Australia has always produced world class Rock music, but sadly the tyranny of distance has always made it hard for bands to break through on an international level. The Radio Sun, I have no reservation in saying is one of the finest Melodic Rock bands out there at the moment – not just in Australia but anywhere in the world. It may have taken years of dedication, countess hours of hard work and a lot of the bands own resources but the world is now sitting up and taking notice. 2019 sees the band making yet another venture North to play for their growing army of fans. We caught up with Stevie to break the news that they also just landed The Rockpit’s ‘Australian album of the year’ for their latest release ‘Beautiful Strange.’
Mark: Hi Steve, you probably won’t have seen it yet as I only just posted our lists for the year but how does it feel to have The Rockpit’s Australian Album of the Year 2018?
Stevie: The Radio Sun?
Mark: The Radio Sun.
Stevie: Wow! That’s huge, cheers that’s really cool.
Mark: Well we all voted and there’s quite a few of us the team these days and it came out on top, so congratulations!
Stevie: The boys will be rapt with that as well!
Mark: it’s well deserved and a credit to you and the guys and to Melbourne too, as its bands from there that dominated the list this year. As a band you’ve been around a while now, produced an album a year which is incredible and in Beautiful Strange I think you’ve produced you best to date. Tell us about the album, do you feel under pressure to keep producing new work?
Stevie: In some ways yes, the whole idea of what we do is sort of what many of our favourite bands did back in the day I guess, whether it be Kiss or Cheap Trick – they’d be releasing product frequently then getting out and playing it. Whilst later in the 80’s bands like Def Leppard, who we all love, took 4-5 years to make a record and somewhere things got a little bit lost. ‘Hysteria’ may be one of the best albums of all time but it took a long time to make, and you’d lose all momentum doing that these days. So for us it was as case of, look we’re a real band this is what we do, we pride ourselves on song-writing and Jason and I wanted to be active and keep in people’s faces. We’d done enough in the past to believe in ourselves and say we can put out an album every year! The band is only six years old, if that, so in terms of what we’ve achieved so far we’re so glad we had that meeting right at the start that set out that agenda. In the past we’d spent three to four years on an album trying to make a huge sounding well written record, but unless you’ve got a bit of push behind you it will kind of be forgotten about after a while unless the right people hear it.
Mark: I know exactly what you’re saying, you hear a great album and unless you get to see the band live regularly after a couple of years you’re yesterday’s news.
Stevie: Exactly. We were in a previous band called Square One and we were lucky enough back in 2004 to be signed by a label called Now and Then Records from the UK and when they finished up some of the guys went to Frontiers and some quit the music business. So we signed to a label only to see it crumble and fall apart before we even go released! We got paid but the album never even got released! (laughs) apart from in Japan, so that hurt us. Before that we were very close, we were doing showcases at places like Fox Studios in Sydney to Australian record labels but they passed on us so we were very disillusioned about how things worked in the business. So when we had this meeting at the start of The Radio Sun years later in 2013 we thought let’s tick to what we do best, the cycle of writing recording and performing. And we’re very, very happy with how that’s going.
Mark: I love the consistency. Your first album was great, but the notoriously difficult second album ‘Heaven in a Heartbeat’ was even better.
Stevie: I agree, for sure.
Mark: And it’s kept getting better from there. ‘Beautiful Strange’ I think is the best yet.
Stevie: Look you always are the most proud of your most recent release, but dong what you do you don’t really get a lot of time to reflect. I mean we’ve got the majority of writing done for the next, but in terms of what we’ve learnt especially in recording guitar I’ve learnt a heck of a lot in the last five years because I recorded a lot in my home studio. But we’re a band that’s about progression, not trying to jump on any band-wagon in terms of what we sound like. It’s funny because some people will say its really cool but other reviewers will assume it’s really rushed, but that’s not true at all it depends on how much work you’re putting in. I could spend five years on an album and not put in a fraction of the work. I think people sometimes just want to put you down and that can be frustrating. So to hear it’s your album of the year, that’s just mind-blowing for us. Thank you.
Mark: It’s well deserved.
Stevie: And I’m happy for the fact that it’s in that category. We’re very proud to be Australian and when we play overseas we’ve got two Aussie flags on speaker quad boxes and we want to be representing Australia. I’m not going to lie a lot of our success has been in the UK and we’ve been invited to the Gard Rock Hell AOR Fest and this time round will be our fourth time in a row and no other band has ever done that. I think Tyketto have done it three times. We’re always climbing the bill too which is great, I think first time we played we were pretty much the first band on at two in the afternoon now we’re on at almost eight. We’re not a headliner by any means but it’s great that we’re climbing up. We’ve worked hard, we’ve gone over to Europe, and we’ve been to America and Japan. We’ve played at Sweden Rock and we’ve really given it a good go and thankfully things are looking up.
Mark: It’s still so hard for Australian bands though isn’t it, just the whole logistics of doing it, the cost, the timing, getting everyone there and ramping things up a little each year?
