Stacy Gacy // BEHIND THE BAND

Sydney still have good bands. Exhibit A - A little band by the name of Stacy Gacy, they dropped a music video pretty recently (it's at the bottom of the interview) and have got some cool shit planned!

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//Can you give us a brief history of the band and releases?//

About 40, billion years ago, there was nothing, and then, in an instant, nothing exploded and set in motion a series of unfortunate events which ultimately led to this article you are reading right now. Stacy Gacy have been performing and writing for the better part of 5 years now, with plenty of down time between drinks, we released our debut EP last year locally which scored a couple spins on Triple J and FBi radio and we just put out our second video for our track Hey No Way!

//How did the band originate?//

Actually the band kind of came about by accident. 3/4 of us were in another band that had just broken up so Luke and Mitch just started jamming with Pat, who had also just had a band break up, all while Jake was travelling America. Then, a venue we all used to play at announced that it was closing down. Us being us decided that we HAD to be on the farewell show so we scrounged together a set of old songs and covers, got Jake on board when he got back into the country, called ourselves Stacy Gacy and stuck with it.

//What's the first band who made you love music?//

100% non-ironically... The answer is Hanson. 'Where's the love' has always been and will continue to be an absolute banger.

//Who inspires you to make music now?//

Making music is something we always wanted to do since we were little kids. However, what's keeping us motivated is all the amazing talent that's popped up in the last few years who are making great, passionate and unique music of all different genres and the small venues doing their hardest to support them.

That makes us want to keep working hard to break in and push ourselves creatively. We also draw some of our inspiration from each other, locked away in a garage or a shed, pushing the boundaries of what we can do together.

//What are some of the most important things you have learn while being together?//

The most important thing we learned is The ol' DIY mentality. We learned if you wait around for something to happen, nothing's gonna happen. Things really took off for us when we started booking our own shows, doing our own promotion and really trying to show our support to the local scene. That, and making sure we always have spare batteries on hand.

//How do you view your band now as apposed to when you started?// It's pretty funny, in the years playing together we've learned to take ourselves both more AND less seriously at the same time. What was important to us then and what's important to us now is the exact opposite. We were pretty hung up on image and live gimmicks to get attention and then one day, we dropped all that and just started having fun and then everything started falling into place. We've learned that though we might disagree about what font to use on a flier for our next show, we can all agree that this is what matters most to us.

//What's your favourite venue to play?//

That's a tough one, we really like trying to win people over who have no idea who we are in busier places like the Townie but it's also really fun trying to pack people in smaller bars like Brighton Up, Hideaway and The Record Crate. They always have a special kind of energy.

//Can you explain what goes on during the writing process?//

The perks of having four song writers in a band is that every time you show up to practice you seem to have a new idea ready to play with. The downside is that means there's a lot of material to focus on, so song writing is always a little chaotic getting something finished. Sometimes Luke will say “here is a song, play it like this” Sometimes Pat will say “hey can you do that thing on guitar?” Sometimes Mitch will say “shut up and listen to this riff” Sometimes Jake will say “hey what if we substitute the III chord for a vi-min7b5? (that last one never goes down well) Other than that, we usually start out with a solid 30 minute jam and see what kind of song we can get out of it.

//Can you explain the recording process you go through?//

Every time we've gone in to record we've approached things a little differently. Our first demo that we put out was recorded live with our mate in a garage. It was lots of fun having drinks and recording music that way but it was pretty loose. Our EP was a lot more structured. It started with us recording demos ourselves to solidify our parts and sent it through to our friend and engineer Fil. Then he gave us a day of his time to record guides and a click track (between essential beer and pizza breaks) before heading to The Brain to record each instrument one by one. Next time though we're thinking of taking back to the garage so we can experiment a little more but with the discipline we learned in the studio.

//What does this release mean to you? //

'13 Minutes of Fury' meant a lot to us both personally and professionally. It felt like all the hard work we put into both Stacy Gacy and all our previous bands started to really mean something after it got played on Triple J and FBi. They were both childhood dreams of ours. That's why we ended up filming Hey no Way one year on, just to celebrate that.

//What does the scene mean to you?//

Since lockouts came in, Sydney's music scene became super DIY and super supportive after it became harder and harder to play, and that means a lot to us. All the extra effort bands are putting in at the moment means that almost any time you catch a local band, they're likely to be pretty great!

//If you could change one thing about the scene, what would it be?//

The attitude that there's nowhere to play and that there's nothing good happening in sydney. There's no arguing that a lot has changed in Sydney over the last few years and in a lot of ways it hasn't been for the better. But in some other ways we've been forced underground which has encouraged creativity. People are kind of being forced to work a little harder and it shows in the quality of bands and venues that are fighting to keep the spirit of music alive. This attitude that 'every thing's dead and everything sucks and there's nothing to do' is just wrong in so many ways and even damaging to bands. If you love live music, don't mourn it, support it! Go to your local and see someone you've never heard of. Then see them again, in another venue, with other bands. Literally, put your money where your mouth is.

//What song means the most to you?//

Probably 'Long Way Home'. That started as a pretty personal song but after it became our first ever film clip, it took on a whole new meaning and became a party jam for us and our friends.

//What's your favourite song to play live?//

Victor Close for sure. It's fun because it's so different to the rest of our set and we get to dance and be a bit more musical for those few minutes.

//Why do you play music?//

MONEY. Everyone knows that royalties from online streaming puts your grandchildren through university, so we thought, 'hey, lets give up our steady day jobs and become starving musicians!'. Oh, and its kinda fun, too.

//Would you encourage people reading this to start bands?// Literally the best thing you can do with music is to start a band. start by learning covers of bands you all like, the move onto playing songs you DON'T like, because thats how you improve and broaden your tastes.

//What advice do you have for new bands?//

Go see and support as much local music as possible. Bookers and other bands are more likely to help the bands that are trying to support the scene instead of just supporting themelves.

Also, make yourselves accessible online and put your links everywhere so it's not hard for people to find your music. Take what you do seriously, but never take yourselves that seriously.

//How important is it to network with other bands?//

It is absolutely crucial, it's really the only way to get your name out there. It's not just bands but photographers, artists, promoters, sound guys (cannot understate the importance of a good relationship with your sound guy) as well as fans. It also helps to keep you on your toes. You can see what other artists are doing and how people are reacting to it and it drives you to keep being better every time you put something out there. In the last 18 months we've tried hard to get out there and "network" and as a result we've met more great people (both in and not in bands), played better shows, found more new venues than we ever had before and we've had the best time doing it.

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