Gyroscope

Gyroscope

To succeed, you first need a solid foundation on which everything can be built. Few in music have set a foundation as strong as Gyroscope. The Perth quartet formed in their teens and has built an enormous fan base over the past ten years with three studio album releases and relentless touring. They have shown that while nothing in music can be foretold, the right foundation makes anything possible. From this base shoots their fourth studio album Cohesion, a record with enough power to rock even the strongest stadium foundations.

Cohesion came to life in late 2009 in the aptly named Rockfield, a picturesque town in Wales. The legendary Gil Norton (Foo Fighters, The Pixies, Eskimo Joe) stepped in as Producer at large and a mutual respect of talent soon turned into the most rewarding recording experience of Gyroscope's career. This is heard loud and clear in Cohesion, an album demanding to pick up where 2008's ARIA number one album 'Breed Obsession' left off.

The result is wonderful shades of light and dark, of pounding energy and delicate emotion, there's an honesty that shines through. It's the same musical honesty - another vital foundation - the four have built on since starting out in their teens. Killer hooks and honest, assured song writing is laced with infectious energy and enthusiasm - a reflection of the band's studio time. Meanwhile, singer-guitarist Dan Sanders tapped into a powerful simplicity behind the mic, inspired by heroes like Kurt Cobain and his single-tracked vocals to Paul Simon and his delicate emoting.

The first official single 'Some Of The Places I Know' will be unleashed on radio on Monday 1 February, 2010. 'Some Of The Places I Know' was written in honour of the sweltering Perth summer in which lead guitarist Zoran Trivic came up with the melody on piano and the song's wide-open and carefree vibe is harnessed by Sanders' rhythmic vocals. It is an epic rock track complete with the trademark Gyroscope killer hook; this single is the perfect first taste of an album that screams self-assured enthusiasm.

"People have seen Gyroscope can do a lot of different stuff, so we wanted to knock it home with what we can do live," says Sanders. "We're a live band; that's where we started. Cohesion isn't heavy and crazy, but it's more purposely built for touring. Someone will hopefully listen from beginning to end and say, 'I can close my eyes and pretend it's those guys playing the songs."

Interview with Rob Nassif

Rob Nassif plays drum, for the band Gyroscope.

How did it feel to hear your song played all over the airwaves?

Rob Nassif: It's always cool and a good feeling. It's always such a long working process, for instance the new single 'Some of the Places I Know', that first got written probably March 2009. So, it's now nearly March 2010, so it's a whole year later before you finish writing it and going away to record it and then it is put out there. It is really cool, in the sense it is a real accomplishment that a song you've been working on for a year or two years is eventually being heard by people. Good feeling!


Did you have any pre-conceived ideas about the music industry?

Rob Nassif: No, not really, because when I headed into music I was about 15 years old, just starting a band with my mates, you have no pre-conceived ideas then, other than having a bit of fun with your buddies. That was the foundation that Gyroscope started on, in high school. It has been a slow gradual process from there including learning how to get better at our instruments and learning how to write better songs and playing live as well slowly being signed. No pre-conceived idea, it sort of just happened at the time.


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

Rob Nassif: It always changes, it could be anything, for me being a drummer, I might be inspired by certain drum beats or albums I hear as well as certain styles of music I think will be great to incorporate within the band. We introduce our ideas to each other, the other guys influence me in different ways, sometimes the bands that we tour with, help inspire and influence us. There are lots of different variables and it is about being open to trying them all and never shutting down ideas until they've been given a chance.


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

Rob Nassif: I love listening to new music, I'm always on the look out for new bands, and I have classics that I tend to go back too. U2 is probably my favourite band of all time, it is forever changing. I am enjoying the new The Crooked Vultures record.


Was there a moment you contemplated throwing in the towel?

Rob Nassif: Yeah, we got pretty close, about three years ago. We were working on our third record, Breed Obsession, it was taking longer to write than expected and we were all at a cross road in our life and at that point the band hadn't really kicked into the next gear that we had anticipated. It literally just meant we were all dirt poor and there was no way we would ever be able to afford to do normal things that other people in normal jobs could do, as in get a mortgage for a house or afford to go on a holiday with your girlfriend or whatever and it was a depressing point. We were all at that crossroad where things need to be kicking into gear a little bit more, at some point we all want to settle down and have families and you want to be able to provide your kids with a house; I know it's all grown-up adult stuff, that we are years away from, but we were thinking "we need to make this happen". With Breed Obsession we really laid it on the line and I kind of feel like if that album hadn't done as well as it did, then I'm pretty sure the band wouldn't have continued on.


We are all glad you did, continue on!

Rob Nassif: I am too, I am really glad that we did and I'm also very glad that luckily that album and the tour went well. Now we are all in a much better situation and I think that's going to influence the new record Cohesion, because when we were writing Cohesion we were all in a much better state of mind.


Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Rob Nassif: Performing live is much better, fun and enjoyable but I still enjoy the whole recording process as well. We have been really lucky with Gyroscope, our last three albums have taken us to different parts of the world, that we probably would have never got the opportunity to spend so much time in. This record, Cohesion, was done in Wales. The one before that, Breed Obsession, Liverpool and London for two months and the one before that, Are You Involved? was in Los Angeles for two months. We have been really lucky like that.


What's a typical day like?

Rob Nassif: Well it depends on what we are doing, if we are writing a record a typical day means heading down to the studio, we have our own studio here in Perth, at about 10am, meeting the boys. We then work on a song and hopefully write that song over the course of the day. Then, once that is done we record a rough version of the song and the next day, I'll be the first one to come in and lay down the proper drums for that song. That's just downloads, not the stuff that ends up being on the album. That's during writing.

During, times like in between tours we are generally just having a bit of time off. In between tours, if it has been a few week tour, we are generally quite exhausted and are quite happy to do not much at all. Then we have to get back into the studio and back in-between tours, writing songs for the next record.


What has been your favorite part of becoming a music artist?

Rob Nassif: Probably, all the travel and meeting the people. Being in a band you get to tour, see a lot of countries sand different parts of the world. I have been lucky to tour America and South Africa a couple of times, as well as New Zealand. You get to see a lot of things and meet a lot of people whilst experiencing a lot of different cultures. I'm pretty grateful to do all this and have so many great experiences whilst still in my 20's. It's been fantastic!


Do you have a website fans can visit?

Rob Nassif: www.gyroscope.com.au. The website allows you to sign up for early ticket sales, and sign up to the Gyroscope mailing list.