Tomatrax returns to Happy for the first time in ages with an interview with indie pop-up-and-comers Date Night At The Museum. You can catch them launch their single Flashing Lights tonight at The Espy or tomorrow night at Spectrum.
TRAX: How did the band form?
DATE NIGHT: Johny and I went to high school together and played in different bands before he told me that we needed a singer with a killer voice and a little sass to top it off. Sure enough Jess replied to Johnny’s advert and the songs started writing themselves immediately. It didn’t take much convincing to get me involved once I heard the first demo which, was actually a rough version of Flashing Lights. Matt, just followed us until we let him join…
TRAX: Where did the name Date Night at the Museum come from?
DATE NIGHT: A friend of ours went on a date at the Australian Museum when they were putting on gigs and opening it as a bar*. I loved the concept but I remember us joking about it being a great name for a band… 5 mins later we were all sold
TRAX: What was the inspiration behind the cartoon lighthouse video clip for Flashing Lights?
DATE NIGHT: the song’s title meant we were always going to be getting involved in the Flashing concept. However YouTube aren’t into that much nudity so we went with Nick and Tristan from Seek and Hide Production’s awesome Lighthouse animations concept instead. So far not too many complaints about that.
TRAX: How did you get involved with Nick Baker and Tristan Klein?
DATE NIGHT: Jess, our singer, did some work with them on their New York Tropfest winning Video. Those guys were super exciting to work with and incredibly talented! From concept to final product they were full of great ideas and know how. I was blown away to see a beautiful sketch on a piece of Japanese newspaper somehow metamorphose into a 3 min video clip for our song.
TRAX: What made you pick Flashing Lights as your debut single?
DATE NIGHT: Flashing Lights was the first demo that John and Jess wrote together and asked me to add my flavour to. Other than it being a great song that shows off their song writing skills, I guess when we heard the demo playing back in the studio it was also when we first started feeling like a real band. We celebrate that every time we play it which is pretty rad.
TRAX: Will there be an album to follow the single?
DATE NIGHT: There will be an album one day (hopefully not too far off). We have a new single that will be released before the end of the year and we are hitting the studios again after this tour so who knows?
TRAX: You’re about to tour in support of your single, what can fans expect from your show?
DATE NIGHT: The single, yep that’ll be there (laughs). We’re pretty excited about the tour – 3 shows consecutive nights in 3 different cities is a good way to do it. We’re supporting Lunatics on Pogo Sticks in Melbourne who won Triple J Unearthed High last year at the Espy which will be pretty sweet. We have a great set that is full of catchy, toe tapping tunes. We might throw in our recently recorded MGMT cover and what ever else we can whip along the way.
TRAX: You’ve entered your song on Triple J’s Unearthed page, has that had any impact on your music’s exposure?
DATE NIGHT: There’s no question that Unearthed impacts your exposure. Its a huge network and a place that you can find all kinds of new music and feel safe to download and delve deep within. We were really happy to make the top 10 of the pop charts within the first week. It’s a music sharing community which is what bands need to get more exposure.
TRAX: When writing, what comes first – words or music?
DATE NIGHT: It goes either way. Most recently the latter but I have some great demos of Jess humming melodic gibberish over our jam which has then turned into something pretty special. Generally the two go hand in hand though.
TRAX: Do you ever listen to your own music?
DATE NIGHT: Yes, but usually in a very reflective manner. Trying to recapture a moment from a jam or working on ideas to enhance a recording. Sometimes just to enjoy as well.
TRAX: What other music do you listen to?
DATE NIGHT: We all have different tastes which is cool when you’re writing together. Generally we all have a love for the 90’s as we all generally developed our own music taste back then. But right now I’ve been loving a band from Argentina’s new album, they’re called Fetzet. I studied with their drummer in New York and have kept in contact. The album is completely in Spanish and I can’t understand a word, but the songs are catchy as all hell and I’m loving it. It just just proves that music breaks all kinds of barriers.
TRAX: What do you plan on doing after your tour?
DATE NIGHT: We’ll be back in the studio within a week of finishing up so not much time to rest our laurels, but that’s cool with us.
TOUR DATES
Thu 24th July : Ric’s Bar – Brisbane
Fri 25th July : Spectrum – Sydney
Sat 26th July : The Espy – Melbourne
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*That would be the now defunct Jurassic Lounge where our resident grump Alex used to work. Notably, his time there serving happy couples on dates all night is what tipped his levels of cynicism over the edge of no return.