Stevie: Oh it is for sure, and again I’m very honest about this the first couple of years we were paying for free, we were paying for our own flights ad everything and it’s only this last couple of years that we’ve started to reap the benefits of that commitment. This year we got flown to Sweden first class, this little band from Australia and its things like that that make us smile because it shows our hard work is paying off.
Mark: The hard word is even harder though these days I think. Music might have become more accessible in recent years, easier to make, easier to distribute but with that comes the noise –I get thirty albums a day in my inbox, I physically can’t listen to all of that. When I do some of its great, some of it is inspired, but some of it is so generic and some of it is awful but there’s no filter. I might miss the best album of the year because I got too many emails that day. How do you get heard?
Stevie: I think it’s a combination of a number of things – but mainly persistence and knowing what you want and what you’re aiming for from the release. I know when I was younger that you’d spend so much on the recording you’d leave nothing for marketing, or a film clip, or whatever. Everything is pretty low budget for us still but we’re utilising everything we’ve learnt to the best of our ability. So for example we’ll make sure that we do run an ad in the UK press when we go over – and that’s something you have to pay for yourself. It’s not enough to just have a great product – you’ve got to put on a good show and let people know you’re out there. The best feedback we receive is when people tell us we’re better live than we are on CD, we put our effort in to recording but on a low budget you can only do what you can do. So when people tell us we’re better live we know we’re onto something. And I think a lot of that whether we’re playing acoustic or electric is that we all sing, so the harmonies are there and the other factor is that with experience I know the sound I want from my guitar and I know how to get it. But it’s taken me a lot of time to understand that. You can write cool hooks and cool songs but unless you know how to put it all together it’s not as easy as it sounds. I think one of the biggest things too is that we’re also fans of the music so after we play we’ll always go out there with the crowd and watch the bands. I think after our set at HRH this year we signed autographs for about two hours and even the people who put on the event were like ‘wow.’ But it’s so cool when people want to talk to you and get a T-shirt or a poster signed or whatever it may be. I think we’ve all very willing to meet people and I know that sounds a bit strange but for me when you meet an idol of yours and they’ve not cool or they’re not right you get a bit of a funny feeling. For example I remember when I met one of my heroes George Lynch from Dokken, and I’ve been lucky enough to meet him a few times now, he was one of the nicest guys in the industry. The best guitar player in the world, Mr Scary George Lynch was happy to talk to me and I’m a nobody! So that was a great learning experience for me, he was so appreciative of his fans. I went there to get all my albums signed and he’s like ‘Cool, a real fan’ and he was just rapt about signing the albums and having a talk. On the other side I’ve seen some bigger stars not so nice to fans. Not wanting to sign anything, or pretend they’re on a mobile so as to not talk to you. And that’s not cool. The people put you there and I understand it’s not always ideal, but if it only takes a minute of your time to say g’day or take a photo if that’s a big problem then maybe you’re in the wrong industry, because that’s the biggest compliment to me.
Mark: it’s great that you mention George, The Rockpit is here because of George, I talked to him for ages before the Lynch Mob show in Perth back in 2009 and he was so generous with his time, he convinced me to start up the site and here we are almost ten years later.
Stevie: Well there you go! And most people are cool. Another example – last year we played with Autograph, they went on after us and Steve Lynch was saying beautiful things about us. Again another guitar hero that I loved! And Mike Trap was another, “You guys are from Australia! I lived in Australia” that kind of thing! I love that and I learn from that.
Mark: I agree Mike is a lovely guy, we’ve spoken to a number of times over the years. I’d not seen him for a year or so and as we came onto the boat from the MOR Cruise he was there with a big hug. Whilst we’re on the topic of the Industry’s nice guys the last time I saw you were playing the Melodic Rock Festival with Paul Laine. He has to be one of the very nicest guys out there.
Stevie: Oh he is, and Paul has worked with us since the first album and it all started with a message I sent to Paul out of luck I send him a FB message told him about the band and told him we’d love to work with him as a producer or sound mixer. He sent a message back a couple of hours later and said end me your stuff, which I did, and since ten he’s been just one of the coolest nicest dudes, and now one of our best friends. We’ve done five albums together with him mixing, we’ve co-written four or five songs over the years and we’ve also become his backing band. Good people will always shine thorough and we’ve learnt so much frim him in terms of how to conduct yourself and act on stage. I always tell this story and I’ll never forget the first time he came to Australia I always knew he was a good singer but the first time we ever rehearsed with him I remember looking at Jase and thinking “Oh my God this guy is just incredible” It’s criminal that he’s not bigger than he is because as well as just being the nicest dude, he could be doing something like Kelly Hansen is in Foreigner, he’s that good. This will be his third tour of Australia and the first time at The Cherry Bar people were coming up after ad saying it was the best show they’d ever seen. We were very, very nervous that tour because of course we were playing some of that Andy Timmons (Danger Danger) leads, so that was very daunting. People just loved him at the gig though especially when they got to meet him- anther guy who knows how to treat his audience. We can’t wait we rehearsed last night – he’s out here on 17th January for an Electric Show on the Thursday and then on the Saturday we’re playing an acoustic show.
