Catching them after the soundcheck for their first show at the King\u2019s Arms Tavern on Wednesday 19th of December, the Hurricane Kids sit down and talk about how they all came together, their views on the NZ music industry, and their undying love for Taylor Swift. <\/p>\n
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Hey guys! Before we start, could you go through your names and what you play in the band? <\/strong><\/p>\n Olly: Hey, I’m Olly and I do vocals.<\/p>\n Cam: I’m Cam, I play bass.<\/p>\n Rich: My name’s Rich, I play guitar.<\/p>\n Willy: I’m Willy and I do synths and keyboards.<\/p>\n Jared: I’m Jared, I play drums.<\/p>\n As I understand it, you all come from different musical backgrounds. Can you tell me about how you guys all came together in the end to be the Hurricane Kids? <\/strong><\/p>\n Olly: Cam\u2019s been on my ass for a couple of years to do something. Rich and I met at a bar and he wasn\u2019t too big on his band at the time.<\/p>\n Rich: We just became friends and the band thing came later.<\/p>\n Olly: Yeah, he played on my Uni stuff. I did a music degree and so did Willy and Jared as well, so we all met at University. But I guess I just wanted to start up a fun loving pop band and do that because I don\u2019t know if New Zealand is putting their best foot forward in that genre. No one\u2019s really smashing it, so I thought it\u2019d be a cool thing to do putting it together with some mates.<\/p>\n So you\u2019re the mutual friend of everyone here? <\/strong><\/p>\n Olly: Yeah (everyone laughs).<\/p>\n It\u2019s been less than 6 months since you\u2019ve released \u2018Tonight\u2019 and already you guys have just under 1000 fans on Facebook plus almost 30,000 views on your YouTube channel. How do you feel about everything happening so quickly? <\/strong><\/p>\n Cam: It\u2019s pretty good considering every other thing I\u2019ve been in I\u2019ve worked my ass off for to get to 1000 likes. It\u2019s good to have support from the right people.<\/p>\n Rich: It\u2019s good because people are really actually liking the music (everyone laughs). <\/p>\n Cam: That\u2019s a requisite!<\/p>\n Rich: I just mean like it\u2019s not like when you\u2019re playing in bands growing up.<\/p>\n Olly: Yeah, I know what you mean.<\/p>\n Willy: What I\u2019ve found personally is that a lot of people we\u2019ve met over the years have really taken an interest. It\u2019s just great meeting people that know their stuff and they\u2019re wanting to help us out along the way because they want us to make the most out of this. It\u2019s been quite handy.<\/p>\n Tell us about your debut single \u2018Tonight\u2019 and how that came about. <\/strong><\/p>\n Olly: James Wong, a friend of ours, did the production and I recorded it with him. That was a while ago actually. That was before we all came together as a band.<\/p>\n Willy: That\u2019s the track you advertised to us!<\/p>\n Olly: Exactly! I\u2019m the kind of guy that likes to make everything bulletproof. So I\u2019m not just going to message you and say \u201cDude want to be in my band?\u201d and they\u2019re like \u201cWhat the hell…\u201d you know? Like, \u201cwhat kind of band?\u201d They say \u201cWhatever man\u201d, but if you have a track then you can hear what we\u2019re going for and if you\u2019re into that: cool.<\/p>\n Did you guys all have the same opinion on the song? <\/strong><\/p>\n Olly: (joking) All these guys hate it (everyone laughs).<\/p>\n Cam: I think I was still in Melbourne when you showed me this song. I turned around to you and I said something like, \u201cYou need to get yourself together.\u201d<\/p>\n Olly: Yeah. Like I said, Cam\u2019s always been on my ass. It\u2019s because I\u2019m always writing and creating but I\u2019m never putting it out there. Cam\u2019s always been there saying \u201cWhen are you going to do something with this? When are you going to do something with your life?\u201d (everyone laughs)<\/p>\n Rich: I remember when you first showed to us. I was like, \u201cYup, this is it.\u201d<\/p>\n Willy: Oh thats right! First time you showed it to me we were sharing songs. I sent you my little dubstep song? And then you sent me \u2018Tonight\u2019 and I was like \u201cWhat the hell!\u201d I thought I had a boss as track and you destroyed me.