The Datsuns are New Zealand's most internationally applauded rock n roll band and they will be releasing their 5th studio album 'Death Rattle Boogie' 10 years to the day of releasing their highly acclaimed self-titled debut on October 5th, 2012. The Datsuns are also giving away a track from the album 'Gods are Bored' via their website http://www.thedatsuns.com/. Ben answered the following questions for muzic.net.nz:
What can we expect to see from The Datsuns over the next year?
We're releasing a new album, number 5, on October 5th, so expect touring, touring, touring! A couple of singles and videos too. I can't wait to be honest. Good times.
What advice would you like to give to other aspiring musicians?
Don't get into the music business to make money or you will be disappointed... if your goal is to play music you love and play it well, travel around and see some cool stuff, meet some great like-minded people, and generally have a good time, then go nuts! If you manage to pay the bills too, it's a bonus for sure. Some of the best things I've seen have been while on tour, so keep in mind money isn't the only rewarding thing in life.
What will The Datsuns’ next release be?
We're releasing our next album 'Death Rattle Boogie' on October 5th, with the first single 'Gold Halo' coming off that one.
Who would you most like to support live?
I'd love to support Dead Meadow, Black Mountain, The Reigning Sound, The Hives.... so many... Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds would be grand, just so I can watch them play.
What is the best gig you have ever performed at, and why?
Big Day Out was a big one for me, just because ever since I went to my first one as a kid I've wanted to play it. The most outrageous one I've played was a festival on a boat traveling from Sweden to Finland and back again over 24 hours. It sailed into international waters so it became duty-free on all alcohol and cigarettes..... Man, they went insane. There was no escape from the music and drunken Scandinavians.... soooo much fun.
What rumour would you like to start about The Datsuns?
That none of us were actually born in NZ, so we're not really even a NZ band at all.... Howdy Y'all, Gidday cobber, Hej Hej, and What Ho, kiwis!
A record that sprang from an experiment in Space and Time: The geographical Space between the four band members who all live in different parts of the world, and the short pocket of Time they had together in the same country to put something to tape.
‘The narrative of Deep Sleep is this: we got together, we wrote some songs and we recorded them in the space of ten days,’ says de Borst, ‘It was basically an experiment to see if we could do it and this is what we got, for better or worse. We had this manifesto of ‘we have to do this fast, it needs to fit within these sonic parameters, and we want to keep it simple.’’
Their almost nuclear family-like existence changed around five years ago when the four members settled in separate cities. Singer/bassist Dolf de Borst put down roots in Stockholm, Sweden, building a recording studio with Nicke Andersson (The Hellacopters, Imperial State Electric); guitarist Christian Livingstone returned to London, embracing the ways of a mad fuzz scientist and birthing his own FX pedal company, Magnetic Effects; guitarist Phil Somervell returned from Germany to Auckland, New Zealand, continuing his work as a squash coach and dabbling with other musical projects; and drummer Ben Cole, based himself permanently out of Wellington working as a session musician and playing with The Joint Chiefs and the Craig Terris Band.