100 Million Nights Melbourne Music Week Interview

100 Million Nights Melbourne Music Week Interview

For their first time as part of the Melbourne Music Week (MMW) program, Modular are jumping in with both feet, taking the reins of The Residence on Thursday 21st November. Join us for an evening which showcases the best in emerging -Australiana' talent - from Melbourne and beyond.

'MMW is known for it's innovative programming," says Stephen Pavlovic of Modular Recordings. 'And we are thrilled to present The Residence with some of our cutting edge artists. The music coming out of Melbourne at the moment is particularly exciting and diverse, we've done our best to capture this in our line-up."

In an audio-visual collaboration between Modular Recordings artist Canyons and globally renowned visual artist Daniel Boyd, 100 Million Nights will make its first-ever Melbourne appearance. Fresh off the back of debut shows at GoMA (Brisbane) and MoNA (Hobart), this carefully constructed performance will reinterpret Aboriginal and Australian-European history, and explore the subjective reality of what we are taught, and what we believe. Through video installation across three giant connecting screens, and an original score performed by Canyons as a four-piece band, 100 Million Nights offers an emotive and psychedelic experience for the mind, body and soul.

Supporting this unique offering, a raft of Melbourne's favourite artists will also take the stage. In their only performances for MMW this year, acid house lab-rat Roland Tings and Chapter Music's futuristic dub/pop duo Standish/Carlyon will play alongside the live tape worn boogie of Andras Fox (live), with Spunk Records' Shining Bird and Club Mod DJs filling in the beats.

The Residence
21st of November, 2013
Lower Terrace, Birrarung Marr, Melbourne, VIC 3000
Doors from 7pm / Over 18s
Tickets available now from www.moshtix.com.au and 1300 GET TIX (438 849)

Interview with Ryan Grieve and Leo Thomson

Question: What inspired the collaboration of 100 Million Nights?

Leo Thomson: Initially we didn't really know Dan but we had some mutual friends. He asked us to make a bit of music for one of his installations, and from that we decided it'd be great to create a specific project for us to collaborate on - and 100 Million Nights was born.


Question: How would you describe 100 Million Nights?

Ryan Grieve: It's equal parts a musical and visual experience that looks at the concepts of time, change, cycles within all life. There's lots of drums, lots of synthesisers, all travelling through a spectrum of moods.

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

Leo Thomson: Yep. At the risk of sounding cliché I would say life in general is an inspiration - I guess it depends on the song / music really. Relationships, dancing, other music, movies, nature - all those good things.


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

Ryan Grieve: Hard question! At the moment I'm revisiting Os Mutantes, and I also like the new Dan Bodan stuff. Jim Sullivan, Bobby Brown (70's Bobby - not Whitney's creep ex-husband), Romanthony, A.C Marias, and Klaus Schulze are a few of the recents.


Question: What should Melbourne audiences expect from a 100 Million Nights show?

Leo Thomson: They should expect some exciting music soundtracking and some incredible visuals that (hopefully) create a unified experience that they thoroughly enjoy!


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

Ryan Grieve: This morning and maybe Monday morning also, and Wednesday next week (smiles).


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?
Leo Thomson: They're very different experiences I think, which makes it an inherently difficult comparison to make. I think they're both equally as magic as each other when they're going well and equally as scary when they're not. But perhaps due to my not-so-party personality I would say I prefer to be making music in a dark room.


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

Ryan Grieve: I don't think anyone thinks to enter the 'music industry', it's more like you start doing it because you're interested and like it, and it just becomes a part of your life. Then the next thing your world is engulfed by it! And by the time the money enters it (ie. the industry) you're too far gone to even question it all!

I don't think there was one particular experience or artist, but a strong combination of the two. My cousins' garage band when I was 10 and playing Metallica, maybe early jungle and rave records, plus the connections you have with people in music are very real and honest, which give you good fuel for life I think.


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

Leo Thomson: Honestly, I would say the periods of having absolutely no money and the bouts of self-doubt.


Question: What are you looking forward to about performing at The Residence?

Ryan Grieve: There's an amazing line up on the night, and seeing the other bands and artists will be a highlight. We love playing in Melbourne in general, and I think events and festivals that are set in temporary and amazing venues always bring the best and extra excitement out of the audience and the acts.


Question: What has been your favourite part of becoming a music artist?
Leo Thomson: I think it's probably a lot of different things come together to make it great - getting to travel, meeting lovely people, investing in your creativity, getting to share ideas with people and have them respond to them.


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

Ryan Grieve: Hard question! Well, we were very close to collaborating with Robert Smith from the Cure last year, that would still be up there.


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

Leo Thomson: We're both lovers of nature and just thought it had a nice ring to it. Visually it's also quite a handsome word.


Interview by Brooke Hunter