Rosa Maria and Concrete Lawn are two of our favourite bands kicking around right now. That’s exactly why we asked them both to come play at our NZ Week party at the Lady Hampshire later this month.
But before these two incredible bands share a stage with one another on September 29th, we asked them to interview each other.
Ahead of their performances at our NZ Week Party later this month, we got Concrete Lawn and Rosa Maria to interview each other. Here are the results.
Concrete Lawn interview Rosa Maria
CONCRETE LAWN: How did the name Rosa Maria come about?
ROSA MARIA: There’s a wild sci-fi trilogy called Illuminatus! by Robert Anton Wilson. In the book, Rosa Maria was the codename for a psychoactive drug. Everyone should Google Robert Anton Wilson. He was a bloody genius.
CONCRETE LAWN: What are your favourite 60’s garage compilation albums?
ROSA MARIA (Broc): Now Hear This! Garage & Beat from the Norman Petty Vaults, Unissued Sixties Garage Acetates & Lost Treasures from the Vaults.
ROSA MARIA (Bobby): Back from the Grave is the best. Vol 1, 4 & 7 are unreal. Scum of the Earth & Girls In The Garage are great too.
CONCRETE LAWN: Have you experienced any embarrassing moments on stage?
ROSA MARIA: Red has played most of a set with his fly undone until someone lent over and tried to zip it up. He now checks his fly 3-4 times per set. He also got too boozed once and kept his tuner pedal on so you couldn’t hear his bass.
CONCRETE LAWN: If you could be transported to any time and place, what would it be?
ROSA MARIA: Time: 8pm Saturday October 24th 1964. Place: 645 east Georgia Avenue Memphis Tennessee.
CONCRETE LAWN: You guys have come a long-way since your first gig, which was only at the beginning of last year, what gig would you consider the craziest so far and why?
ROSA MARIA: Broc reckons the second show because people actually came back to see us. We played at Sly Fox for King Street Crawl a couple of weeks ago, and that got pretty loose. All the bands were on the top of their game that night.
CONCRETE LAWN: Are there any current bands that you love right now?
ROSA MARIA: There’s so many! The Mystery Lights, Nice Biscuit, The Dandelion, The Uplifting Bell Ends, Crocodylus, Misty Lanes, Bananagun, Los Tones, The Jim Mitchells to name a few.
Rosa Maria interview Concrete Lawn
ROSA MARIA: What inspired you to play music together?
CONCRETE LAWN: Most of us grew up going to heaps of shows… and I guess after a while we wanted to start playing them ourselves.
ROSA MARIA: You recently played a sold out show with Pist Idiots at The Marrickville Bowlo. Before the show you shared a photo on insta with the hashtag #rockisalive. What would you say to someone who says rock ‘n’ roll is dead in 2018?
CONCRETE LAWN: Let the dogs have their bone… rock is dead, punk never existed and music is obsolete and all that I guess… but ghosts are fun to play around with (and they sell out shows too lol).
ROSA MARIA: We hear you’re not booking any more shows until November so Maddison can focus on the HSC. What is it like juggling high school with playing in a band?
CONCRETE LAWN: Yeah, I’m not going to lie… it’s a fucken pain in the ass!! It’s difficult to balance the two. We’ve been performing almost every weekend for at least three months now, and the HSC is relentless.
There’s no chance of it stopping, and it insidiously keeps creeping up on me. Although, in a way it’s like a stress reliever. There will be times at school where I’m dreading the school environment hard, but then I get up on stage later that night and all of those ambivalent, pessimistic thoughts about school just vanish… it’s the best feeling.
ROSA MARIA: If you could play alongside any band – dead or alive – who would you pick and why?
CONCRETE LAWN: Definitely like U2 or someone ridiculous like that. Imagine Concrete Lawn in a stadium, playing for 12 minutes then arguing with each other in the massive green room afterwards whilst Bono finger guns himself in the mirror. Priceless.
In all seriousness though, it would be pretty wild to play alongside The Plasmatics. This thought was solidified after seeing one of their mind-melting performances on tha ol’ Youtube.
They absolutely annihilated the stage with Wendy O. Williams, the lead singer, unexpectedly whipping out a sledgehammer where she proceeded to smash a car then blows it up onstage. That would of been pretty nuts to witness and riveting to be a part of.
ROSA MARIA: What advice do you have for people who want to start their own band?
CONCRETE LAWN: Do it dog, it’s fun, don’t let anything hold you back!! If your nervous or subconsciously questioning what others may think about your performance, don’t be. Because at the end of the day, your making music for yourself not for anyone else. We hope to see you out there.
Catch both bands live at our NZ Week Party at The Lady Hampshire on September 29th. More info here.
