These City Lights

We were recently rather stoked about interviewing this band, These City Lights. Oh you haven't heard of them? It's because they're from a land far, far away from here, Australia. Not only do they sound pretty great, but they each have a way better sense of humor/personality than most of us (which made this interview quite enjoyable). Check out the hilarious things they said and everything we learned about These City Lights. If you don't have a sense of humor, or are a little over sensitive, this may not be the interview for you to read.

S&Em: Female fronted bands are normally hard to find. You have had two lovely ladies in the band at one time, how do you feel that affects your fan base and your opportunities as a band?

TCL: I think it helps connect to the younger female audience. There aren't many female fronted bands in Melbourne OR Australia for that matter so it gives us a lot more of an opportunity.

S&Em: Since we aren't from Australia, we don't know much about the music scene there. Are there a lot of opportunities?

TCL:  The market is still growing out here and as a result there aren't nearly as many opportunities as there are in the USA or Europe. There is also unlimited support from venues so bands just have to get places on their own steam.

S&Em: You all seem to be extremely close and seem like you're always together. Were you band mates first or friends?

TCL: Band mates. We'd all met before but never really bothered with each other. Since being in the band, we've grown to hate everything about each other. It's honestly pretty excellent.

S&Em: With this level of closeness, we have to wonder, have there been any inter-band relationships?

TCL: Chris and Jesses' love has certainly blossomed over the past 2 years. It's developed into lust.

S&Em: You're currently working on an EP! That's very exciting news! How's it going and what can you tell us about it?

TCL: It's going to be a 6 track EP. It's all going smoothly so far. We've been working really hard over the last 12 months writing and demoing tracks to make sure it's the best it can possibly be.

S&Em: Patrick is relatively new to the band. How did you find him? Do you have any funny/silly ways of initiating a new band member?

TCL: Jesse and Pat were once in a band together, but the sexual tension between them just became too much. Luckily now they've grown up a little bit and Jesse has moved on to Chris. We don't have any funny or silly ways of initiating a new band member, but I think [being] forced to be around us is punishment enough.

(S&Em Note: Yes, they were the inspiration for Britney Spears' hit song "Three").

S&Em: When it comes to writing songs, who writes the lyrics? Where does the inspiration come from?

TCL: The inspiration doesn't always come from anything in particular. The ones that do are just about the typical things we all deal with. Falling in love and falling out of it, losing friends or gaining them, but sometimes I write about my friends and what they've gone through as well.

S&Em: What bands have inspired each of you to become musicians? What bands inspire you to continue to be musicians?

TCL:This is going to be interesting.
Chris- Dream Theater, Paramore, Led Zeppelin, Mayday Parade, Bayside, Deep Purple.
Patty- Hendrix, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Metallica, Guns 'n' Roses, Mayday Parade.
Jade- Jojo, Paramore, The Script, Taylor Swift, Mayday Parade, Demi Lovato.
Jesse- Brand New, Enter Shikari,, Usher, ya Boi Bang$, Cannibal Corpse.

S&Em: Being a female fronted band, who do you get compared to the most? (We suspect Paramore).

TCL: Paramore, definitely. Being in Australia, we would get compared to Tonight Alive a fair bit as well.

S&Em: We know that people from other countries aren't normally all that fond of Americans. what's the worst thing about us?

TCL: Chris- I think there's a small amount of you who ruin it for the rest, we like you though!

S&Em: Who are the biggest musicians in Australia right now?

TCL: Gotye, Temper Trap, Guy Sebastian, Sia, Parkway Drive, Northlane, Tonight Alive.

S&Em: We found out about you guys after Jesse found Sammie's organization (Rock for RSD) since your drummer, Chris, has RSD. How do all of you deal when Chris has flares? As a band, do you try to help educate others about RSD?

TCL: Jesse likes to tease 'cause he's a prick, but the rest of us try to help as much as we can. Chris doesn't really like to let us know when he's in pain because he doesn't want to worry us that much, but we try to educate as many people we can because it needs to be known about how crap of a disease it is.

( S&Em Note: Chris, you and I are going to have some words about things we should probably tell our bandmates...)

S&Em: We saw you dressed as zombies for Halloween. If there was an actual zombie apocalypse, who would... Be the first one down? The most prepared? The one kicking ass? The one hiding? The one completely oblivious?

TCL: Chris- First one down because he can't run with his RSD. He would also try to be the one that would hide from everything to survive.
Jesse- The most prepared only because his girlfriend would make sure of it. What a good egg.
Patty- The one kicking ass, purely because he's Asian. He thinks he's a ninja, OR because he's a black belt. Whatever.
Jade- The completely oblivious one, for sure. Stupidest person ever.

S&Em: We saw that while in the studio, you all were working on your "artistic abilities." Which of your band members is the most inappropriate?

TCL: Definitely either Jesse or Chris. Sometimes they scare even themselves.

S&Em: How would you describe your band's personality? How would you describe your sound?

TCL: Upbeat and fun, which reflects in our sound.

S&Em: Normally, bands have a member that draws in people. Who is that in These City Lights?

TCL: It's less of a person and more a part of a person. Jade's boobs.

S&Em: What do you hope 2013 will bring?

TCL: Patty- Bigger and better things.
Chris- Patty's bigger penis.
Jade- A new band.
Jesse- A good harvest.
 

S&Em: If you could be signed with any record label, which label would it be, if any, and why?

TCL: Fearless, Hopeless, Fueled by Ramen. The bands we look up to are on these labels.

S&Em: In one word, tell us each of your thoughts on each of the following: Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, Blink 182, Three Days Grace, The Twilight Saga, and Glee.

TCL: Chris- Taylor Swift, promiscuous. Justin Timberlake, sexy. Justin Bieber, pothead. Blink 182, overrated. Three Days Grace, devastated. Twilight, boring. Glee, boring.
Patty: Taylor Swift, alright. Justin Timberlake, sexyback. Justin Bieber, #cutfor. Blink 182, nostalgic. Three Days Grace, shattered. Twilight, no. Glee, auto tune.
Jesse- Swift, elf. Timberlake, Nsync. Bieber, jail-bait. Blink, yoice. TDG, eh. Twilight, Edward. Glee, dinosaurs.
Jade- Swift, love. Timberlake, perfection. Bieber, baby. Blink, nothing. TDG, eh. Twilight, decode. Glee, love.

S&Em: Do you have any quirky names for your fans?

TCL: We have fans?!

S&Em: What are your preshow rituals?

TCL: Mighty ducks, hands in.


S&Em would like to thank These City Lights for giving us our most entertaining interview ever. Yes, this made us want to be all of their best friends.To download a few of their songs click here. Their EP should arrive sometime this Spring/Summer (for us in the US).