Nine Sons of Dan Tour

Gold Coast (Australia) band Nine Sons of Dan have released their highly-anticipated new single Diamond Skin to radio and digitally to iTunes. This is the first single to be lifted from the bands forthcoming EP titled The New Kids.

The track follows up the hit single "She's So Fine" from the debut EP Landslide after taking out the national New Artist to Radio (NA2R) award in the Rock category for 2011, earning the track a debut at number twenty-three on the national airplay charts and the number one position on the AIR Radio Charts after being the most added track to radio the week of it's release.

NSOD's Landslide recently made waves in the music scene overseas where, in the US, it was added to the rotation of over 140 radio stations, reaching the Top 30 Most Played charts at 12 stations and US music bible, Alternative Press, proclaimed the Sons as a band to watch.

Nine Sons of Dan's much-anticipated follow up EP titled The New Kids has been released worldwide and features the attitude driven rock single Diamond Skin, mixed by accredited US Producer J.R. McNeely (Anberlin/Paramore).

Our new sound is a lot edgier, hits a lot harder and sounds a little more organic than our last EP. We have been trying for a long time to bring the energy of our live shows to our EP's and this time I think we have a done pretty good job of achieving that, says drummer Morgan "Flakey" Blake.

"For us, being in the studio is about getting our ass kicked. That's the foundation of the personality of our band," says Blake.

"We're all wild guys and we love to play live and rock out as much as possible. When we come back into the studio, it's the reminder of how good we actually need to be. We don't have a problem with learning from other people. As fun as it is, it's that harsh reminder to get better at what you are doing," Singer Jay Bainbridge adds.

J.R. McNeally (Anberlin/Paramore) mixed first single Diamond Skin while the remaining five songs will be left in the hands of the highly reputable Forrester Savell (Karnivool/The Butterfly Effect/Dead Letter Circus).

It's onstage where NSOD are truly at home. The young sons humbly began independently booking shows up and down the east coast, developing a strong live presence that landed them in front of crowds in excess of 20,000. Thriving on living the dream, NSOD will join the Rock the Schools tour beginning in April before hitting the road for their national headlining "The New Kids" tour in support of the newest EP that reflects where the band is today.

"When you start to get a name for yourself, people try to drag you down a lot,'' the singer verbalises. "A lot of the lyrics are about the struggle of trying to just do what you are passionate about. I want people to know how ridiculously exciting it is for us five guys to be touring around to play for them."

The drummer backs up his front man affirming, "We've been given the opportunity to launch ourselves and now we want to prove our worth with this EP."

In the words of "Diamond Skin"…try stop us and we'll grow stronger! The question is just how far can NSOD go?

Nine Sons of Dan is:
Jay Bainbridge - Lead Singer
Morgan Blake - Drummer
Daniel Cox - Lead Guitarist
Alex Pundyk - Rhythm Guitarist
Wil Edgar - Bass

For more information go to www.ninesonsofdan.com

Nine Sons of Dan Tour 2012
Thursday 12th of July: Port Macquarie Hotel, Port Macquarie. Free Entry.
Friday 13th of July: Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle, NSW. With The Cavalcade, The Virtue and Broadway Mile.
Saturday 14th of July: Youth Arts Warehouse, Gosford, NSW. With The Never Ever, The Monster Goes Rawr, Northie (DJ Set) and Love & Satellites.
Sunday 15th of July: The Lair at Metro Theatre, Sydney. With This Sanctuary, Cupid Against Venus and Forever Ends Here.
Thursday 19th of July: The Zoo, Brisbane, QLD. With Awaken I Am, Willows, We Were Giants and more.
Saturday 21st of July: The Pa, Jupiters Casino, Gold Coast, QLD. With Awaken I Am and more. Free Entry
Friday 27th of July: Fowlers Live, Adelaide, SA. With Some Time Soon, Keen Must Die and All Year Round.
Saturday 28th of July: Revolver Upstairs, Melbourne. With Daylight Hours, While The City Sleeps and Have You Seen This Boy.
Sunday 29th of July: Spensers Live, Melbourne. With Daylight Hours, Way With Words and Have You Seen This Boy.
Saturday 4th of August: The Hive, Brisbane, QLD. With Rawr Vanity, Adventure Land and D At Sea.

Tickets from: www.ninesonsofdan.oztix.com.au, at the venue or phone 1300 762 545.

Interview with Morgan Blake

Question: How would you describe the single Diamond Skin?

Morgan Blake: We think it's one of our most honest efforts so far; it's written about what you go through when you want to chase your dreams, and what you can face along the way. We hope a lot of people can relate to it.


Question: What are you looking forward to most about the upcoming tour?

Morgan Blake: Playing music we love to the fans that we love! We made a lot of new fans and friends form our recent Rock The Schools Tour, and we are really looking forward to seeing them all again this time around!


Question: How does it feel to know your EP Landslide was played overseas?

