Not So New Now

If you had to, you could almost use Fun (La Da Da Da Da) – the latest single from Gold Coast five-piece Nine Sons of Dan – as a textbook example of what the band is all about: energetic, hard-rocking and, funnily enough, a whole lot of fun. The song has been lifted from their second EP – The New Kids – and as frontman Jay Bainbridge tells it, it was one of the easiest to have emerged from the sessions.

“Basically, lyrically it was about stepping back from working really hard and having some fun,” he confesses. “I'm in the studio a lot so a lot of it's serious work, especially when you're recording an EP that you're expecting to do big things with – it can get pretty stressful. That one we actually wrote in the studio, it came together really quickly one night – we were just drinking and having some fun and it just came together in a matter of minutes, it was just ridiculous. It just sounds really hooky and infectious and relaxed and fun, no pun intended.”

Released in June under the dual production team of J.R. McNeally (Anberlin, Paramore) and Forrester Savell (Karnivool, The Butterfly Effect, Dead Letter Circus), the EP has already been garnering attention all over the world, with 170 radio stations in North America alone adding the tracks to playlists.

“Like anything,” Bainbridge exclaims, “it just takes time, learning how to do the live show thing right and we're still learning every day. I love watching other bands that we play with and just see how they get the audience hyped up. I don't know, it's pretty cool that every band has their own thing – we're just still trying to find our own thing. The interesting thing about our band is we kind of don't fit anywhere – triple j, I guess, think we're too polished and too poppy and all the other stations probably think we're a bit too rough for them, we're not dance music. We're in a hard place for that, but I think that's one thing that everyone can agree on and likes is our live show. I think that no matter who it is, like, we've had different triple j bands like our band and then see us live and be like, 'Oh, they're actually a really good band' – so that's pretty cool and definitely our strongest side, for sure.”

Bainbridge is adamant about keeping his outfit real, not succumbing necessarily to any trends and continuing to build their live following in the most organic way possible.

“I think with all the trends – I don't want to, like, bag out triple j – but I guess what we like to do is honestly just do what we like to do in a room with the band and if people enjoy that with us, then that's what's going to happen. A lot of the bands we play with on the Gold Coast are trying to do that really indie triple j thing and it can work but, really, that trend is going to die out eventually. I think you have to stay true to what you're good at and what you love playing.

“We're a hard hitting, really exciting band. We're not trying to make dance pop music but we are trying to make stuff that people will like live, it's not like serious musicians sitting in the corner stroking our moustaches thinking that we can reinvent the wheel. We just like playing fun, hard hitting rock music and that's what we're going to stick to, that's just what we want to do. It's good.”

Nine Sons Of Dan will be playing the following dates:

Thursday 14 March - The Zoo, Brisbane QLD
Saturday 16 March - The Hive, Brisbane QLD
Saturday 23 March - The Venue, Townsville QLD
Sunday 24 March - Entertainment Centre, Mackay QLD
Thursday 4 April - Port Macquarie Hotel, Port Macquarie NSW
Friday 5 April - C.ex Coffs, Coffs Harbour NSW
Saturday 6 April - Live At The Brewhouse, Sydney NSW