If 2021 was a big year for Perth Grunge rockers Electric State, then 2022 is shaping up to be even more defining. Collecting two Western Australian Music Awards (WAM) for Best Live Act and Best New Act as well as excelling during a host of live performances and releasing high quality music video clips, Electric State have made a name for themselves within the Perth rock scene not only for being a band who like to have fun, with their catchy sets brimming with crowd participation but also because Rob Viney, Bill Shaw, Russell Christie & Paul Leahy are four of the nicest guys around.
This year sees the launch of their debut album ‘GREEN MACHINE”, a collection of songs that fans of the band will be all too familiar with, having heard many of them during their live shows. Electric State will be celebrating the release with a night of epic proportions with support from Legs Electric, Amberdown & Satisfaction Guaranteed at Amplifier on January 29th. The Rockpit have had the pleasure of following Electric States’ rise over the last three or four years and so we were excited to be able to sit down with front man Rob Viney and drum thumper Bill Shaw over an ice-cold beer at Mindarie Marina to discuss an album that will surely sit high in Australian releases for 2022, picking the line-up for the launch night and what are some of the plans to enable world domination…
Sean: Well, it’s a beautiful sun-filled afternoon here at Mindarie Marina and I’m with Rob Viney & Bill Shaw from Electric State. How are you gents?
Rob: Great thanks mate.
Sean: It’s hard to believe last time we sat down for a proper chat, other than when you collected your two WAM awards, was on the eve of the release of the video clip to ‘We’re Just Blood’. Literally days after that interview WA pubs closed their doors with the start of the pandemic. But here we are two years later, and you guys are about to release your long-awaited debut album ‘Green Machine’. How does it feel?
Bill: I think it feels pretty good. Its exciting because we have been working on it for so long and playing some of the songs for nearly three years so its good to finally be getting it out there so people can hear the studio versions of all the songs, we’ve been playing live all this time. I’m excited to get it out there because I’m really happy with it… I mean there’s the odd thing… we’re very critical about our own music but I’m pretty happy with it because there is definitely something there for everyone.
Sean: For me, what is clever about it is that because you have played these live so often, we will all be very familiar with the songs, so they are instantly recognisable. It’s also very polished and wonderfully produced. You know you buy a new album, and you’ll hear one or two you know but this is instant sing-along stuff from the moment you press play. One of the lesser known is ‘FMH’ which is superb.
Rob: There may very well be a single.
Sean: Well, there are eleven tracks, six of which have already been released as singles, my favourite of which is ‘Fed by the Algorithms’ [laughs]
Rob: It’s got some great backing vocalists on that one [laughs].
Sean: One thing that Electric State has been these last few years is consistent with content and any young band out there looking towards someone as a good example of how to push and promote their music can look no further than you guys. It’s a prime example of how a band can be very much out there; new songs, video content, social media, live shows and that’s a credit to how the band have evolved and remained fresh.
Rob: It was always a plan. I see us as a beginning chapter like the first thing you see when you open up that book or the first act of any film, that’s how we are when we are there. We are introducing the world to what our music is and what our world is at that point in time and everyone of our songs has so much heart and critique in them. We are trying to mould them and find our sound and who we are so these are really the first eleven tracks where we found out what we really wanted to do, what we wanted to create and where we wanted to take people. The other thing is we had this really big plan of we know what it is and we have all these amazing people coming along to our shows who know what it is all about and who really enjoy the live shows but we also need to be mindful that we need to introduce it to new people so we had a big talk about how we wanted to structure how the album went and so the song structure is very much how we do a set. It’s interesting you are saying about how you were singing along to the album and that it feels like how you would be at a gig, well we wanted that. We wanted to make sure that when you’re listening to the album it makes you feel like you’re at one of our shows. Its very hard to capture a gig in audio.
Bill: You know we play a gig and you have the high point at the start then you try to lift it even more before bringing it back down a notch or two to pull everyone back in again then you take it back up to that peak again so we have tried to achieve the same thing on the album and attempt to get that up & down motion throughout.
