Among Friends

American garage-punk trio Daylight Robbery may be just embarking on their first ever Australian tour, but they're no strangers to our bands, having hosted or played alongside a myriad of Aussie acts in their native Chicago.

”We've played with quite a number of Australian bands over the years,” offers bassist Christine Wolf. “Straitjacket Nation stayed at a house a couple of years ago – we didn't get to play with them, but they were our first real Australian band that we met.”

“I think the first band we actually played with was Royal Headache, who were fantastic,” drummer Jeff Rice continues. “Recently we played a few shows with UV Race and a handful with Deep Heat as well – I'm not sure how we got hooked up with so many Australian bands, but we've always had a good time.”

“All three of us have been in bands around Chicago for a long time and know what it's like to be on tour, so we like to help with the living, sleeping and eating part of the tour for bands who come through,” guitarist David Wolf offers. “The 'playing the show' part of touring can be great, but we try to help out wherever possible with the other side of it which mightn't be so fun. We don't just do this for Australian bands – it's more foreign bands in general, or any travelling band that comes through town. We try and put them up and give them a place to stay, and make it more than just a show.”

It all comes down to instilling a sense of community within the underground scene, but of course the bonus is that such hospitality is usually repaid down the track. “That's exactly what's happening right now, we're being paid back in spades,” Rice laughs. “The shows that have been organised are absolutely incredible; we never get to play shows with line-ups like this in the US! If we were to go to New York or San Francisco or LA we wouldn't play with the calibre of bands that we are in Australia, so we're totally excited.”

And Daylight Robbery aren't arriving empty-handed, they're bringing with them brand new seven-inch Distant Shores, which is being distributed locally by awesome Melbourne indie Poison City. “It was recorded with this tour in mind,” David explains. “We came out with an LP about a year ago [2012's Ecstatic Vision], which was only released in the US, and we could have toured on the back of that, but we figured that if we're going to go to all the trouble of going halfway around the world to play some shows then we might as well bring something new with us. Having new product in our minds adds validity to us being here, gives it a bit more purpose.”

“I think our earlier material is a lot different to where we are now,” Christine ponders of the new songs. “We've been writing songs for about seven years now so we've grown and evolved, plus we've had a couple of different line-ups so I think we find our stride on the last LP and this seven-inch.”

“Yeah, we're less of the punk and hardcore side of things these days compared to when the band began – the earlier records were way faster and a bit rougher. Now we get accused of being 'punk for adults', which I guess is inevitable,” David laughs. “We're all adults with full-time jobs, so I suppose we fit the bill to an extent.”