We catch up with Sam Walsh about his band Damsels.
----Been around since?
Feb 2008.
Current line up?
Sam on bass and vocals, Adam on guitar and drums, Matt on guitar and drums.
Musical history?
We've all played in different bands before Damsels and I think all of us had been a bit frustrated with some of the stuff we had been doing previously. We just started playing together, swapping instruments and stuff without any pressure or set idea of the type of music we were going to make and so it became a natural thing when when we started writing.
How would you describe your sound?
Noisy, discordant, emo.
What are you listening to at the moment?
Trail of Dead, Rifles, Street Chant, Animal Collective, Japanese Rap, Eucalypt, Pg.99, Strangers, Cap'n Jazz, Jaguar Love, Metric, Mint Chicks, Brand New.
What were you listening to at high school?
Matt liked Megadeth, Kyuss, Metallica, Pantera, etc. Sam liked cheesy pop punk and screamy shit. Adam never went to high school.
What is your writing/recording process?
We come up with parts then either turn the parts into songs if they sound cool or put two parts together or just leave it as it is.
Your Dream Collaboration?
A super group made up of our favourite New Zealand bands.
Do you have any releases out or coming out?
We have an EP that we recorded in Devonport at The Depot with Callum Gunn (BNM) and Shannon Walsh (DIG). They have a production name they use when they work together but I cant remember what it is called. Shannon mixed and mastered it too, they were real cool to record with and I think it sounds like what we wanted it to sound like. The Depot is a cool place to record and it's great that there are community institutions like that around New Zealand. We certainly need more of them.
Where’s your favourite place to play?
Outside of our comfort zone. We've played a few exhibitions and done some shows with Sam's girlfriend George, who curates exhibitions, those are always fun cause the line between audience and performer is always blurred. We used to like playing at parties but they always ended up as minor disasters.
Your favourite show so far?
We played in a window gallery once which was cool, it was super chaotic and I thought the window was going to crack. Playing with the Mint Chicks was cool cause we really like them and it was our first big show. Camp A Low Hum '09 renegade room was cool too. We were playing while the Finns were on stage, unbeknowest to us, but luckily it was fun even though there were only about 20 people there.
If you could share the stage with anyone (person or band) who would it be?
At the Drive In
When are you playing next?
Our EP release show in Wellington on the 25th was our last NZ show for awhile cause we moving away, it was with Neon Bastard, Siamese, Alphabeathead and Butt Simpson. Hehe.
The state of music in NZ is…?
Active as ever!
