Montaigne, Violent Soho On Their ARIA Noms: 'Like An Accomplishment Badge On PlayStation'
"It's like a milestone for me. It's like a badge that you get on Playstation when you've accomplished something."
With ARIA today announcing their highly-anticipated award nominees for their 2016 ARIA Awards — their 30th anniversary — at a media event in Sydney, theMusic.com.au spoke to Montaigne and Violent Soho to find out how they were dealing with the exciting news they have scored three and five nominations respectively.
Montaigne, who has scored nods for Best Female, Best Breakthrough and Producer Of The Year having just released her debut album, Glorious Heights, this year, said she's "more appreciative and grateful, than excited".
"I feel very good… it's good. It's great. My problem is that I never get outwardly excited about things, so when people are like, 'are you excited?" I'm like, truthfully… I'm more appreciative and grateful, than excited," Montaigne (real name Jessica Cerro) explained.
"This is a marker representing that what I'm doing is good and that I should keep going. It's like a milestone for me. It's like a badge that you get on PlayStation when you've accomplished something, it's a stepping stone and a path to glory."
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In addition to her three ARIA nominations, she features on Hilltop Hoods' 1955, which is nominated for Best Video. "I have an allegiance with them so I really want them to win," Cerro reveals. When asked who she thinks — aside from herself — should win in the Best Female category, Cerro says, "I actually grew up with Delta [Goodrem] so maybe Delta, but then I also love Sia and Sarah [Blasko], I love all those people, that's the thing!"
Luke Boerdam and Michael Richards from Violent Soho have scored an impressive five nominations, including Best Group, Best Video, and Best Australian Live Act, for their latest album, Waco, which also debuted at #1 on the ARIA Chart.
"It's a surprise I guess! We never really expect anything like this — it's not why we're a band or what we do it for. It's always surreal to come down to a place like Sydney, which is so different to where we're from, and experience this type of event. In a way, it's an honour — we grew up watching the ARIAs on TV as kids," says Richards. Boerdam cuts in with, "And we saw Rove in the FLESH today!"
He continues, "When I was 12 I remember watching Frenzal Rhomb do the whole ARIA performance with outfits and stuff, and You Am I… it's pretty rad, and like Mikey said, after 10 years this isn't why we're in a band or anything but it's cool to look back and think, 'we're even considered in the same category as these people who are like gods to us'. Feels really good!"
When asked what they think could be the scariest thing to happen with an ARIA Award, the boys say, "One of our managers dropped a box of them on his foot last year. I could imagine that would hurt… he was at the airport getting in a cab," says Boerdam. Richards adds, "We were all pissing ourselves, but it's the shape! They're dangerous!"
Cerro adds a similarly cringe-worthy scenario involving an ARIA Award: "Accidentally, simultaneously piercing your hand and your eye with an ARIA Award. And then falling forward and then the impact of gravity and the force between your hand and your eye and the ground ends up crushing your skull and destroying your brain," she says, deadpan.
Richards says he's keen to meet "Toadie, Toadfish from Neighbours", Boerdam says he'd like to meet Tim Rogers properly and "hang out", while Cerro says she "wants to see [her] mates in Gang Of Youths, L D R U, Illy and L-Fresh".
The ARIA Awards 30th Anniversary heads to Sydney's The Star on 23 November.
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