Following the success of the inaugural Choose Your Weapon show at the New Globe Theatre in Brisbane last month – ‘Guns N Roses vs Nirvana’ – the second in the series continues the classic rivalry between the founders of pop and rock: The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
Brisbane veterans Drawn From Bees are famous for their Beatles nights over the last few years, and they’re backed up by three of the city’s brightest, emerging bands: Switchblade Suzie, Hawkmoon and Stone Majesty. Together they’ll be interpreting all the classic songs you love and keeping the battle alive.
Switchblade Suzie and Hawkmoon were kind enough to lend their time to answer the following questions.
Who’s your favourite, Beatles or Stones, and why?
(SS) I’d say we’re mainly Beatles fans, even though we’re covering the Stones. Willow could sing your face off with any Beatles song ever. We blame our parents.
(Hawk) We each have our own favourites personality wise and in terms of songwriting, so it's hard to say one. Probably Yoko.
“Dropping copious amounts of acid hasn’t helped as much as we thought it would.”
They say The Beatles got the girls who wanted to hold their hands while The Stones got the girls who wanted to spend the night together. Which category does your band fall into?
(SS) Holding hands, definitely. We’re big, hand holders and awful at any of form of flirting/ banter.
(Hawk) We'd definitely say both. Also the categories of 'You can't always get what you want', 'I can't get no satisfaction' and The Beatles classic 'I'll cry instead'.
HawkmoonWhat’s the most challenging song you’ve had to learn for this show?
(SS) I wouldn’t say any of them have been too hard to learn, but there’s definitely a pressure of ‘doing them justice’.
(Hawk) 'I Am The Walrus' was a difficult one because the instrumentation in the original version is so layered, so it's hard to do live. Dropping copious amounts of acid hasn't helped as much as we thought it would.
Who had the best hair?
(SS) Out of Beatles and Stones? We’re gonna vote Beatles, for the swish factor.
(Hawk) McCartney's mullet in the ‘70s should be the standard by which all musicians should aspire to. Easily the most impressive thing the man has achieved. Also fans of Keith Richards current 'pirate corpse' do.
Switchblade SuzieAre weird looking drummers compulsory for mega stardom, and has this affected your choice of drummer?
(SS) Definitely. We’ve got weird-looking band members in general though, so maybe we’ve gone about it the wrong way.
(Hawk) Most definitely and this is probably true for all band members too. Alas, we are doomed to fail because of our boyish good looks.
‘Choose Your Weapon: The Beatles vs The Rolling Stones’ takes place at the New Globe Theatre on Saturday 21 February.