Morgan Blake: Absolutely amazing is how it feels! It's something that you never think you can achieve when you're playing music in Australia, it seems so far away, so it's a pretty cool thing for us.


Question: How does The New Kids differ from Landslide?

Morgan Blake: Well Landslide was written quite a while ago, and the band has grown and developed a lot in that time. The New Kids is a much better representation of what the band is, and I think it really shows people who we are, so we're excited to see what people think!


Question: Do you write your own songs? What's your inspiration?

Morgan Blake: Yes, we definitely do! Much of our content, and all of the lyrics, come from Jay, our singer, who does a great job putting everybody's personalities into the songs with his words. I know Jay is inspired by a lot of great bands such as Incubus, but he gets a lot of cool ideas from movies, cartoons, and just interesting things here and there! All the band just loves playing music, and seeing other bands doing the same thing is a big inspiration.


Question: What music/artists do you listen to when you are not playing your own?

Morgan Blake: Gosh, it's a pretty long list! But everyone form the band differs! I'd say lately, some Paramore, You Me At Six, Foo Fighters, but then some different stuff too; some AFI, Avenged Sevenfold, John Mayer! Angels and Airwaves, Van Halen. The list goes on!


Question: What's your goals for the rest of the year?

Morgan Blake: Well we hope to tour the country again before the end of the year, with even more shows! We also have a few bigger shows that we are hoping to put on near our hometown and in Brisbane. We have another single or possibly two to release before the end of the year, and they will of course have their own video clips, so that always really exciting!


Question: Was there a moment you contemplated throwing in the towel?

Morgan Blake: Well speaking personally, I had shoulder surgery in November last year, and couldn't use my left arm until about March this year. It was all a bit much, and we had things to do like record an EP and start touring, I was thinking, maybe this isn't such a good idea. But you realise you only live once, and if you really want something, you need to put everything into it! We all have our ups and downs, but the band is there for each other.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Morgan Blake: They are both such different things, and there are great sides to both. But I would say playing live, because it's such a release, so much adrenaline, so exciting, and there is nothing better than hearing someone sing along to your music. It's unbelievable!


Question: What/who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Morgan Blake: Again, I'll speak on behalf of the band here, but ever since we have been young we have all loved playing music so much, it has been the centre of our lives. So where we are now, it's us loving what we are doing, we had no idea we would end up in the "music industry"!


Question: What is the biggest challenge you have faced along the way to your musical success?

Morgan Blake: The sacrifices you make every day are pretty hard; I know everyone in the band has gone some really tough times, not seeing family and loved ones for a long time, being broke and not being able to pay bills; it's a pretty hard challenge making it work sometimes. But that has been our biggest challenge so far, and we won't let anything get in our way, so we can get through it!


Question: What's a typical day like, for you?

Morgan Blake: Well if we aren't on tour, I guess it's wake up, check the surf, if the surf is good surf before work; get to work (most of us work for surf companies!) go the gym after work (ok that's probably just me lol) and then get home and work on all the bits and pieces for the band; I'm currently designing our new merchandise range so that's my nights for a while! We usually have band practice at around 6 - 9 pm three times a week if we're lucky!


Question: What has been your favourite part of becoming a music artist?

Morgan Blake: I've mentioned it once before, but above everything else, seeing someone sing along to, dance to or even just clap to your music is just amazing, it means so much to us to do something we love so much and have it mean that much to other people too.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Morgan Blake: Well we have worked with Justin York, touring guitarist for Paramore, (Taylor's York's brother!), and that was really cool. It would be great to repeat that again in the future. But Dave Grohl would have to be in there! That would be a dream come true to work with him!


Question: Can you tell us 5 things required for a happy healthy & enjoyable life?

Morgan Blake: 1. Stop what you're doing, go buy a surfboard and whatever it takes, and go get barrelled.
2. Now that you have done that, you're probably pretty happy. Take a moment to realise the people in your life that make it what it is, and go tell them that!
3. Learn how to cook; it's the easiest way to understand what you put in your body, and will save you money if you tour a lot like us! Cooking someone a healthy meal is one of the nicest gifts you can give!
4. Have the right attitude about life; 10 years ago, no one had Facebook or an iphone, and they all seemed to be pretty happy still. Take a moment to appreciate things in your life that aren't material, like your friends and family. And surfing!
5. Don't smoke cigarettes or do drugs, or get wasted and do stupid stuff. Do I even have to explain this one?


Question: What is the story behind the band's name?

Morgan Blake: Basically we had a group of nine friends in University when the band was forming. One of them was called Dan, and honestly a friend yelled it out one day while we brainstorming names as a joke; it was pretty much the best one anyone had come up with. So we kept it! But what it reminds us of is our group of friends; a lot of them were from overseas and are back home now, so it's really cool to have something like that that links us all back together.


Interview by Brooke Hunter