<\/p>\n Olly: (laughing) I remember that. I guess I\u2019ll just make the point that it started a bit more like that, as in we all came together down the track. But since we all came together we\u2019ve all been writing together. Most of the band does production so they have their own thing going on. There\u2019s a real kind of collaborative thing going on now. Cam: I think that\u2019s impacted our attitudes more. The whole DIY thing really comes into it. That\u2019s helped with providing a lot of drive I guess. Olly\u2019s a pretty DIY sort of person. That\u2019s my whole attitude.<\/p>\n Olly: I think in terms of playing styles, there\u2019s ways that that\u2019s helped the band. For example, Jared charts out the songs and brings them. I don\u2019t know any other drummer that would do that (everyone laughs). It\u2019s awesome, because he knows the songs as well as you can know them and I think that probably does come from that more academic jazz background. Is that a fair comment Jared?<\/p>\n Jared: Yeah, I\u2019d say so.<\/p>\n Olly: It\u2019s also about standards you know, we\u2019re all set on working towards making something really strong.<\/p>\n Before we move on, there\u2019s been a lot of confusion about all the Japanese comments showing up on your videos, with a common phrase \u201cPDR\u201d. Could you explain what that\u2019s all about? <\/strong><\/p>\n Olly: PDR is a Japanese Youtuber and he\u2019s got 50,000 subscribers or something. His cousin PDS has got 200,000 and PDR\u2019s girlfriend (she\u2019s on 10,000 subscribers) is my older sister, who lives in Japan teaching English. Basically I write some of the background music for their channels, so the kickback is that they\u2019ve been posting \u2018Tonight\u2019 up and sending it to their fans. Their videos are getting like 80,000 views each and it\u2019s not bad getting 5,000 from that. So the Japanese following is building pretty strong. They\u2019re a lot more willing to give than New Zealanders are.<\/p>\n Rich: Yeah, we actually have way more likes in New Zealand than we do in Japan. But we get way more responses from these guys.<\/p>\n Cam: I think New Zealand compared to Japan \u00ad Japan is quite outgoing. They find something they like and they latch onto it. Whereas in New Zealand it\u2019s like, \u201cThat\u2019s cool, I\u2019ll latch on to it for now but we\u2019ll wait until that next thing comes along.\u201d Cam: I think that\u2019s the biggest disadvantage of living in a small country. You can only get so far and then it\u2019s just like \u201cWhere do you go from that?\u201d<\/p>\n You guys went and visited the Starship Children\u2019s Hospital recently. Tell us about that. <\/strong><\/p>\n Cam: I have a friend that was at Starship from when he was 2 until he was 11. He still goes back, he\u2019s 15 now but he still goes back every couple months to get stuff done. I was speaking to his mum and they were saying that they have people go in and do stuff in there whether it\u2019s play on their little radio station or play in the foyer. They do have people come in and play with the kids and the kids enjoy it. She gave me a contact and I emailed off saying \u201cWould you like us to come in and play a few tracks?\u201d They emailed back and they said they\u2019d love it. I personally quite enjoy doing stuff like that, I get a lot of satisfaction out of it and I think the other guys are the same.<\/p>\n Who would you want to tour with in the near future? <\/strong><\/p>\n Cam: For me, I really like The Wanted. I like a lot of different stuff. I\u2019ve never really been channeled into listening to one genre. For example, when I was in Addison, all the guys were listening to Converge and Underoath and stuff like that while I\u2019ll be in the van listening to Miley Cyrus and Hilary Duff. I\u2019ve always gone the opposite way, I think it\u2019s nice to hear something refreshing. I was saying to Willy before, I really like Example\u2019s new album. Those two predominantly this week have been what I\u2019ve really been digging.<\/p>\n Olly: I\u2019d probably say Taylor Swift.<\/p>\n Rich: If they came here I\u2019d love to tour with one of those K\u00adPop bands like Girl\u2019s Generation or Super Junior. But they\u2019re more of a boy band… if we can get Girl\u2019s Generation that\u2019d be cool.<\/p>\n Just keen to hang out with them backstage? <\/strong><\/p>\n Olly: Definitely man, I\u2019d take out a couple of spas with them (everyone laughs). Jared: I\u2019d say Rudimental maybe. Little Monsters are really cool as well.<\/p>\n What are your plans for the future? <\/strong><\/p>\n Rich: Always recording (everyone agrees).