Mark: Take it all the way back for us now Stevie, where did it all begin for you? What started you off in music?
Stevie: Well as a kid I always loved music, as a kid I had an elder brother so I grew up on bands like The Sweet and Rainbow, then there was Black Sabbath, Dio, Judas Priest, Skyhooks an Australian band. So I always liked music but then at high school around 15, Dokken ‘Back For the Attack’ came out then Skid Row’s debut and they were probably the two albums for me as a teenager that launched it for me and made me want to start playing guitar; and I started pretty late at 16. I’m a teacher myself and I’m always encouraging kids to take up music early. So those two and then Enuff Z’Nuff’s debut and Derek Frigo’s guitar and Vito Bratta from White Lion, then there was Judas Priest, Helloween, Queensryche – Operation Mindcrime, and I was always into everything from Melodic Rock to Heavy Metal as long as there was melody and as long as the singer was good. That’s what mattered most to me. Dio, Halford and Hagar were probably my favourites, Steve from Journey and it didn’t even have to be the flashiest guitar as long as they gave their all, and I’m not Eddie Van Halen by any means but sometimes it’s important to play for the song. Like DeGarmo and Wiltern from Queensryche they knew that sometimes you don’t have to shred to make songs memorable. I mean I love Malmsteen, but sometimes restraint is important. So that got me into music and then I played guitar pretty much every day for many years and ten I ended up joining a band called Cyclone Tracy. I released two albums with that band which was more of a Skid Row sounding band but the direction changed on the second album and I’m a big fan of staying true to stuff, I like progression but I don’t like changing direction so much. So people always ask me so why do you play in a band like The Radio Sun and then play in a Power Metal band – Black Majesty? And the truth is I like both genres but they’re different and you need a different approach. So after Cyclone Tracy it was Square One and we then became The Radio Sun with the same singer and the same drummer. Black Majesty originally was a project but we recorded three songs and then got signed for five albums! Three different labels offered deals. So for me I get the best of both worlds the twin guitar Metal and then with The Radio Sun it’s a different deal – more about the hooks and White Lion, Danger Danger and Enuff Z’Nuff – that kind of feel. I love both and I’m really blessed to do both.
Mark: One of my favourite things about ‘Beautiful Strange’ I think is those first three songs they just hit you right between the eyes. ‘Hold on Tight’, ‘Believe in Me’ and then my favourite ‘Should Have Listened to My Heart’. One of the best openings to any album I’ve heard in years
Stevie: Thank you. It’s great to hear that because it isn’t always plain sailing. As well as a lot of great feedback we’ve had some pretty harsh feedback from some reviewers whether it’s about the way Jason sings or the way I play guitar and it does affect you, we’re only human and you try to disregard it but it does sometimes hit home and you do start questioning yourself and that’s why I’m so happy you said that. I know you can’t please everyone but it is frustrating and some people do seem to go out of their way to be nasty. I come from the school of “If you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say it” we’re giving it our all and if you don’t like it fair enough but don’t get personal.
Mark: I think that’s a pretty modern problem though Steve or at least one that is more visible these days – a problem exacerbated by social media and people who lack a basic level or respect for others yet feel uber-entitled and need to vent. These are the same sort of people that are the first to take offence at the slightest misunderstanding. The sad thing about people like that is the more reaction they get the more compelled they feel to repeat it. If they can’t be creative themselves they tend to lash out that others who are.
Steve: Sure I know there’s a lot of keyboard warriors and stuff like that but sometimes I just think “Man!”
Mark: So you have the UK Tour, HRH AOR, what else do The Radio Sun have planned for 2019?
Stevie: Well first of all in January we’re going to be first of all supporting Paul Laine and then we’ll play with Paul. We love that were playing our favourite songs with one of the best singers in the genre. Then we’ll continue writing before we go to the UK in March – there are 4 shows and 3 headline shows.
Mark: And you play Scotland for the first time too.
Stevie: Yeah we’re very excited about that we’ve got lots of great messages from people so grateful that we’re not just playing HRH because it’s sold out – it sold out six months before the show! So we’re really happy that things are starting to expand and we’re spreading the word/ it’s been a long process the first-time it was the only show we did, the next time we played one additional show and the third we played two. So hopefully it will keep going that way. Japan I’m just waiting on the dates but it will be approximately mid-year as we went to Japan a year and a half ago – Jason and I played acoustic but this year we’re hoping to take the whole band over. Burrn Magazine over there have been very supportive of us. And then we’re hoping to get over to Sweden later in the year next year fingers crossed.
Mark: It all sounds great Stevie, we can’t wait to see what you come up with next.
Stevie: Thank you so much Mark, catch you soon.
