Melbourne rock outfit Iowa, have now unleashed two singles from a soon to be released debut album. ‘Complete Control’ was single #1 and now ‘Panic Attack’ is available and will be launched on Wednesday 22nd February at The Tote in Collingwood. Joining them will be Damn Terran. Their debut album ‘Never Saw It Coming‘ is slated for release in April through Aerial Mines Records. This week we put bass player Jordan Barczak in The Hotseat to find out a little more about the band. Expand this post to take a read of his answers. The new single is streaming over on the left in the Feature Streams box. Give it a spin.
THE BASICS
Name : Jordan Barczak
Band : Iowa
Job In Band : Bass Player, manager of sorts, mediator, therapist
Website Address : www.iowasounds.net
HOME
Hometown : Melbourne, Victoria
Hometown is best known for : Sporting events, live music scene John Farnham and Molly Meldrum.
Best venue in your hometown : The Forum Theatre on Flinders st, historical 1500 capacity venue complete with blue sky ceiling with stars that flicker and romanesqe statures and gargoyles looking over the stage! Plenty of bar access and great sound.
Favourite show you’ve seen in your hometown : There are a number of great shows but one that always stands out is Cornelius circa 2002 at the Metro now Palace Theatre. I had free tickets, went to the show not knowing anything about the band and was blown away by the performance, visuals and songs.
Favourite show you’ve played in your hometown : A recent show at the Tote supporting the Laurels & King Gizzard
THE BAND
How did the band first come to exist? Dylan (Guitarist / Vocals) was living in the UK and after witnessing My Bloody Valentine live called me inspired to start a band that we had previously spoke about a starting number of times. He set me the task of finding a drummer so we would be ready to jam when he returned to Australia with the intention of playing loud fuzzed out rock.
How long has the band been going? Just over two years now, and we’re onto our 2nd drummer!
Any particular story behind the name? Initially we started as an Slipknot cover band! Not really, I had a list of names stored in my phone after a boozy long haul flight one of which was Iowa. It came from reading a Q or Mojo magazine and staring at the Indie music stores of America page. Iowa seemed like a good option since America, Alabama, Phoenix, Boston & Chicago were already taken
What’s your most recent release? Tell us a little about it… ‘Panic Attack’ is the 2nd single released from our debut album “Never It Saw It Coming.” A favourite to play live it actually took a long time to complete the arrangement after writing the majority of it in one rehearsal. Its probably the most upbeat or catchiest track on the album which is strange because of its odd structure built around bass distorted bass chords!
Got a personal stand out achievement of your band to date? Actually completing the record and getting it pressed to yellow vinyl Recording an album was something we always spoke about but never thought we would be able to pull off. Also the fact that we tracked 13 songs live in two days was a satisfying achievement and 4 of those tracks we only played once.
OFF THE STAGE
What was your first introduction to music that made you think seriously about playing it? The influence of my older siblings and their musical tastes definitely shaped my music tastes and my influences. From a young age you’re absorbing whatever they’re listening to at the time so thankfully it was all pretty cool bands!
Any particular band / album or song that you personally credit as a major influence? I think collectively Swervedriver is a band that all members of Iowa have listened to and been influenced by in some shape or form. Mezcal Head and Raise are both incredible albums that still sound as fresh as ever.
Your first band name, and what style did you play? It was a high school band formed for music class. Not sure if we ever got to the stage of having a name but we certainly knocked out some bitching Smashing Pumpkins covers.
Most prized music related item you own? My collection of 7 inch records. Having worked in a music store for a number of years we had access to ordering a bunch of great limited edition coloured 7inch records from the States & U.K. My 57 USA P Bass is pretty cherished also.
When you’re not doing band related stuff, what are you usually found doing? Playing Badminton, not very rock n roll but very enjoyable and competitive ha!
The thing you most look forward to just before a tour is… A sleep in, good healthy meal the last proper shower and time in your own bathroom!
The thing you least look forward to before a tour is… The mad hungover rush to the airport on the way home and the fear of delayed or cancelled flights. Oh excessive baggage charges are a killer too!
ON THE STAGE
When on offer, what’s your one must have item on the rider? You can’t go past the offer of free beer and if we’re really lucky a free meal that makes us feel like rockstars.
Favourite place you’ve toured… and why? We always seem to have a good time in Sydney and the crowds have always been very responsive which is great. Any venue that has a decent PA always tends to become our favorite pretty quickly also.
Got a favourite song to play live? ‘AM’ is the first song we wrote, it was on our first 7inch record and we have been playing it pretty much at every show for two years. When Matt joined he added some an some extra grunt to the drumming which has made it our favourite.
Any embarrassing on stage moments come to mind? A couple of funny moments have occurred when too many free tequila shots had been consumed before a show in Melbourne! Its always quite embarrassing when you stumble back and unplug your lead mid song and not know why you have no sound coming out of your amp! The frantic rush to work out which lead is unplugged is always entertaining for the audience!
Any pre-show rituals? Not naming names but in the past there has been regular pre show vomit and members disappearing for a toilet break just as we’re about to play! And following up on the previous embarrassing moments question, double checking all our equipment is plugged in and working helps.
What do you find is the hardest aspect of touring in a band today? $$$ due to the size of Australia and being completely independent the cost of touring can be tough.
RIGHT NOW
Last song you listened to? ‘No Future, No Past’ – Cloud Nothings
Last album you acquired? Howler
Which band or album is currently on high rotation? Yuck and their self titled album. It’s a cracking album transported straight out of 1992! I just saw them over the weekend and they were great live!
Tell us an up and coming band or artist you think we should go and listen to right now? Tape Off from Brisbane are my favorite Australian band! The have a bunch of free downloads available on Bandcamp.
What’s on the cards for the next few months for the band? We’re pretty busy putting together the final arrangements for the release of our album on yellow vinyl, along with organizing an east coast tour.
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IOWA - Panic Attack———–
IF ONLY…
You can pick any one album for your band to cover in full, what would it be and why? Bakesale – Sebadoh it’s a perfect album start to finish and has been an influential album for all of us.
You can pick any one band / artist to cover one of your albums in full, what would it be, and why? Broken Social Scene – they’re such a great band with a diverse catalogue it would be interesting to see how they would interpret our songs and to see how many members they could have on stage at once playing!
One band you wish you were able to see live but never had the chance? An obvious one but to see Nirvana just before Nevermind broke would be pretty spectacular.
One venue you have yet to play that you would love to? I think a massive show at Festival Hall or the Rod Laver Arena supporting an international would be enjoyable.
The chance comes up to fill in for a member of a band for one tour, which band would it be, and why? Taking Nikolai’s position in The Strokes could be a helluva lot of fun for a few weeks!
A headline tour overseas comes up, tell us two bands you’d take along to support your band. Yuck & The War On Drugs. Well maybe we could support either of them!
PLUG TIME
Got any last words?
We sure do, our new single “Panic Attack” Is streaming now on Bandcamp and is available for download from Feb 20th on both Bandcamp & iTunes. We will be launching it at the Tote on Feb 22nd with guest Damn Terran & Luke D from PBS spinning tracks inbetween bands.
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