Special Interview: The Actions

theaussieword.com has a chat to The Actions for a special interview.

Give us an introduction. How did it all begin? What had you first interested in music?
We’ve known each other since we were kids. We formed The Actions after playing together for years in different bands and collaborating individually with many acts. It’s been a natural consequence of our previous musical path.

Mo: “Well, music came very early in my life, so there isn’t a precise moment or event I clearly remember. In the early days I took piano lessons thanks to my father who used to play piano too, later I discovered pop and rock music thanks to my big cousins…once I passed by a music instruments shop and I saw a bunch of shining multi-coloured electric guitars hanging from the ceiling and…it was love at first sight…
Silty: “My father used to play guitar and that is what definitely brought music into my life, I started studying classic guitar when I was 9, then I grew up listening to my sister’s Dark Music CDs and my brother’s vinyls’ collection.

What motivates or influences you in your quest to make great music?
Well, there is no “who” except ourselves. Music is something that we couldn’t imagine to live without. It’s what makes us feel alive. Creating new music, pushing forward our artistic boundaries, going on stage…, these are the things that make us feel satisfied.

What are your biggest goals you hope to accomplish as an artist?
Well, it’s very simple. We’d like to keep on making music that we like and tour, a lot.

What can we expect from you in the coming months? Any plans to tour?
We’re going to release our new single The Echo on December 8 via Niteo Records with a bunch of remixes spanning Dub, Tech and Ambient, then we’ll release an EP called “Indefensible” which The Echo is first track of.

Tell us a bit about your latest single and how would you best describe your music?
Well, The Actions are an alternative rock band influenced by Psychedelia, Dark Wave and Trip Hop.

A lot of beautiful descriptions have been given to this track. Musically speaking, The Echo is a bass driven sonic track fusing elements of post-rock, psychedelia and electronica with haunting, distorted vocals. The song is about man destroying himself and his own habitat. “The Echo” is the voice of the planet reminding you about your actions, at the same time “The Echo” is your inner consciousness alerting you about what you’re doing to the things you belong to.
We’re very happy about people’s reaction to the song. A lot of radio stations are supporting it lately.

Success, what is the secret to it?
Well, success in its glittering and glamourous meaning is something that belongs to the fast-burning X-Factor world. For sure we consider success a show went well, an airplay on the radio, your song in a movie, CDs sold out at gigs, you know, stuff like that… 

What has been your biggest career highlight?
With regards to career highlights, well there have been quite a few so far…Opening for big names like R.E.M., Green Day, Garbage is certainly a remarkable thing to remember as well as being supported by Tom Robinson on BBC Radio 6 Music and Gary Crawley on Amazing Radio. Having a single in an MTV US movie has been great and rewarding too.

Which stars of the music industry do you find inspiring?
There are many of them who inspired us hugely over the years, in no particular order: Pink Floyd, Cure, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky, Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, Hendrix, Joy Division, Rage Against The Machine, Led Zeppelin, Ennio Morricone, Janis Joplin, Sara Vaughan, Queen, Goldfrapp, Lamb, Placebo, QOTSA, Billie Holiday, Pixies, Police, Clash, Burial, Claude Von Stroke, Digitalism…

Any new projects in the pipeline?
We’re always at work, brand new material and sound is shaping up right now at our Bohemien Studio…

The music industry is huge, where do you see yourself a few years from now?
We hope to be out there playing as usual.

Name a few of your favourite Aussie artists.
Nick Cave, INXS, AC/DC, Silverchair, The Vines, Hugo Race which we had the pleasure to meet a couple of years ago in a summer Festival in Italy.

The shape of the music industry has changed significantly over the years, including the use of social media, how do you feel about the industry as a whole and what does it mean to you in getting your records out into the public eye?
Well, this is the DIY era and we think it’s to early to analyze in depth the epochal change that affected the music industry in the last ten years. We feel very comfortable in this period as we have more decisional power as artists. Even if these are tough years for independent musicians we strongly believe that this new generation of artists is definitely more conscious of every aspect of this job, getting a strong know-how from the early days of their career. And all this is just because of the free information running through the internet.   

Thanks for the interview! What final message do you have for us today? 
You’re welcome, we’d like to thank them for their time and for keeping alive their interest in discovering new music.


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