Dangerous! is the Australian quartet that caused havoc to the UK music scene last year, following on from a UK support tour with Young Guns, variety of DJ sets and a summer of festivals.
Their bad-boy image has, also, helped to cause a stir – as the quartet boast about their continuous “adventures”, hotel trashing and heavy-alcohol fuelled raves; in their crazy, self-produced, documentaries. Although, it’s not all about their wild lifestyle that has managed to catch the everyone’s attention.
Signed to Epitaph Records, the band released their début album ‘Teenage Rampage’ late last year, which consisted of some Fortitude Magazine favourites including ‘Movers N Shakers’ and ‘Not One Of You’, and it comes as no surprise to witness why the quartet were soon noticed by the likes of Kerrang, Front and Rocksound too.
However, Dangerous! now return to the studio to work on a follow-up album and Jarrad Lee (drummer) spent the time to discuss with us about their new direction, love for the UK and what it’s like to be a part of Epitaph Records. Here is what he had to say:
Hey Jarrad, pleasure to be talking to you, how are you today?
Hey man, I’m feeling very well .. The Australian sun is giving me a kiss!
Do you mind explaining to the readers, how Dangerous! came to form?
Nicky [Jones] (guitarist), Tommy [Rutland] (singer) and I used to tour this big country of Australia in an 80’s rock band, we would sleep in a bus and on peoples floors, swimming the ocean every morning for breakfast and playing shows for dinner. We all had big mullets and would party our way into every VIP list imaginable. The band became quite popular but ended as we had new music to endeavour, the three of us were all about making music forever and that’s when the idea for Dangerous! began.
I met Nev [Liam Neville] (bassist) way back when I was a teenager, working in a dusty old warehouse. We stayed friends and ended up starting some punk bands together, but we were drinking buddies/wing men for the most part. He was in a bit of trouble and our bass player, at the time, had moved to Mexico, so we locked Nev in and he’s been a bit of a rock ever since.
We bought our own tour bus with beds in it and toured for years non-stop around Australia. Our live keyboard player, Todd [Andrews], got mega drunk at one of our Sydney shows, ended up in our bus, only to wake the next day in a different state. He has been an honorary member since, legend.
With yourselves, do you find that you all have different musical influences or is there a lot of artists that have impacted the majority of the band?
We have a medium of bands and music that we all agree with and love as a play list for the road, etc. But influences come from anything and everything, the list would be huge when it comes to creating … things you wouldn’t imagine we would even know about, we know about.
Also, I told a bouncer in LA that my father was Ronnie Wood once and, to this day, he still believes it and lets us cut the line; now that’s inspiring!
You’re signed to Epitaph Records, whom have been heavily supportive to you, but what do you feel it is about you that separates yourselves from any of their other acts on their roster?
Epitaph has and has had some f***ing mental bands, but Dangerous! is in a world of its own. We don’t sound like anyone else and no one else sounds like us. There might be things here and there that sound like something else but, overall, we are our own wave and our own vibe. Yew!
Last year proved to be a highly successful year for yourselves, with strong UK media coverage and an expanding popularity, how do you find the UK gig-goers perceive your music in comparison to Australian or even American fans?
We flew straight from LA to the UK and none of us expected anything of the UK, as we were so busy at the time. We got there looked up at a huge sign saying, “Welcome to Summer in the UK” … While we were all covered in jumpers and jackets freezing our butts off in the rain ha ha.
We got on a public bus with all of our guitars, drums and suit cases and turned a Travelodge into our home … First thought in my mind was, “no good can come from this!”
But, boy was I wrong, our first show was a sold out show and kids went crazy, we started the set and Tommy wasn’t even on stage yet because he got locked out somehow and the crowd went insane. It felt like we were playing a home town show, amazing!
The UK to me feels like a place still very much in love with live bands, any band, if they’re good that is on. The passion is still in the air, which creates a great atmosphere to be a part of.
Do you have any specific highlights from your UK tours – whether that be your club night DJ sessions, your festival performances or your support slot with Young Guns?
Highlights of the tours have been the people, the bands we met and shared the stage with, new friends and fans.
The festivals were insane. We camped at Download Festival, got muddy at Sonisphere and all the straight edge bands at Nass gave us free beers, which in memory was a great time. So many stories!
Every night was a bigger party than the last, in which I have trouble remembering, but one day we’ll make a movie from them I swear. I’d call it “Almost Dangerous! and Jason Lee”, I would make sure Jason Lee got the drummers spot.
Tommy, recently, announced that this year has consisted of you writing/working on a new record, which looks set to head in a different musical direction. Are you able to give a little more insight at all?
Yeah! We are busy getting that album finished, so far it’s sounding rad!
It sounds so different to anything we have ever done, nothing like the album and nothing like the singles… It’s new and fresh but, at the same time, it’s still repeating the guitar riffs, mechanical drums, driving bass, wide synths and vocals from hell; that vibe that is D! is still strong and prominent.
Also, we have been writing each others parts ha ha. Get ready!
You are only listed for one more performance date this year, which shall be at Pyramid Rock Festival, Phillip Island, how does it feel sharing the stage with such a variety of acts?
Cant wait for that show! That’s what makes a great festival in my books, variety.
I don’t like going to things and hearing the same band or genre all day, so this is such a great festival to be a part of. We’ve been busy coming up with fresh sounds for the new album so shows have been put aside, but Pyramid is definitely an exception.
I want to do a kick flip into a crowd surf!
Should we expect another return to the UK any time shortly after that or is it a waiting game to see if we demand you back?
We are planning to be back between March and May 2013, we miss “Red Stripe” and “Fosters” way too much! I also still have some free trips on my oyster card; can’t let them go to waste.
Our final question; other than yourselves, who should Fortitude Magazine and our readers be checking out and why?
Leopard, City Riots, James Clever Quintet and Wounds are good friends of ours. Stolen Youth, they practise where we do and they sound insane. Some obvious ones, but if you don’t know then you should silly buggars … Wavves, MGK, The Galvatrons, Die Arntwood, Jimi Hendrix [laughs] and Test Icicles.
As you can see, we have enough suggestions to keep you all busy and your music libraries expanding. But, until you check out those, why not have a look at ‘Movers N Shakers’ by Dangerous! below: