 – Rad Bar, Wollongong
w/ Latham’s Grip, Quite Like Pete, The Dribs (fb event)
Saturday July 28 – Last Chance Rock N’ Roll Bar, Melbourne
w/ The Black Aces, Darcee Fox (fb event)
Sunday July 29 – Whole Lotta Love, Melbourne
w/ CASH (fb event)
