BMA Mag 308 21 Aug 2008

Pure bred "Dan travelled to Derby and spent a lot of time being surrounded and exposed to Indigenous people. He was surprised at how some of these people lived… He was inspired to write about Indigenous Australia" Shailla Van Rad A GYROSCOPE is a device for measuring or maintaining orientation, based on the principles of angular momentum. It's similar with the band of the same name, as Gyroscope’s orientation seems to be the right one: after 12 years, six EPs and three studio albums, their third album has debuted at number one on the ARIA charts. Rob Nassif, the band's drummer, reminisces on their humble beginnings: “We started the band in 1996, met Zoran through a mutual friend, we had a jam with him and it was great. We had already heard about Dan and eventually met him at a party. We were all living in the same area of Perth; it was understood that you hung out with people who were the same type as you - you were either a sporty type or a muso sort of guy. We were all the guys who loved music and were passionate about it.

“Getting ourselves known has been such a long and slow process, it feels normal now to be widely recognised," he says. "Granted, most of the press that we do is better because people care about us a little bit more.” So is their real secret weapon a gyroscope? It seems to be something more intangible. “Our secret weapon is chemistry; we are good friends, first and foremost. I was Dan’s best man in the bridal party at his wedding. When you are friends in the first place, it gives you a good foundation. It is the key to our existence as a band.”

“We all write songs together, and we all contribute to the music," he continues. "It starts off as just an idea, a spark, and the members can feed off the idea; this initial spark creates a spark in another member and we go with it… we have a different variety of music, from songs that are bass oriented, to military inspired music…”

The band - completed by guitarist and vocalist Daniel Sanders, guitarist Zoran Trivic, bassist and back-up vocalist Brad Campbell - like many musicians, consider their art as unique. “Our music would be described as ‘rock’ which is such a broad category and really good because I don’t like being pigeonholed.” It also seems their travels, both as individuals and as a band, have made a fair contribution to their sound. “Touring South Africa was definitely the most interesting thing overall we’ve done as a band, it was an amazing experience to play a show there. There’s extreme poverty and shantytowns, so many juxtapositions. They still have so many issues to sort out… It was a great eye-opening experience.”

“The South Africa trip provided the first step, one of many, to start creating the album Breed Obsession," Rob explains. "We like moving around not purely for the dynamic but we move because we find people, such as Dave Eringa (UK), who we really wanted to work with and if it’s not possible for them to come to Australia, as in Dave’s case, then we go to them."

Gyroscope have matured into a band with a wider-scoping sound that comments on important socio-political issues. "Our new single Australia sends out a great message," Rob says. "Dan travelled to Derby and spent a lot of time being surrounded and exposed to Indigenous people. He was surprised at how some of these people lived… He was inspired to write about Indigenous Australia."

So what’s next for the four successful Perth-dwellers, besides touring?

“At the moment we’re trying to write songs for the next album, which we hope to bring out next year. We’re in such a better headspace than when we were making Breed Obsession.”

Gyroscope will be performing at ANU Bar with Shihad and Sugar Army on Tuesday September 2. Tickets are on sale from Ticketek, Oztix and www.gyroscope.com . Breed Obsession is out now on Warner.