Australian band, Ocean Alley play Vicar Street, Dublin on 18 June. We asked the band's guitarist Mitch Galbraith the BIG questions . . .
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Their most recent album, Low Altitude Living, debuted No 3 on the ARIA charts, No 1 ARIA Vinyl and No 5 on the New Zealand album chart and has over 15 million global streams.
Tell us three things about yourself . . .
I play guitar left-handed. My brother Lach and I are the only members of the band that have a brother. Ocean Alley is the only band I've ever been a member of.
How would you describe your music?
Our music is pretty laid back. You could call it Yacht rock which is similar to soft rock. There’s catchy melodies and a smooth groove most of the time. We borrow a lot of sounds from 70s and 80s blues rock too and while most of the music and sentiment is light and positive, we do like juxtaposing that with some darker and more fuzzed out sounds paying homage to our interests of metal and heavy rock. Each of us have very different musical inspirations and we draw on all of them when we create music together.
Who are your musical inspirations?
I’m inspired by any band who can make great music AND play that music in a solid live show with a full band onstage and minimal smoke and mirrors, like backing tracks or compromised parts. To me it’s a sign of true musicianship when a band can recreate their studio sound live in a more natural, "old school" way.
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I grew up on my parents' music listening to bands like Dire Straits, Bee Gees, Bob Marley and Fleetwood Mac, so when I first found my musical maturity during high school I could appreciate the spectacle of these classic rock and roots groups. It’s something we try to emulate out of respect for the inspiration that they provided to our early music-making process.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
Parkway Drive at Manly Youth Centre in Sydney, Australia. I was probably around 16 years old, and I still have the bass player’s pick that I picked up off the floor that night.
What was the first record you ever bought?
Devil's Night by D12. Pretty sure I bought it to listen to Purple Pills.
What’s your favourite song right now?
Not Strong Enough by boygenius.
Favourite lyric of all time?
It’s a Bob Dylan lyric from his track Subterranean Homesick Blues. "You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
#41 by Dave Matthews Band. My favourite performance of this track is Live from The United Center in Chicago in 1998 with Victor Wooten as a guest on bass guitar.
Where can people find your music/more information?
This really cool thing called the internet! Or come to a show and check it out in person. We sell vinyl records at our shows too!