Sean: And of course, one of the ways you get the gig to reach a peak is your interaction with the crowd, Rob. You’ll wander into the crowd for certain songs and other like ‘Fed by the Algorithms’ and ‘We’re Just Blood’ call for you to entice audience members to the stage for a sing-along. To be honest when ‘Light It Up’ came on when I was listening to the album, I half expected Mr Viney to pop out my kitchen cupboard and trust a microphone into my face [laughs]
Rob: [laughs] I almost had you Saturday. I spotted you from the stage but when I got down on the floor you had disappeared.
Sean: I’m not that stupid. I retreated and hid behind the merch desk [laughs]. I know you haven’t even released the album yet and we’ll discuss the launch night shortly, but what else will you have planned for 2022?
Bill: I think we are going to go back in to record some more material.
Rob: And of course, world domination! [laughs]
Bill: We have another eight or nine tracks that we are sort of sitting on at this stage.
Rob: At the end of the day, we want to play, and we want to play anywhere and everywhere so for us Covid has been somewhat of a blessing. We’ve been very lucky that we have been able to play in Perth and certainly from speaking to people over east that we’ve met through yourself and others they haven’t been able to do much, which sucks. So, it’s been good that we can play but it’s been unfortunate that we haven’t been able to get out of WA to play some shows too. As a crew we want to head over east, we want to go over there and expand and play different places and show people what we are all about.
Bill: Get more eyes and ears on the band. Adding to what Rob said about Covid – sadly we couldn’t pick up any support slots from touring bands but on the plus side it meant there were more venues available and a lot more eclectic line-ups allowing for more live music to regenerate again. The touring acts don’t always just play at NIB or RAC Arena, they do play at the smaller venues like Amplifier & Badlands.
Sean: I think a prime example of that is End of Fashion. In the past they could have looked more towards those Indie style bands rather than a fairly heavy rock band like you guys, but they love what you guys do and that was proven with front man Justin Burford complementing your set.
Rob: Yes definitely. And to add to that I think because we have all been able to play a lot more venues and with a lot of different bands, I do feel there has become this real tight knit community within the Perth music scene. It doesn’t matter what genre we are in; we’ve played on metal shows, punk shows, indie shows, rocks shows but at the end of the day we just want to play. So, to play with End of Fashion is awesome. They are wicked guys. We played on Monsters of Rock down in Pinjarra and that was just an awesome day and everyone on the bill was just incredible.
Sean: There have been some really strange line-ups, but they have worked and that has probably enabled people who wouldn’t normally come to your shows to see your gig and hopefully come back to see you again. We always digress when we catch up, so I need to steer us back to ‘Green Machine’. Loving the album cover and I know there will be a run of vinyls coming very soon. Obviously there has been an increase in vinyl sales in recent years but I’m interested to know why you guys decided to do vinyl.
Bill: Certainly for myself and for Russell & Paul, maybe not so much from Rob because he released an album before in a previous band, but for the other three members of the band we have never done an album before and we wanted to do an album for us – and for any of our supporters who wanted to buy a copy as well obviously but it was really for us to say we had done an album. Tick the box, you know? You know when we play a show I always say to Rob, “Where haven’t we played? Let’s go it that box!” We hadn’t really spoken about vinyl that much and it was about the time we collected the two WAMs which are vinyl awards and that’s when I suggested that we should go ‘Green Machine’ as a vinyl release so we could have them sitting up there with the two awards. We all agreed that would be pretty mad and we knew vinyl was selling again, I know a few people who collect it, and Paul loves his vinyl too, so we decided to do it.
Rob: You want something tactile especially these days when there is so much downloading and digital music. I’ve got to say I was probably the only one in the band who didn’t want to do an album and only because I feel we are in this age now where everything is more you put a song out, you put a song out, you put a song out but the value for putting an album out is definitely that tactile response, you can read the cover and you can hold it. The value of an album for the youth of today isn’t quite the same. They just want what is now so there is a difference there.
