If throwing television sets out of hotel windows and playing to thousands of people each night seems like a charmed life to you, then tune up that guitar and get out of your bedroom because the Courthouse ARTS’ Battle of the Bands is coming back to town and is happening on Thursday, August 7. Although there are no televisions to be thrown out of the Courthouse’s window, you will have a cracker crowd to play to. Last year’s winner, Residual, officially formed for the battle despite jamming together ideas for songs twelve months beforehand. Since then the band has gone on to national touring and sold-out shows at Beav’s Bar and is getting ready to release their debut EP in the next couple of months. Josh Carter from the band caught up with me recently to chat about the big exposure opportunities and benefits of entering.
Having recently just wrapped up touring in Adelaide, Warrnambool, Sydney and the Gold Coast, Residual are now realising about where the band could develop to in the future. Given the opportunity to play shows throughout Australia has allowed the band to gain valuable playing experience in different climates and gain a whole new bunch of fans.
“It’s crazy to have played all these shows and realise what is out there for us and how it is to be a touring band, especially us as we are so young. We have been really lucky to have the opportunity to play as many gigs as we have so far and we thank everyone that has helped us along the way. The best gig of the tour, I think, was the Beav’s Bar hometown show. We managed to sell out the venue before the main support which we were really excited about.”
Their latest single, if you haven’t heard, is called ‘Numbered’ and has been doing massive circles on social media lately. Additionally, Sam Burtt, lead vocalist for the group, recently played an acoustic version for Nature Sessions, so be sure to check that out on the Forte website. Although the process for the upcoming EP was “quite rushed”, the band is starting work on their new EP and getting back into songwriting mode.
“We’ve just got back into writing again and things are starting to sound really good. We thought if we could get ahead on the next release that would be a big advantage. Hopefully we can land a few more support slots because I know how much playing that British India show helped us prepare for our tour.”
Forming for the Battle of the Bands, playing shows and touring was never really a goal for the band as the boys originally just wanted to share their love of music with each other. “I think after writing some songs and getting a tight set together we really started to gain some momentum. We had a show planned a couple of weeks after the battle and thought we would use the Courthouse show as a practice. No way did we expect to win but it was a nice confirmation to see that what we had was great.”
The Battle of the Bands, though, as Josh relates, is more than just playing a 20-minute set of songs. “You network with other musicians and meet like-minded people. If you get to the next stage you get a taste of what touring can be like. If you’re still unsure about entering, do it, give it a crack, and remember if it happens to you like it happened to us, you won’t regret the decision at all.”
When&Where: Courthouse ARTS – August 7
Written by Tex Miller