If someone had ever told Sydney outfit The SideTracked Fiasco ‘everything in moderation’, they clearly didn’t listen. Not too long ago, the funkcore ambassadors embarked on a dizzying 17-show tour. Hitting the highways of the East Coast, as well as a cheeky stop-off in South Oz, the tour left a hole in the band, who hope to fill that void with the list of 13 shows they will be performing throughout November and December.
Just before they hit the road to support their 2012 EP as well as their latest single Indecision, Music Feeds caught up with vocalist Ryan Miller to pick his brain on all things TSF.
Music Feeds: To kick things off, how about a bit of a rundown as to what it is that makes a band funkcore?
Ryan Miller: First, we take some fresh tomato and lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and a good dash of vodka. Then we mix it with punk, hip hop, rock, metal, reggae, and a hint of blues, and then slap the funk out of it! We then simply throw a celery stick in there and a wedge of lemon on the side…quite tasty… But it’s what we make it – a mad mix of styles brought together whilst always keeping the funk.
MF: Now I understand that you have a new single currently doing the rounds, Indecision. What’s the story behind this track?
RM: Indecision is the story of a messed-up mind that perhaps had a little too much of the above beverage…but mostly the struggle and aftermath of a pretty wrecked soul at the time, and the shit that swelled around it…
MF: It’s of course taken from your EP Enter the Motivational Sasquatch. You’ve been gigging hard off the back of the release; how are the tunes going down live?
RM: Live, we’ve been loving it. Our shows and music are a bit of a journey; we mix up the styles quite a lot, which keeps it fresh and super fun!…new tracks have been going down sweet!
MF: You’re about to do it all again, hitting the road for another head-spinning run of dates. What will be done differently this time round? What lessons were learnt last time?
RM: We’ve managed to book the shows a lot closer together this time round, which is awesome ’cause I love playing night after night, one town to the next… I love being on the road hanging with the boys or on a mission to funk and concur all!! As for lessons…make the drummer wash more!!!
MF: Regional and urban centres are on the list of shows. How important is it in The SideTracked Fiasco’s mission to touch base with the regional cities?
RM: There are simply awesome places to go with really cool, warm welcoming people. Some of the best times you’ll ever have are when you’re in some pub in the middle of nowhere talking gibberish with someone you’ve just met and now you’re best mates with! And if we can help bring a mad time out to these people, I’m all in for it…makes me happy!!!
MF: Funk, hip hop and punk are three very different cultures; how does it work stacking them on top of eachother like you do?
RM: Funk is all through hip hop in a massive way…from James Brown samples to Parliament and Funkadelic, the beats the licks all sorts of stuff, where to begin! Hip hop and punk aren’t all that far away from eachother either. Both are rebelling against authority, governments, and people in power that misuse it and massively take advantage of the general population, and more so the lower class from getting ahead… If anything, I feel that they’re one and the same in those ways: they stand up for what they believe and don’t back down…say it how it is!
MF: Are there any places you’re not looking forward to returning? Spill the goss!
RM: I can’t say there is; like I say, I love doing this and I am yet to have a bad experience from a town.
MF: New tunage! When can we expect it?
RM: We’ll be dropping something in the new year…maybe around April? It’ll be another level from us; we’ve got some tasty treats in the bag, and not just for new year’s…funkcore baby, yeh!
The SideTracked Fiasco
The Indecision and Exploding Head Chi Tour
Thursday, 8th November
The Revolver, Melbourne
Saturday, 10th November
P.J O’Reilly’s, Tuggeranong
Thursday, 15th November
The Beer Garden, Surfer’s Paradise
Saturday, 17th November
The Brewery, Byron Bay
Thursday, 22nd November
The Squatters Arms, Adelaide
Friday, 23rd November
The Worlds End, Adelaide
Saturday, 24th November
The Jetty Bar, Adelaide
Thursday, 29th November
The Port Macquarie Hotel, Port Macquarie
Friday, 30th November
The Armidale Club, Armidale
Saturday, 1st December 2012
The Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle – NSW
Saturday, 8th December
Valve Bar, Sydney
Friday, 14th December
The Patch, Wollongong
