On Taking Responsibly For Their Mistakes

Heading off the beaten track to do regional shows is just part of the adventure, Matthew Wright says from his Melbourne crash pad, where he and the rest of The Getaway Plan are relaxing after a few Queensland dates.

“We just got back from the Queensland leg of the tour that we’re currently on. We’ve got 12 days off - we’re just chilling, sitting in our undies, doing nothing, enjoying the time off!

“The tour is really a big one,” he continues. “We really just wanted to get out and play as many places as we possibly could.”

Wright is realistic about the response the band receives in some regional areas where they’re perhaps not used to seeing bands every week.

“It can be hit or miss,” he admits. “Because the places we go to aren’t often used to getting live music. It can go either way. Some people don’t know how to handle it. Other people are just so, so appreciative that we’re there. It’s always worth it at the end of the day. Even if it’s there’s one person there that’s absolutely stoked. That’s all that matters to us.”

Wright is adamant there is a real hunger for live music in regional areas.

“Absolutely, man, yeah. Since the dawn of this band 10 years ago, that’s always been important to us to get out and play places that don’t get much live music. When we were growing up in Melbourne, we were all extremely lucky. To think of not having access to the shows that we did, we wouldn’t even be a band, you know?”

That 10 years includes a lot of hard work, a breakup for almost 18 months, several line-up changes, and most recently the formation of their own independent label (Dope Mountain) to release their material. Wright says it’s all starting to pay off for the band.

“I think we’ve really found our stride. Having been with a label for like, 10 years, we’ve just kind of got into an unhealthy pattern of just shifting blame onto other people and not ever learning from our mistakes. Now that we’re independent it’s all up to us - we’ve got nowhere to shift the blame. We’ve only been growing, ourselves as people and as a business. It’s been awesome.”

All these changes are hugely significant for any band or business, but they all add up to more freedom for The Getaway Plan.

“Absolutely: just a bigger sense of togetherness, I guess,” states the singer. “We’re working as a unit now which is something that we weren’t always great at in the past. It’s definitely, like a four-way free-flowing collaboration now… it’s very open and very healthy.”

Wright says the new material is finding its place alongside their older songs.

“It’s a bit weird going from one to the other, because on this tour we’re playing some really old stuff as well. Songs that we wrote when we were like 16, 17 years old. Those ones up against a couple of the softer tracks from Dark Horses is a pretty crazy juxtaposition, but it still feels like the essence of what makes The Getaway Plan ‘The Getaway Plan’ is still there.”

With all this touring around the country the band are not only racking up frequent flyer miles, but feeling like they’ve embarked on a grand adventure.

“Especially this tour!” he states, excitedly. “Clint (Ellis, lead guitar) and myself have been touring for 10 years together. We can be pretty jaded when it comes to touring Australia. With the two new guys in the band, they’re really inspired to get out and actually explore the country. We’re seeing a lot of places that we haven’t seen before, which has been awesome.”

Originally published in X-Press Magazine