Interview – The Getaway Plan
on November 2nd, 2011This Friday is release day for The Getaway Plan’s return album ‘Requiem‘. The now back together outfit will also kick off their album launch tour later this month with guests Break Even and Gatherer. ‘Requiem‘ will be available on CD, vinyl and in limited CD / T-Shirt bundles, all with free postage from [Here]. Deborah Konopnicki recently caught up with the band’s frontman Matthew to chat about the album, and the return of the band. See below to take a read while checking out a couple of tracks from the album, and you’ll also find a re-cap of the tour dates which are selling quickly as expected. Two more new tracks have been released for streaming today, ‘Move Along‘ can be heard on the band’s iPhone app, and ‘February‘ is on their Facebook page [Here].
Hi Matthew. How are you going?
Good thanks Deborah. How are you?
I’m not too bad thanks! I’ve been a fan of The Getaway Plan for a little while so I’m looking forward to having a chat with you today.
Awesome! Thank you very much.
How are you guys doing at the moment? I suspect it’s the calm before the storm hits?
Yeah! We’re pretty excited. We’re just laying low and spending as much time as we can rehearsing for this tour coming up.
The brand new album “Requiem” is due out this Friday 4th November. How are you guys feeling about having this highly anticipated album finally released?
Pretty anxious actually! I’d like to believe that I’m not nervous about what people are going to think but that’s not the case. We just put so much into this record so there’s a lot on the line for us here. Hopefully people get the message. Only really our close friends have heard the music at this stage because we haven’t really being showing many people. We don’t really listen to what our record label says. All our close friends are blown away. That’s just kind of the general consensus.
What does “Requiem” stand for in the world of The Getaway Plan?
Well requiem means “a service or a mass for the dead”. It’s meant to represent the demise and the reformation of our band. There’s parts of the record that are definitely a part the band and our split but it’s mainly pretty personal. I’m pretty selfish as far as the lyrics go.
The video for the single “Requiem” was pretty awesome. It had a bit of a ‘Lord Of The Flies’ type vibe to it. Who came up with the concept for that one? Is the concept of the video also tying in with the themes for the record?
That was a concept that I and the director from Canada called Joe came up with together. It was inspired by a scene in a film called “Antichrist”. It’s the final scene in the film where all of women are walking up the hill with their faces blurred out. I watched that and thought that it was visually stunning and kind of wanted to re-create that in the best way possible and also tie it in with the theme of the song.
Yeah, that movie is pretty intense. I guess you could say that this is a pretty graphic re-introduction to the band as well!
Yeah, definitely I guess you could say that!
How was it getting back into the mindset of The Getaway Plan and penning new songs for a new record? Was it a fluid transition for you?
Yeah. It was so smooth. It was like we never broke up really. It was crazy. The energy was there straight away. We just went straight back into the rehearsals.
Did you have a vision for where you wanting this record to head before you sat down and started working on it or was it case of jamming and seeing where the music would end up?
No, it was pretty spur of the moment actually. Up until October last year we were all pretty convinced that we were never going to get back as a band – we were not getting back together. Then we played this show, a re-union show and after that we decided that we would definitely get back together. It was at that point when new songs came about. There were a couple of songs on the record that have ideas from prior to the band getting back together but we pretty much wrote and recorded the album in eight months. It was pretty ridiculous!
You guys decided to head to Canada to work on the album and record the album. Why did you guys decide to head over there?
We went to Toronto because our producer David Botrill lives there.
Fair enough then! Easy answer. How did you find the experience?
It was without a doubt the most amazing experience of my entire life. Just the whole thing – musically and life experience were just so fucking amazing.
What were some of the things that happened to you over there that really effected you?
Just spending so much time with the guys again and realising and getting back what we lost when we broke up.
What would you say that the most significant track is on the record – a track that really means a lot to the band getting back together?
Well the song “Coming Home” is actually about the band getting back together and that to me kind of feels like the centre point of the record. It’s not so much my favourite song on the record but I feel like it’s a hybrid for what the rest of the record is.
‘Phantoms’ is out there now on iTunes. How do you feel about the tracks slowly making their way out into the public?
Yeah, I’ve always kind of liked how bands did that… well, liked it and hated it at the same time (laughs). Just tease them until they can’t stand it anymore.
I guess it’s a good way to keep the anticipation levels up to it’s a win/win for you.
Yeah that’s it!
You are embarking on your national tour pretty soon with the show that I’m heading to – the Melbourne date – being very close to selling out if it hasn’t already. Was that something that you anticipated considering the excitement that the bands reformation was sure to case?
You never ever know what’s going to happen when you put on a tour. You could be selling hundreds and thousands of records and you still could get 300 people to a show because of weather or any impending shit. We never go into tours with expectations so we’re always blown away.
The other massive touring news is of course the Big Day Out announcement a couple of weeks ago now. I was stalking Twitter as everything was being announced and was stoked when I saw your name come up. How does something like that fit into your plans? You must be pretty excited!
Yeah! It’s huge for us. Especially for the second time doing it. It’s such an honour and we’re so stoked on the line-up as well.