Bill: It is a big investment to do an album because you’re just dropping it all in one shot whereas if your doing a single then video clip and so on it spreads the load financially.
Rob: Since saying no [laughs] and being that we are a democracy in the band I got voted out but after going through the motions of doing it now I’m really excited about having the album ready to go. Also, I’ve never had an album on vinyl before.
Bill: That might have been the clincher that got Rob over the line because when we suggested vinyl he said, “Well that’s cool because I’ve only got CDs from my old band hanging on my wall.”
Rob: Within the band we have these little bad deals & jest and one of them was that I would go with ‘Green Machine’ but only if I could have a door prize and the guys all agreed so there is a special door prize on the night of the launch at Amplifier. I’m not going to say what it is but there is something special as a door prize on January 29th.
Sean: Well, I’m really looking forward to the launch night because it has a great line-up of local talent and at one of my favourite Perth venues which you have almost made your adopted home. I have to ask how hard was it to pick this group of bands knowing you have played with so many amazing artists over the last few years?
Rob: It was fucking hard.
Bill: It was hard. We were tossing up ideas like how Perth Rocks Festival do it. We wanted to work out why people would want to come to our show. They may want to come for our album launch but we also want to make it an event. We wanted two really good supports and there were so many to pick from, but for me Legs Electric are just phenomenal, and they have the KISS support lined up and Amberdown, well we just love those guys and they’ve supported the likes of Motley Crue and Alice Cooper in the past. They’ve been around the block and tour America and like Legs Electric they are one of those bands that people like to come to see because its Amberdown.
Sean: And Jason Glatzer’s final gig with the band too I believe.
Rob: Yeah, and we didn’t even know that when we announced the line-up. But they are all great guys to sit down for a beer and a chat with so great to have them on board.
Sean: I love watching Legs Electric and one of the things with them is that they don’t play as many shows as other bands so when they do pop up on a bill, I always try to catch them.
Rob: When I first joined Electric State, I was writing the first songs for the band which are both on the album, ‘Get in You’ and ‘We’re Just Blood’. I went along to a rock night at the Den at The Civic and Leg Electric were the headline act. I had seen them a few times supporting bigger acts as they seemed to pick up a lot of support slots at the time and rightly so because they are amazing. I was blown away by them and just wanted to go up to tell them how amazing they were and how good it was to come and see a band play and I couldn’t get in to tell them because so many people where crowding round them to talk to them and on the way home I was still on such a buzz that I came up with the idea for the song and lyrics ‘Get in You’, which is really about the fact I couldn’t get in to talk to them to tell them how good they were. So, for me it’s a really cool thing to have them at the album launch because they were there right at the beginning for me with Electric State, even though they didn’t know.
Sean: I’m sure you guys will have exclusive merch at the show too.
Bill: Yes, we will have some limited-edition album tee shirts for sale as well as the CD version of the album. We aren’t sure at this stage if the vinyl will be here in time unfortunately, but the CDs will be.
Sean: Well, it’s always great to catch up with you guys and we really do wish you all the success for both ‘Green Machine’ and the launch night. We will be reviewing the album in the next week or so and I’m loving it so I have a feeling it will sit highly on my list of albums for 2022.
Rob: Its always a pleasure to chat to you Sean. We also just want to thank you for giving us a voice. We can play the music but without the support from you guys each time we have done launches be it singles, or video clips you guys have always been so kind & supportive of us. Without that, local bands don’t get that opportunity, we only get to play the shows. So, for all that have supported us in the past especially you guys at The Rockpit, we would like to thank you.
Sean: Thank you but it’s always our pleasure because you always go above and beyond to make everyone so welcome. Thanks again guys and see you on the 29th of January.
Bill: Cheers mate.
Electric State’s Album Launch for ‘Green Machine’ is on Saturday 29 January at Amplifier, Perth featuring Legs Electric, Amberdown & Satisfaction Guaranteed. Tickets available HERE
