28 Feb 2009 // An interview by Shade
What is the best gig you have ever performed at, and why?
I'm going to say the Wednesday night show we had at the Kings Arms towards the end of last year. All the weekends surrounding were completely booked so we decided to prove the 'week day shows suck' mentality wrong. And we did : ) We had over 300 fans there, played with some great bands and raised a huge amount of money for CanTeen.
It's not the venue or the day that makes a show succesful, it is all in the amount of time and effort the bands put into their marketing of the show.
What is your favourite NZ venue?
We have a show coming up with Goodnight Nurse and Streetwise Scarlet on April 11th at the Transmission Room, so I'm going to say the Transmission Room ahead of time, though in past tense, either Studio or the Kings Arms. They are so good to us there, it's like a home away from home.
What NZ musicians or bands would you like to see more of, and why?
Fur Patrol, Zed, Blindspott, Shihad. All the classics
Fur Patrol, love their song 'Lydia'. Zed because I never got to see 'Renegade Fighter' live
Blindspott were the first rock band I really got into when I was young, I remembver waiting 4 hours downloading 'S.U.I.T' unable to contain my excitement the entire time. Shihad are NZ music gods. They deserve everything they have. NZ rock and roll hall of fame nomination anyone?
What is your most embarrassing on tour/gig moment?
I have had a few, Singing the wrong words in front of a crowd of 600 and having them sing the correct words back to me. I had to thank them afterwards.
How did you come up with the name Diesel Phoenix?
Diesel Phoenix came about shortly after Carlos Voight joined the band on keys, He had one condition on joining and that was we change our name. So after much drink and many worrysome hours, tears and man coudles, Diesel Phoenix was brought to the table with various other names that didn't make the cut. Diesel Phoenix was born.
How do you describe your music?
This is a conversation I seem to be having alot lately. It's really cliche for me to say that we have a very different sound from anything I have ever heard before. However i may have something for you now. This is the closest I have heard in a long time. Musically it could be likened to something similar to Evanescence with vocals similar but better than Placebo.
You'll have to have a listen and make up your own mind, you can download our album free from www.dieselphoenix.com
What can we expect to see from Diesel Phoenix over the next year?
This is a very exciting year for us. We have two national tours planned for March and October 2009, an Australian Tour in August 09, we have just released a music video for the single 'Missconception' which is getting air play on C4 and JUICE TV, our hugely anticapated 2nd album is due to be released at the end of 09, with 3 singles to be released throughout the year, not to forget interviews in NZ Musician, Rip It Up, Girlfriend, Tearaway and many more.
What advice would you like to give to other aspiring musicians?
Not matter what beliefs you have or religion you follow, we all have one guarenteed life. Make the most of living right now in the present. You can do and be anything you want to be, never be afraid to ask for help or dream larger than you what you think you can do.
Love life and love yourself.