Melbourne’s UV Race don’t hit the States often, but when they do, you know they’re gonna mean it. The six-piece punk outfit recently released their latest LP Racism, as well as a feature length film called Autonomy and Deliberation and its accompanying soundtrack. The band will hit O’Brien’s on Monday night to front a killer bill that also includes Subclinix, Dry Hump, and Cottaging. We were able to have a few words with UV Race drummer DX to see what the band has been up to as of late.
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Having already released two albums, in what ways was making Racism easier or more difficult for you guys?
We recorded the album in the loungeroom of Al’s school days home in regional Victoria, punctuated by trips to the local pub and chopping wood in the yard. It really wasn’t harder or easier, we were trying to do the same with the other records, make something full of glitter and the gutter.
The album is mostly built of songs that are 2-minutes or less, and then it’s capped off with “Memenome,” which is over 6-minutes. Was that an intentional, “lets not make another 2-minute song” thing, or did you just kind of let it ride? Have you guys been listening to kraut stuff?
We just let it ride. We’ve done that a few times and it usually works. Yeah we all dig kraut rock but not especially at the time we put Racism together…
Australia is so fucking big. Touring in the US must be so much different for you guys just because cities are so much closer. Do you ever look at American bands and think, “these guys have it so much easier”?
Not especially – Americans seem to be a lot weirder about women in bands and it seems a lot harder to hook up a practice space in bigger cities. Touring here is different, we love it, hitting the big cities rules.
In the Red has put out some pretty killer stuff lately. How did you guys end up releasing Racism with them?
We released our second record Homo with Larry and he was keen to follow it up, and liked Racism when we sent it to him. We like a lot of shit on that label. EXIT DREAMS and LET IT BLOOM are two of my favorite records.
Tell me about Autonomy and Liberation? How did you guys come up with the idea for it, and how was it filmed? Had you had prior film making experience?
The director has made films previously, the band have had no prior film making experience . We came up with the idea with our friend Jensen (Deaf Wish) and ran with it. This is the first of our films, of which there will be many. It is a story about the redemptive quality of music.
What’s the most punk thing about Melbourne? What’s another good Australian band I should be listening to?
Melbourne is not a punk city. But there are good punk / weird bands from there: check out Crude, Soma Coma, Dribble, Gutter Gods, Satanic Rockers. More of course!
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