Interview by Meghan Player
Unwritten Law are in Australia for their ‘Elva’ 15th Anniversary tour (December 2016). We caught up with the Scott Russo (vocals) for a chat…
You’re no stranger to Australian shores – what are you looking forward to most about coming back?
We love Australia! I’m a beach kid, I grew up on the beach, so I wanna be close to the beach. If there’s surfing and we are close to the beach, it’s perfect. So for me, Australia is perfect!
Is it cool to see how many people still resonate with the album, even after all this time?
The 15 years have flown by, Elva was a special time for the band, the songs were more stripped down as opposed to a lot of electronic over-dubs and stuff like that. The songwriting is better and it’s more stripped down, like a sleeker engine, ya know? It will be great to play the album in full, we are keeping pretty much to the way the songs were recorded, it’s going to be awesome
You recently released an acoustic album of a bunch of classic UL tracks – are you stoked with the way it turned out, and how it has been received by fans?
It’s really different – I think a lot of people were expecting a rock record done acoustically, but it’s not; it’s a lot of offbeat guitars, new wave beats and rewritten songs – I think it turned out pretty dope.
The songs certainly took on new life with the album – allowing long-time listeners to hear the songs for the first time again – was that an integral part of the making/releasing of the album (that it felt like brand new/fresh again)?
Yes, definitely. I didn’t want to do an album of acoustic versions of our songs, we wanted to reimagine them and see where we could take them. It may sound cliché, but the songs chose themselves. Like a cosmic Fed-Ex.
Is there a track on that particular album that you’re most proud of?
Chris had this idea for the acoustic version of “Shoulda Known Better”. He went to Lowes and spent like a thousand dollars on a bunch of shit. Giant planks of wood, all these different pipes, chains, sheets of metal, tools, you name it. He built the beat out of all these things, like those guys that make special effects sounds for movies. Foley actors. He even used the plastic bag from the store that the stuff came in.
Are you working on anything new at the moment – or just focusing on touring?
As soon as we finish this tour we’ll be heading home, we have a few shows over New Year, then we’ll be in the studio to record a new album.
What will 2017 hold for Unwritten Law?
Mainly recording, we’re in a really great headspace for this record, we want it to be a classic, that’s pretty much what 2017 will be for the band.
Thursday 1st December | Max Watts, Brisbane
Friday 2nd December | Wharf Tavern, Sunshine Coast
Saturday 3rd December | Miami Tavern, Gold Coast
Tuesday 6th December | Fowlers Live, Adelaide
Thursday 8th December | Entrance Leagues Club, Central Coast
Friday 9th December | The Small Ballroom, Newcastle
Saturday 10th December | Max Watts, Sydney
Sunday 11th December | Corner Hotel, Melbourne
Wednesday 14th December | Capitol Theatre, Perth
www.killrockstar.com.au
