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Hailing from Australia, indie rock quartet ME have had a hectic 12 months. From playing shows with the likes of Kasabian, Panic! At The Disco, Twin Atlantic and Evanescence to the recent release of their mini-album ‘Another Story High.’

Their sound takes a laid back, summery approach and combines it with a dense classic rock sound, reminiscent of Led Zepplin, Queen and The Beatles. Nevertheless ME have been receiving praise from critics and fans alike for their modern twist of dramatic rock. Songs like ‘Insert Voice Here’ and ‘Dutch Medicine’ are lofty and gently draw you in. Whilst ‘Slow Children’ is grandiose and to an extent “pompous” but strangely suit the bands style.

Already Heard recently spoke to drummer Spike Rodges to talk about their influences, how they formed, ‘Another Story Here,’ their new full-length and more.

Already Heard: Could you introduce yourself and your role in ME?
Spike: Hello. I’m Spike. I play drums. Usually in time. In a band called ME.

Already Heard: With influences such as The Beatles, The Mars Volta, System of a Down and Led Zeppelin, how would you describe your sound to new listeners?
Spike: We’re certainly fans of anything dramatic. Take any of those classic rocks acts, chuck in some symphonic tendencies and some modern day riffage and there you have it.

Already Heard: I understand the band formed in 2008 and you’re all from different parts of Australia. Could you tell us a bit more about the bands history?
Spike: The way we formed is a mixture of a nudist festival and online dating for bands. Seriously. Damian and Mikey met at the festival and Luke and I were found online. How romantic. I literally had my Dad drive me to the audition because I was too young to drive. Everyone effectively moved to Melbourne to start the same band. It just took a year to make it happen and for everyone to find each other. Well except for me, I was always in Melbourne. I had the best taste in choosing a place to grow up in.

Already Heard: Earlier this year you released a mini-album called ‘Another Story High.’ How has the reaction been to the release and what should new listeners know about it?
Spike: ‘Another Story High’ is a taster of our album release. It’s a hint of where we’ll be going on the album.  It’s had a fantastic reaction. Our fans are really digging it!  Some of the fans know more lyrics than I do from listening to it. I’ll let you decide if that is fan dedication or drummer stupidity. It’s our most comprehensive body of work yet and has really been giving everyone a chance to understand us a little better. We are sometimes a bit confusing after just hearing one track. Nothing like a transition from riffage to operatic choir to confuse listeners hey?

Already Heard: ‘Insert Voice Here’ was made available for free. How beneifical is this for a band like ME?
Spike: Free music is how new fans find bands they love. If we can reward the curious with a gift they love, then maybe we’ll be friends for life.

Already Heard: I hear you’re releasing a full-length early next year. How far are you into the new record and has the bands sound developed in anyway?
Spike: The album is now fully recorded. We are doing some extra mixing and fiddling about over the next months, but it’s over 90% there now. To be honest it’s our first record, so I can’t say our sound has developed much. Hard to compare it really. What’s interesting is the amount of time it’s taken for someone to be able to capture what we do live. It’s energy and mostly controlled madness at times. To get that on record and sounding huge is difficult. Props to Simon Barnicott and Ian Dowling for that.

Already Heard: Over the last 12 months you’ve played throughout the UK with many bands and several festivals. How valuable has that experiece been to the ME?
Spike: I looked back over the list of tours and festivals we’ve done in the last 12 months. It’s massive!  I can take a step back and say that we really are a very lucky band. We’ve only been in the UK a year and we’ve been playing like crazy. This music scene in this country is amazing and to travel so far and be this busy doing what we love is actually a dream come true for us. 

Already Heard: What can fans expect when they come to see ME in a live environment?
Spike: A pretty nicely dressed band if I do say so myself. Plus we are 4 lads with funny accents from a country 23 hours away playing a dramatic mixture of your dad’s favourite band with a bit of Grandma’s orchestral musical in there for good measure.

Already Heard: Following the shows with Arcane Roots and Canterbury, what’s next for ME?
Spike: Last month I stayed at my house in London 4 nights. In the whole month. So I think we are all looking forward to a few weeks off. We have the Y-Not Festival very soon, then we’ll be in rehearsals for a lot of August before we get busy with more UK and Europe touring around our new single release around 24th September. In December we’ll visit Australia and get prepped for the Big Day Out in January!  We’re looking forward to watching the Red Hot Chili Peppers smash that stage!

‘Another Story High’ by ME is available now through Lizard King Records.

ME links: Official Website|Facebook|Twitter|Youtube|Soundcloud|Spotify

Words by Sean Reid (@SeanReid86)

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