Last Dinosaurs… Bicy-cool
Interview: Last Dinosaurs
Published on June 13th, 2012 | Jonny Abrams
Rocksucker cannot stop singing “Time & Place”, the ace new single from Brisbane four-piece Last Dinosaurs, so we caught up with the band’s drummer Dan Koyama ahead of their set at Lovebox festival in London’s Victoria Park on Saturday. First, though, check out the video for “Time & Place”, which is out now on Fiction Records, and make room for this energetic pop gem on the soundtrack to your summer…(all together now: “Nikola, we’ve gotta make a difference!”)…
How have your UK shows gone?
Pretty well. The first few shows we did with a band from America called Electric Guest, who are really good. They’ve all kind of been about testing the water, apart from the festivals we’ve played, which have been a bit more lively in terms of attendance.
You played at Field Day, didn’t you?
Field Day was probably the best festival we’ve played, I think – the best line-up, the best crowd…they’ve all been pretty fun though. We’re having a good time travelling, seeing what the UK has to offer.
How do you like our bland food, warm lager and dodgy weather?
I haven’t had any warm beer yet – not planning to try that! But all the food and everything has been really good, actually.
So, what can we expect from the album?
What will you have heard so far – “Time & Place” and “Honolulu”?
Yeah.
In that case, more of the same, I guess, although there are probably more musically interesting songs on the album than the singles, not to say that they’re not interesting!
Do you know yet when it will be released?
I think September or late August, I’m not 100% sure. In a couple of months, let’s say!
It seems you guys have been sitting on the album for quite a while. How frustrating and/or nerve-racking has that been?
In Australia we sat on it for like half a year. It wasn’t really nerve-racking but it was kind of frustrating because we couldn’t really tell how good or bad the album was, but when we released it everyone in Australia seemed to like it so now we’re excited to get it out in the UK and everywhere else. Hopefully the reception will be just as good.
How long has the band existed, and how do you guys all know each other?
We basically all know each other from high school – except for Sam [Gethin-Jones, bass], who we knew from another band in Brisbane – and we started about four years ago. We’re all just high school friends, basically.
Are there any other up-and-coming bands that you’d like to recommend or give a shout-out to?
There’s a band called Chromatics that I found on the internet a couple of days ago, they’re pretty good. D’eon, a kind of electronic composer from Canada, he’s pretty good. In terms of Australian bands, I’d say Millions, who are from Brisbane.
There’s been a lot of good music coming out of Australia lately – the likes of yourselves, Tame Impala, Cloud Control…
Yeah, Tame Impala are probably the best Australian band. [Rocksucker says: click here to read our interview with Tame Impala from almost a year ago to the day!]
They’ve got a second album coming out soon, I saw.
Yes, I think so. I saw that they’re taking a while to release it or something like that, although it should be coming out soon. Pond, the side project of one of them, have been on tour around the same time as us so I don’t know whether they’re delaying the second album because of that or something else. Hopefully it’ll come out pretty soon.
Finally, if you had to spend the rest of your life with the back catalogues of just five different musical artists, whose would you choose?
That’s a tough one. I’ll go with Phoenix, The Strokes…hang on, I’ll open the question up to the rest of the band…(consults with band mates)…we’ll give you one more: D’Angelo. We all love a bit of neo-soul, or gospel, whatever!
Dan Koyama, thank you.
Last Dinosaurs will play at Lovebox in London’s Victoria Park on Saturday. Their new single “Time & Place” is out now on Fiction Records, to be followed by the album In a Million Years. For more information, including a list of live dates, please visit lastdinosaurs.co.uk
Visit Dan’s blog at dankoyama2012.blogspot.co.uk
About the Author
Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.
