Steve Mackay is an interesting guy. He has played in rock bands with record deals, knows big name music personalities…
Steve Mackay is an interesting guy. He has played in rock bands with record deals, knows big name music personalities, had a guitar book published that has sold extremely well around the world and has another in the works as well as owning his own recording studio. He also, however, plays guitar in one of Melbourne’s most eclectic and promising alternative rock bands. He is also a man with a vision and some pretty deep thoughts on music and the way the industry works, all the while not taking himself too seriously.
That band, Twelve Foot Ninja, are also a very interesting ensemble. They fit very comfortably into the booming Melbourne (and Australian) alternative rock scene, while at the same time standing out like the proverbial dog’s bollocks amid the glut of bands populating that scene (and some might say over-populating). They combine almost metallic heavy rock with a veritable host of other influences; from r’n’b pop to reggae to funk, jazz and more. And they do it all absolutely convincingly.
They’ve also approached their career in a very unusual (some might say arse-about) way, forming only a couple of years ago and recording and releasing an EP, entitled New Dawn, before they’d even graced the sticky carpets of Melbourne’s live music scene even one single time as a band.
“[it was] One of the things that we did that was a bit unusual,” Steve begins. “I guess that people in bands know exactly how much energy goes into it… So what I wanted to do was put these songs out there and really see whether people liked them, and then use that as a gauge as to whether or not I should pursue this…thing!” he laughs. “But the response has been really good and the people who get into our stuff are awesome.
“It’s a really good – for lack of a better term – fanbase. I mean, they write to us on Facebook, and they’re very cool people with very cool tastes in music. It’s pretty ‘real’; when we talk to them at gigs it’s like just a bunch of mates, it instantly kinda works. So that was encouraging to us, and we used that as motivation to do better and keep going.”
The band will very shortly release their second EP, Smoke Bomb, after having turned in a massive run of shows both locally and interstate. While their first release was a sensational effort and showcased a band with incredible potential, Smoke Bomb promises even more. However, both are pretty much entrée’s before the full album’s main course apparently drops some time next year.
“I s’pose the new EP, those are the tracks that we wrote when we came into ourselves as a band,” Steve explains. “Then we’ve got another seven or eight ready for an album that are completely different to the ones we’re putting out on the latest EP. So we’re seeing a real progression in the band’s sound, how it’s forming and where we’re going. It’s getting more technical.
“Like New Dawn, it was recorded in my studio,” he continues, regarding the new EP. “I engineered and produced it, and I had my good friend Haydn Buxton mix it. He works with a lot of great jazz musos… he brings a lot of flavor to the genre that we do. I didn’t want to just go with a mix engineer that’s just predominantly heavy; we have so many different styles. We got Howie Weinberg in New York to master it,” he adds. “We sort of just thought ‘who do we want to master it?’ He pretty much mastered all of our favourite records, from Grace by Jeff Buckley, Nevermind by Nirvana. He’s done so much stuff so we were stoked to get him on board to master it.”
The list of big names who assisted the band to complete the recording doesn’t end there, however. “I got a hero of mine to play on one of the tracks,” Steve also states. “Bar McKinnon from Mr Bungle – who’d written some of my favourite Bungle tracks – and it was great to work with him. He does his full saxophone thing at the end of one of the songs.
“I also got Ollie McGill from the Cat Empire to play keys. I love his playing, and he’s a great muso. The whole thing was done pretty ‘guerilla’ style, I suppose. As with New Dawn costs were kept down, and we’re pretty stoked with the result.”
Halloween this year (October 31 for people who don’t follow those predominantly American holidays) brings with it the Creepshow Festival at The Espy in StKilda, which is another in the growing series of fantastic multi band festivals put on by local band booking / management company Saltar Hype Entertainment. It features a massive lineup of local alternative and heavy bands, including Sydonia, Engine Three Seven, Contrive, Five Star Prison Cell and many more, and Twelve Foot Ninja have decided that this would be an excellent event at which to launch their new release.
“Creepshow is kind of a celebration that we’ve got this second thing out there,” Steve enthuses. “I think what Saltar does is create a bit of a scene. It’s a way of roping in all the bands, in and around all the different scenes and creating a focal point, and somewhere for punters to kind of get a broad spectrum. And I think that’s done a lot for the bands. We love being involved with it… I think it’s different to others. We’re just happy to be a part of it, and be thought of as one of the bands to play later on in the night. It’s an honour.”
So what can the unsuspecting punter expect from the Twelve Foot Ninja set? “We just like to give it what we can,” Steve describes. “We like to put on a strong live show and put energy into it, but not take ourselves too seriously. We’re not afraid to get up in Ninja suits and crack a few jokes… we like to put a lot of energy in, and we like to smash it!”
TWELVE FOOT NINJA launch their cracking brand new EP Smoke Bomb at the CREEPSHOW FESTIVAL which takes place at The Espy on Halloween – Saturday October 30. They’ll play alongside the cream of Melbourne’s heavy-alternative scene, including Sydonia, Hatchet Dawn, Engine Three Seven, Five Star Prison Cell, Contrive, New Skinn and heaps more. Tickets and info from creeshowfestival.com, espy.com.au, Missing Link, Fist 2 Face, Greville and Polyester. TWELVE FOOT NINJA also play The Bended Elbow (Geelong) on Friday November 12, The Grand Hotel in Ballarat on Friday November 19, The Sand Bar (Mildura) on Saturday November 20, The Pier Hotel (Frankston) on Friday December and The Ferntree Gully Hotel on Saturday December 11. That new EP Smoke Bomb is out now.
