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# I think the kids are in trouble
- All of us, when we listen to something,
if we're not emotionally pulled into it,
no matter how well-written the thing seems to be or how good the music is,
sometimes those things don't add up to a good song.
And if it doesn't affect us on some sort of actual sincere emotional level,
we will get really bored with it and we'll let it go.
# What the weather will be
# I figured out what we're missing
- I've had experiences with particularly Alligator, the first one, that got me
where I just had to put it back on the shelf.
It's just sort of, I love it but it's affecting me too much.
I know this is part of your appeal with your fans and things, as well.
How do you manage to keep that sort of emotional resonance?
- A lot of what you're talking about comes from the lyrics.
Matt's not afraid to be emotional.
There is like a certain amount of heart in them
that is part of why we were drawn to him initially.
- I would say for the record though that I only write lyrics
listening to the music. So, er, I blame them
for whatever emotional torment that they...
- Well, I was going to say, it isn't just a lyrical thing.
There are ways that the music pulls out the feeling sort of quite profoundly.
- I'm reacting, like, writing lyrics and writing melodies,
I'm reacting to the music.
I don't have lyrics laying around that I'm waiting for music for.
I just, I only write when I'm listening to the music.
- (ROCK MUSIC)
- When you're on stage, it's sort of...
You each seem like you go to a specific internal space.
You're getting quite a, sort of, a real effect on stage
from an audience member's perspective, anyway.
Could you describe to me where it is you do go when you're on stage?
- I actually close my eyes and kind of go into a... inside my head.
It's tricky when you do six, seven, eight shows in a row.
Erm, by the end of every tour,
I think all of us are a little bit weirder
than we were when the tour started.
Yeah, it's a weird thing. I go to a weird space every night to do it.
And I love it. I love it. I don't know how healthy it is, though.
- # Well, you wouldn't want an angel watching over
- You're one of the few bands that seems able to glide
almost wherever it is you want between the sort of traditional,
low, for want of a better word, rock'n'roll spaces
and high art centres and do it quite effortlessly.
- It's a funny thing, we've learned that the thing we do as a band,
whether it's the ugly rock and reckless punk side of it,
works great in an elegant, beautiful setting, you know?
We don't have to, like, you know, button up and be polite
or anything like that. And nobody would want us to, anyway.
# I was carried
# To Ohio in a swarm of bees
- We grew up playing basically in punk rock clubs for many years.
And so the chemistry that occurred on small stages for small audiences
is sort of like in our DNA. So no matter how big the venue
or how prestigious the venue, the chemistry that's playing out on stage
is that same chemistry.
- I kind of become the same gorilla whether we're in a fancy place
or a punk bar or whatever.
We've gotten into trouble at some of the fancier places,
broken things and whatnot. But I promise, nothing too serious.
- We'll be fine. - That's why you're outside.
- Yeah, that's why they put us outside. Is that why?
- What's especially exciting is, like, certain venues,
like doing something here at the Sydney Opera House,
such an incredible space,
for us, that's like... those are the special gigs that you remember
and that we again realise how lucky we are to be able to do.