Dangerous Liasons

It's not a case of writing a record to try and get rich and famous. I mean, I don't think wealth's ever going to come.” Jericco vocalist Brent Mccormick is resigned to the fate of the alternative rock'n'roll band these days. The major labels are all but dead, and if a band wants to make something of themselves, they better be ready to tour their arse off to make it happen.

That's precisely the model Melbourne's Jericco have embraced over a short but fruitful run that's yielded two EPs, countless tours and support slots and their debut full-length, Beautiful In Danger. Even if they're not being wined and dined on the yachts of record industry sleazeballs, the band's debut has done incredibly well. “We actually charted in the top 12 of the ARIA charts, which is just phenomenal. And to do it all independently just feels incredible,” McCormick says. But without the money or acclaim that would, once upon a time, logically follow on from such an auspicious debut, how does Jericco measure their success?

“How do we judge fame? Well, I think if people that listen to our records and it can help them with their troubles or anything they're going through or open their mind to something a bit different, that's fame. I mean, we'd all love to play in front of 100,000 people but there are only a few bands on the planet that are blessed to do that.

“We played in Adelaide after our first EP and I had a young girl come up to me and say that our first EP got her through her tour of Afghanistan. To me that's fame… Last night I had a young kid come up to me at the show and say before I found you, all I listened to was metal, and Jericco has opened his mind to a whole different array of genres and music. And that's just incredible. You don't see it when you're writing, you don't think about it when you're in the rehearsal room, but to actually have people come up to you and say these things, it's pretty rewarding.”

Rather than living the high life, McCormick argues that playing live is a prize, in and of itself, for the band. The frontman reckons it's also the best way for fans to get a taste of the band's progressive-leaning, alternative rock.

“Our live experience has always been the experience,” he stresses. “I mean, you can get it on the records, but the shows are where it's really at. And I never wanted our records to sound similar in that I didn't want track one to sound the same as track three... So I think with the live setting people can grab onto all those different sounds, because there's a lot in it if people want to go looking for it.”

And while there's going to be plenty more touring for Jericco for the rest of the year, McCormick reveals that they're already kicking around ideas for album number two.

“We're writing new stuff. We've got a lot of ideas and a lot of half songs that are potentially going to turn into some crackers. I don't think there's going to be any shortage of material, put it that way. We'll hopefully have a new record out next year to keep it rolling. You can't just sit on your hands these days, people want new stuff all the time.”