From the ashes of Gerling, RunHide, and other fallen Aussie acts comes Betty Airs. I caught up with the band’s frontman Darren Cross in the middle of their Aussie tour to chat about their forthcoming live shows, the new single “Juvenile,” and what’s coming next from this exciting new act.
It’s fairly early days for this band. For the uninitiated, how would you describe your sound?
’50s grunge. Melodic. Old and new. Like The Kinks on a 4-year bender.
The band is made up of musicians from some other notable Aussie acts like Gerling and The Vines. How did you all find one another?
Well I, who was in Gerling, started the band with Cris [Campano] and Zag [Michael Zagoridis], who were mutual mates and were in a tough band called RunHide. We used to drink at the same pub each week and started talking about doing some harmony based ’50s style music. At this stage it was just one guitar and drums and all three of us singing, Cris playing a mighty fine tambourine and sharing the lead vocals with myself. Pat [Matthews], who was the bass player in The Vines, was off his face at a Royal Headache gig and bailed me up saying he would love to play bass for Betty Airs. As I produced and recorded Betty Airs songs I usually played bass on the tracks as well, and we thought it would sound more traditional live with a bass, so we called Pat up. We like Pat.
Betty Airs is a pretty quirky name. Where did it come from?
It took us about 330 weird band names. Cristian and myself … well we’re gung ho about a “great, classic” name. We all agreed on Betty as a starter … like a female skater. Cris had just sent me 50 shit names as an SMS when I was touring solo as The E.L.F. I was at an airport waiting for a plane and in desperation I looked out the window, saw an aeroplane taking off and said out aloud “Betty Airs”. YEP. We all loved it.
You’ve just released your new single “Juvenile.” What is it about this song in particular that inspired you to release it?
It’s an immediate garage pop song with great hooks. Short and sweet. Good energy.
The song was used to launch Triple J’s new Unearthed Digital radio station. What does that sort of exposure mean to you?
It’s awesome. Triple J is a powerful force and we love and are very grateful that they play our music! We use the Triple J Unearthed platform for uploading our songs for free download to y’all sweet, fine people. It’s cool! The Digital Unearthed radio station is also great for giving new bands a go. Very encouraging!!!!
You’re embarking on a fairly gruelling touring schedule over the coming months, so you must love being up on stage. What’s your favourite thing about playing live?
When people enjoy us enjoying our music it is such a positive thing. Every band works really hard to play gigs and if there are people loving our music at the gigs then it’s just the best!!
How do you keep things fresh when you’re spending weeks at a time on the road?
Every place is fun and different. We also love op shopping and wearing funny outfits so that’s always a random experience. We love hanging out with locals as well; we are always up for fun times with the local fun crew!
What’s life like on the Betty Airs tour bus?
Um, you mean crammed in a mate’s car or catching a bus from the airport? Usually a laugh a minute and a beer in hand.
Many of these upcoming shows are supporting some other big acts, like British India and Wolf & Cub. How do you intend to win over their fans?
Just by playing our songs. We love our songs … you really can tell from our performance!
After these shows wrap up, what’s next on the horizon for Betty Airs?
Just about to release our debut album, play heaps more shows, hopefully heaps more regional shows and HAVE LOADS OF FUN!!!!!!!
You can catch Betty Airs doing their thing at the following shows.
20 October 2011 – Alhambra Lounge,Brisbane (with Velociraptor)
28 October 2011 – Hotel Metro, Adelaide (with Bad Dreems)
29 October 2011 – Crown & Anchor, Adelaide (with Bad Dreems)
5 November 2011 – Roxbury Hotel, Sydney (with The Bungalows and The Ganasch)
12 November 2011 – Gaelic Club, Sydney (supporting British India)
12 November 2011 – Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney (supporting Peabody)
13 November 2011 – Newtown Festival @ Campberdown Memorial Park, Newtown
16 November 2011 – Beach Road Hotel, Bondi (supporting Wolf & Cub)
19 November 2011 – Yah Yah’s, Melbourne (with Red Aces and APES)
19 November 2011 – Pony, Melbourne (2 am slot)
21 November 2011 – Harbord Diggers, Manly (supporting British India)
10 December 2011 – Social Junk @ The National Grid, Brookvale
Image used with permission from Shiny Entertainment