Yeah, the line-up is pretty special! I’m really looking forward to it. Do you have someone that you’re really looking forward to checking out at this stage?
Well Kanye West is one of my favorite artists so I’m more than happy that he’s going to be there. I’d be stoked if it was just him but I’m really stoked to be able to see Odd Future and Battles. They’re the others that I’m looking forward to see.
During the time that the band was split up there were a few musical outlets that you explored– such as Young Heretics for yourself and Amity for Clint. With that said were you missing that outlet that The Getaway Plan served for you?
No I think that it was pretty clear with us that none of us were satisfied with anything that we were doing. As soon as we came back together we were like “Fuck!… that’s right! This is how it’s meant to feel; this is what it’s meant to feel like.” It didn’t take long for us to realise that we wanted to put all of our attention into The Getaway Plan and we’ve all left all of our other projects now.
I was at the show last year where you guys played your ‘one-off’ set and it was great to see the band again. At what point did you realise that was what you wanted to do? Was it when you got onto the stage? When you got off the stage? When you saw the reaction that the band received? What went through your mind?
I don’t think that there was any point for us when it just clicked but I think that for me it was definitely walking out on the stage and hearing the crowd again for the first time in a while. That was definitely a point where I was pretty certain with what I was doing and that it was the right thing.
Was there something particular that you missed about being in the band?
Yeah just having three brothers on the road with you all the time and living in each other’s pockets. That’s basically the best thing about being in the band.
Would you say that it’s the thing that you’re most looking forward to about getting back into the touring as well.
Yeah absolutely.
You guys have been on the scene here in Melbourne for quite a while. I think that your demo came out in 2004 or 2005… either way it was some time ago. Obviously as a musician you grow and progress and get into new material but looking back at the music that you released early on is it still something that you’re keen to play or keen to re-visit or are you pretty happy to just move on?
We’re pretty happy to move on hey. The demo and the EP to us – we were a completely different band back then. We had another member, the songs were written for two guitars, not one. We have kind of made a decision recently that we’re probably not going to play anything before our full-length. Sorry kids!
Well the first album was huge for you guys. It got heaps of radio play and had some damn catchy songs on there. Did you feel a sense of pressure coming into this record considering how popular “Other Voices, Other Rooms” was?
Because of the break it kind of took away all of the pressure of that. Because we were able to start fresh people can’t necessarily have expectations of this because it’s been so long and we’ve all changed so much. It wouldn’t be fair for people to have expectations of this record. It’s exceptionally chilled.
Considering that there was that break in between the two records what kind of things did you see changing in your own influence and what you brought to the table?
Yeah I spent a majority of the time off just sitting in front of my computer learning how to program and learning how to arrange strings. That’s definitely a part of the new record. There’s a huge orchestral element to it and a lot of what people haven’t heard because the two songs that we have out at the moment are pretty straight rock songs compared to the rest of it. I guess I was just honing my own craft.
Is there a particular song that you’re really excited for kids to listen to?
My favourite song on the record and probably my favourite song that we’ve every written is a track called “Heart Stone”. People are going to have to wait until the record comes out for that one though.
Just finally today; what can people expect from this record? I think that the sound – while quite different – is also pretty similar to previous work in some respects. What should people be looking at when they hear the record for the first time?
That’s a pretty hard one. I guess whatever they want! I’ve never been one for trying to push a message so I just want people to listen to it and appreciate it for what it is which is – in my opinion – a really nice record.
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THE GETAWAY PLAN – Requiem
Available on CD, Vinyl and CD / T-Shirt bundles.
In Stores Friday November 4th. Pre-Order your copy now online [Here] with free postage.
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THE GETAWAY PLAN
With guests BREAK EVEN and GATHERER
WEDNESDAY 23 NOVEMBER – THE HI-FI, BRISBANE (18+)
Tickets available online [Here]. Also from 1300 THE HIFI and Moshtix outlets including Kill The Music.
FRIDAY 25 NOVEMBER – THE METRO, SYDNEY (LIC/AA)
Tickets available online [Here]. Also from 02 9550 3666 & 132 849.
SATURDAY 26 NOVEMBER – CAMBRIDGE HOTEL, NEWCASTLE (18+)
Tickets available online [Here]. Also from 1300 438 849, The Rock Shop, Newcastle Panthers and The Cambridge Hotel.
SUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER – ZIERHOLZ @ UC, CANBERRA (18+)
Tickets available online [Here]. Also from 132 849, 1300 762 545 and UC Campus Convenience Store.
THURSDAY 1 DECEMBER – THE HI-FI, MELBOURNE (18+)
Tickets available online [Here]. Also from 1300 THE HIFI, Polyester, Greville and Fist2Face.
FRIDAY 2 DECEMBER – FOWLER’S LIVE, ADELAIDE (LIC/AA)
Tickets available online [Here]. Also from 1300 438 849 or (08) 8225 8888.
SATURDAY 3 DECEMBER – CAPITOL, PERTH (18+)
Tickets available online [Here]. Also from 1300 438 849.
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