BIGSOUND 2018 Artist Focus: Between You & Me

Answered by: Jai Gibson - Guitarist

Give us a short description of your music: We're a high-energy pop-punk band with heavily distorted guitars, emotive lyricism and catchy choruses.

Which acts are on your must-see list at BIGSOUND? We're really keen to see some bands we've not seen live before including Windwaker, Pinkish Blu, A Swayze & The Ghosts, Slowly Slowly and Bad Juju.

In your career to date, what have been the key watershed moments? In mid-2017 we were lucky enough to sign with US record label Hopeless Records. This year we released our debut album Everything Is Temporary with them. Being able to record and release an album has been an important milestone for our band and the response so far has been incredible.

If you could give your younger self, starting out as a musician, a few words of wisdom, what would they be? Practice your instrument often, play as many shows as possible and meet as many musicians as you can. Be nice to everyone you meet, take risks and never give up on achieving your dreams as a musician.

Why should people come and see you among the many amazing bands at BIGSOUND? We're playing the same venue as a heap of other awesome bands, so come early and listen to us jump around a lot and provide A-grade humour in between songs. We arrive at BIGSOUND off the back of touring Japan, so come and get some lessons in Japanese.

What industry lessons would you like to take away from the BIGSOUND conference? How to be an international touring band on a budget. We'd also love to meet a whole heap of great people from within the music industry.

What do you identify as the most pressing issue impacting the Australian music industry at present? The biggest issue is definitely the availability of all ages music venues for smaller artists. Australia's liqueur licensing laws, compounded with money-hungry property developers has meant that many of Australia's great venues are being forced to shut their doors.

What music trends do you think are dominating right now, and do you have any predictions for the coming year? Australian music is going to continue to grow on the global marketplace. I predict this to continue to grow and the Australian music scene to thrive.

When and where is your BIGSOUND showcase? 5 Sep, Crowbar, 8.50pm; 5 Sep, Crowbar, 9.40pm.