By MICHELLE HERBISON
THE members of Perth rock band Birds of Tokyo felt lucky their stage was among Fremantle fans when they performed from the grandstands of this year’s AFL Grand Final.
Bassist Ian Berney told the Independent everyone in the band was cheering on Freo except drummer Adam Weston, a passionate Magpies supporter.
“He’d even been on national TV tipping Hawthorn to win by three or four goals, so there was a little incentive for him to prove his AFL knowledge,” Berney recalled.
“So many people from home were passionate about it. On the day I was a full-blooded Fremantle fan but the poor guys didn’t have a good day.”
Berney admitted the six-minute gig was a “hold-your-breath-and-get-through-it” experience.
“We tried hard to energise the people around us because we knew you’ve got all these big AFL supporters who really don’t care about your rock band – they just want you to finish so they can watch their sports team.
“We walked off and were just really buzzed from the whole thing.”
Birds of Tokyo achieved a “new feeling of success” when fourth studio album March Fires became the band’s first to debut at number one on the National ARIA Album Chart earlier this year, spawning singles Lanterns, This Fire and When The Night Falls Quiet.
“The album is a lot different to what we’ve done in the past,” Berney said.
“We’ve focused on a cerebral listen; it’s an ambient record trying to achieve a wider sound.”
The band was ready to move on from the masculine rock of previous albums and toward “really chasing beauty”, Berney explained.
Birds of Tokyo aimed to challenge themselves artistically with each new record, throwing unexpected material to fans and often polarising audiences, he said.
“It’s just a result of what you do when, as artists you’re always trying to explore new ways to create emotions in yourselves.
“Some people understand it and other people get really frustrated because it doesn’t sound like before but all you have in the end is how you react to your own art and hope that’s a universal emotion that other people will feel.”
Birds of Tokyo plays Geelong’s Wool Exchange on 5 December.