<\/p>\n Olly: We\u2019re working pretty hard. I\u2019m writing every spare minute I get basically. I think everyone else is churning out stuff as well. There\u2019s songs coming out left, right and centre. I just got sent one from Rich today, I heard a new one from Willy yesterday, so there\u2019s tons of material. But right now it\u2019s about finding the right songs because we\u2019re still getting there. We\u2019ve got a bit of stuff but we\u2019ll definitely do some kind of deluxe single thing with \u2018Tonight\u2019 and maybe \u2018Tonight\u2019 acoustic and another track of ours early next year. Follow that up with an EP a bit later and then an album. That\u2019s the rough plan at the moment.<\/p>\n Willy: More shows!<\/p>\n Olly: Yeah and right now just working on material and really working out what is Hurricane Kids and our niche is in the pop market.<\/p>\n Do you have any new shows coming up? <\/strong><\/p>\n Cam: We\u2019ve got Rock Camp tomorrow which is like an exclusive little thing. We really want to look into doing something next year around late January or early February. I don\u2019t know whether it\u2019ll be a bunch of shows by ourselves or we go around schools and do acoustic stuff but I think it\u2019s just about wanting to get out there and give it a crack.<\/p>\n I\u2019d like to round this interview off with a game I call \u201cWould You Rather…\u201d It\u2019ll be 3 quick questions and you can all answer individually. Then we can see who the Hurricane Kids really are. <\/p>\n Would you rather open for The Beatles or Led Zeppelin? <\/strong><\/p>\n Olly, Rich, Willy & Jared: Beatles definitely.<\/p>\n Cam: I\u2019m gonna go Led Zeppelin. Straight up. After watching that live DVD those dudes are gnarly! I\u2019d be down.<\/p>\n  Who would you rather date: Taylor Swift or Carly Rae Jepsen? <\/strong><\/p>\n Cam, Willy & Rich: Taylor Swift. Olly, Jared: Carly Rae.<\/p>\n Rich: She\u2019s like 28!<\/p>\n Olly: Yeah but she\u2019s cuter.<\/p>\n Cam: I can justify Taylor Swift. Mainly because if I broke up with her I\u2019d become famous in some shape or form based on doing nothing \u00ad but not even be famous \u00ad my name would just be on every website.<\/p>\n Rich: He\u2019s always out for the name!<\/p>\n Cam: I\u2019d probably get paid some stupid amount of money by AOL or one of those things to tell my love story of Taylor Swift. Then I\u2019ll be wiped completely underwater and never be seen again.<\/p>\n Rich: You\u2019ve really thought about this (everyone laughs).<\/p>\n Cam: Nah, but really I\u2019d choose Taylor Swift because I think she\u2019s a babe.<\/p>\n Would you rather have sex with a goat and have no one know or not have sex with a goat but everyone thinks you did? <\/strong><\/p>\n Rich: You\u2019ve got to have sex with the goat, you\u2019ve got to do it. <\/p>\n Olly: I\u2019m totally not having sex with the goat.<\/p>\n Willy: I\u2019m not having sex with the goat!<\/p>\n Rich: But everyone\u2019s going to say you had sex with the goat. <\/p>\n Willy: That\u2019s all good! Your body\u2019s pure! (everyone laughs)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Catching them after the soundcheck for their first show at the King\u2019s Arms Tavern on Wednesday 19th of December, the Hurricane Kids sit down and talk about how they all came together, their views on the NZ music industry, and their undying love for Taylor Swift. – Hey guys! Before we start, could you go […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1408,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1408"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2257\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nWilly: We\u2019ve come from different backgrounds too which has been helpful. Hardcore, pop, jazz, rock, and electronic music.<\/p>\n
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\nOlly: In New Zealand there\u2019s a range of issues. Part of it, in a way, is tall poppy syndrome. The other part is like if we went to Australia or America and got signed up to a label, then came back here then everyone would be on that. Look at Kimbra, she completely failed in New Zealand. She couldn\u2019t launch. She was never going be international. She went to Australia, rebranded, and now she\u2019s huge. New Zealand just isn\u2019t a fertile ground for a lot of those international musicians.<\/p>\n
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\nWilly: Example would be one because I\u2019m into that electro stuff. DJ\u2019s don\u2019t really have bands open for them though… Katy Perry? She\u2019s mean man! Her songs are awesome.<\/p>\n