Touring: Shameem

Congratulations on the video for Strawberry, how did you find the response to it? I'm really stoked about the response to the Strawberry video – it clocked up nearly 1000 views in the first week and people keep telling me how much they love the concept and message. We're now already starting to dream up the next video.

You've said that your birthmark inspired the making of the video, can you tell us a little more? My birthmark bothered me a lot as a kid – I would cover it up with makeup and even began the process of laser surgery. But over time I decided that it wasn't so bad; that everyone is unique and that's a good thing! So my strawberry birthmark is a symbol of being proud to be unique – because if we were all the same life would be so boring.

And this show is to kick off your national tour, and what's inspired the decision? It'll be the band's first time playing over east. We put out our first album a few months ago and it's done really well on community radio all over Australia… So it seemed a natural move to do some shows to try to build an audience outside of WA.

How much planning and preparation has gone into the tour? A LOT. Hours, days, weeks. And there's still more!

And have you set yourself any objectives/goals with the tour? Have an awesome experience, connect with new audiences and get some new fans! We're also hoping to get some music industry folks down to our shows, so fingers crossed there.

What are you plans for the rest of the year and beyond? I hope that we can keep doing lots of shows, I'd love to do some touring in Asia too. Plus we need to keep writing songs so we can get another record off maybe next year.