Who remembers the good old days of hi-hat disco beats and Gang of Four guitars? Yes, it was a time when indie music budged away from tom-tom rhythms to fast and sharp 16ths. The public eschewed the slow Oasis drawl in favour of, well, exciting and optimistic music. Of course, many will blame the likes of Franz Ferdinand and Interpol for this transition, but it was a time in which indie needed a lift.
Mr Sean Ekins is a man who captures all sounds. His music incorporates the pace of the aforementioned, the intrigue and ingenuity of the originators (XTC, Gang of Four) and the wit and sarcasm of the early 90s bands such as Suede and Pulp. We decided to interview the very man and find out a bit more about his life and his music.
Good day Mr Ekins, how are you? How is everything in the world of Pleasure Island?
Merry Apocalypse! Yes good, using the spare time to finish up preparation for recording, we’ll be heading back to The Motor Museum shortly for a socially distanced recording session soon. Apart from that I’ve just been frying things in the deep fat fryer I got for Christmas.
Can you tell us a bit about Pleasure Island and what you guys have out at the minute?
Me and Sam are a two piece post punk band, we have a single out called “Help Me NHS” which we recorded a couple of years back, plus our B-Side “The Game” which seems to be more popular than the A-Side.
We assume Pleasure Island is not the first band you started. Where did it all begin?
I played in a band in Australia called The Spitfires. The band was a total car crash beset by too many drummers, drugs, explosions, incompetence… I think if there was ever a four horsemen of the musical apocalypse that would have been them.
Still we never missed a gig, the one time we came close was when a hurricane grounded all the flights from Brisbane to Sydney on our tour, but the venue burnt down that afternoon so we wouldn’t have been able to play it even if we had made it, so technically we didn’t actually miss it.
What was it like touring Australia? Are there any noticeable differences between Oz and Europe?
We’ve only ever toured the UK, so not sure that counts as Europe anymore! Australia has a very interesting outback circuit where you get to drive around the outback for days playing these remote outback pubs, they always went off. UK is much easier on the petrol, but favourite place to tour is definitely Japan… mind you anything Japan related is always ace and we all got to ride giant mechanical pandas.
Did you or your band discover any new acts in Australia?
Yeah lots of good stuff on the circuit, Drunk Mums, Scotdrakula, Project Mayhem, Caballeros, British India and The Water Board for starters. Seeing King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard play a gig at the gay bar from Priscilla Queen of the desert was probably the highlight, but I also caught Mink Mussel Creek playing in the late noughties, I hear their drummer has gotten pretty famous of late.
Would you take Pleasure Island to Australia (provided its safe too)?
Not sure they’d have me back after being a total wreck head the first time round. Probably?
In your opinion, where do you see the industry going? Do you think bands will be able to gig again soon?
In the short term we’re all doomed, but things should start to pick up again by the end of the Summer, as we’ll be putting out a new single around then and if that doesn’t cause a massive surge in record sales then nothing will. Gigs should follow shortly after.
Who are your favourite bands at present? Local & non-local?
This week I have mostly been listening to Working Men’s Club and Suede.
Words and photos by Lewis McWilliams, Logo: Band Media
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/PleasureIsland