Melbourne rockers The Getaway Plan have been traversing the country in support of their new studio album Dark Horses. Vocalist Matthew Wright joined me for a chat after their Far Northern shows wrapped up – and in true rock’n’roll fashion I can reveal he was having breakfast at 1pm.
Hi Matthew, so you guys just wrapped up some shows in the far north, how did you find it?
“It was awesome man, we got to play some places that we’ve never even been before, so yeah man that was really killer.”
Were there any local quirks or customs you picked up on up here, things that you don’t see at shows down south?
“ahhhh infinite local quirks, well we had a first actually in Townsville, after the show one of the boys might have been looking somewhere he shouldn’t of and we got chased by some people who I think wanted to have a bit of a scuffle with us….like we were actually running down the street to the van [Laughs] totally screaming like girls, thats a new one for us.”
So the new Getaway Plan album Dark Horses and the single are both doing very well, the album debuting at #10 on the ARIA charts.. you must be pleased with how it’s been received right?
“Yeah, it’s still early days for us with it, just being on this tour and seeing what works out in the live show and what people are responding to.. but so far it’s been incredible. With the chart number and everything, thats our highest and this was an independent release so thats huge for us.”
Dark Horses is the first album by The Getaway Plan to be written, recorded, and produced in Australia, was their a specific reason behind this?
“Basically because this one was crowd funded, so we had to keep the budget as low as possible… so yeah basically for monetary reasons.
What did producer Sam K. bring to the mix?
We worked out of a tiny studio in Melbourne and Sam was just a natural fit, we’ve been friends with him for years and he’s always been interested in working with us… he taught us a lot and we love his work.. the most important thing he taught me was just to give a little less of a shit.”
[Laughs] Just getting things back to basics a little bit?
“Yeah man, exactly… Dan and Mike have had some solid time in the band now and we are all really enjoying playing together, we all contributed to the writing of this album as well – it was a far more organic process this time around.”
You guys were off the scene for a few years – was there a time when you thought The Getaway Plan was well and truly done?
“Oh yeah man, pretty much up until we reformed… [laughs].. then a few years later Clint and I had an offer from a charity to do a reunion show and we decided to do that. It was a bit weird because none of the members had spoken during the breakup… then as soon as we got off stage we just knew it was back on and like a week later it was full steam ahead.”
Speaking of, what’s the plan? Are you guys just gonna tour this one out and start again or have you been writing on the road at all?
“We are always writing as a band, so yeah i mean by the time we finish these dates up I’m sure we’ll have some new stuff to play with… We really want to get over to the States.. Th eGetaway Plan have never a played a show over there but i really wanna get over there and push this record I think. We’ve been to the UK and through Europe and gets better and better every time we go, we really gotta give the States a crack though.”
What does the title of the album mean to you?
“Ok, so a dark horse is something or someone who comes out of nowhere and wins or succeeds at something and i guess after being off the scene for awhile and throughout the recording process that’s kinda just how we felt coming back with this album.”
Peter Mellor
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