It’s full-steam ahead for The Helm Bar on the Sunshine Coast, which returns to hosting live music in August; and Melbourne rockers British India are on board to help kick the party into high gear.
As frontman for British India, a band who cut their teeth and made their bones on the rough-and-tumble national pub rock circuit, Declan Melia knows all too well the importance of local, live music venues for young bands. “We’ve always had trouble finding a gig on the Sunshine Coast,” Declan recalls.
“We used to play at the Maroochydore [Sands] Tavern but that shut down. We played Noosa a couple of times because of the surf club and that was always one of our favourite gigs; I always looked forward to it.”
The history and development of British India as a successful live band with indomitable presence and stagecraft is very much rooted in local music scenes where standing out often means acting out. “We very much do have a love for local music,” Declan says. “When we started out in Melbourne, you really could play every night. I remember playing Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, having one or two nights off a week and the places would just be ramped.
“We were just starting out so you really needed to act up and thrash just to get people to notice you; there were lots of bands around and we were unknown so we just used to go onstage and go completely crazy.”
It was these smaller shows in pubs and clubs, at times playing to only a handful of punters, which honed the band’s live performance and prepared them for the arenas and festivals they now manage to sell out. “Our live show really galvanised with these small clubs and it wouldn’t surprise me either way if British India continued playing pubs that size for the rest of our career. It’s what we do and really where we thrive; it’s the lifeblood of the band I suppose.”
Having wound up their ‘Nothing Touches Me’ tour in the past few months, British India took some time off before heading back to the studio where they are currently working on what is hoped to be a new album. With the Helm Bar show in August, Declan is keen to delve into their back catalogue and bring out some old favourites that have been missing from the set-list for some time.
He also says it’s a great opportunity to get back to what British India does best: rocking hard on-stage for their fans. “The ‘Nothing Touches Me’ tour was a showcase for our new material whereas I think this will be more of a greatest hits set. We haven’t played in a long time – we haven’t played live for a couple of months, which is a long time for us. Will [Drummond] was just saying the other day in the car that he can’t wait to get out and play bass.
“So I think it will be a good release of pent-up tension to play and I think they’re going to be great shows, I’m really looking forward to putting the set-list together then getting out there and screaming at you guys.”
British India headlines the Helm Bar's Live Music launch at The Wharf Tavern 14 August.
