Addiction Sixtyfour

So if you want to be apart of it, contact us at addiction64@hotmail.com ASAP so we can continue to pump out high energy punk rock.

On a brighter note, the film clip for "thing a me jig" is coming along well, if not exactly what we first envisaged I think it'll be great!

So you've been sitting in your bedroom, playing in bands and not having too much fun?

Well Addiction 64 needs you! We need someone who is dedicated enough to learn and play our current set, contribute to new stuff!

We don't play often, but when we do we want to sound the best we can, so great gear is important, a tuner and a mature attitude is a must!

You also need to get along with a diverse range of people (US) and not wank around too much (unless it's rocking out a big cheesy guitar solo)

Daniel who has been our temporary guitarist for nearly a year is heading overseas in March so we're hoping to have someone before he goes.

You MUST have own transport and the ability to learn material on your own, mainly because we don't rehearse regularly.

If this sounds like you, then drop us a line, don't be afraid, and what's more you may earn some extra pocket money to buy new equipment or spare strings etc.

The Addiction crew are putting together a film clip for the song "Thing-A-Me-Jig" and we're inviting anyone who wants to be in it to contact us at addiction64@hotmail.com - it's gonna be heaps of fun, become a star! Email us now!

Whilst 2003 was an ok year for the Addiction crew, who knows what the future holds!

2003 saw less live performances from Addiction 64, members moving on, new bands started by members both past and present (check out Day I Die Andrew's new band which features ex A64 guitarist Matt).

2004 is another strange year for Addiction 64, personally I'm hoping for a new studio recording, for everyone possible to own a copy of the live CD (why not it's only $5 from www.fist2face.com ) and for everyone to be happy and safe...

After playing their first gig as Learn To Dance in the summer of '98 and building a strong local following, the band, now known as Addiction 64, (due to the then trumpet player's addiction to Nintendo), have gone on to support renowned punk bands including The Bouncing Souls, Goldfinger and Diesel Boy, as well as appeared at Push On and the Queenscliff Music Festival.

Five years on, a debut album, a split EP and over eight line up changes later, the fast and furious five piece, have released their live CD titled, Trailer Park Princess. Recorded live at the Corner Hotel in late 2002 when the band supported Goldfinger, the album was initially recorded as a memento for family and friends to look back on and was never planned on being released. But since the quality of the recording exceeded expectations, the band decided to release the album on a limited basis to fans. 'We didn't have to pay any engineers, apart from the mastering, and no studio fees, plus CDs are now so cheap to produce... so we thought $5 (yes only $5) for 15 tracks was fair.' With no over dubs or computer editing of songs the album displays "Addiction 64 at it's rawest - fast, powerful and melodic!' and is a brief snapshot as to what then band are like live.

Drawing on a wide range of influences, with each member bringing their own unique style to the band, Addiction 64 are one band who don't like to be pigeon holed. 'How other people see you seems so important to people in the punk and ska scene, I mean all these bands who label themselves as emo or hardcore, traditional ska or 3rd wave... I just hate it, we're a band who plays to express ourselves and to have fun. But I guess if you had to label us then we'd say we're ska flavoured punk rock with too many influences from too many genres to list. I mean it's everything members like, hard-core, hip hop, indie, metal, glam (see Poison cover on CD) country, rock, just about evey-thing."

You've gotta love Addiction 64's punk rock ethos. Their new live album, Trailer Park Princess - Live at the Corner Hotel, is available for just $5 (from Missing Link, ebay.com.au and carefactor.tk) Don't expect anything too slick. This is an excellent representation of the band's frenetic live show. "Recorded when the band were lucky enough to play with Golfinger, it was never ment to be released," the band explains, "It was primarily recorded as something for family and friends to look back on when we're old and decrepit." Get it now while they still rock! Addiction 64 are doing two Trailer Park Princess launches - an all age gig kicking off at midday at 88 Alma Street East Malvern, and next Wednesday at the Duke of Windsor.

A huge thank-you to everyone who was at the Backyard for the CD launch, special thanx to Twist of Fate, No Idea, Cadillac Down and YIDcore for playing such awesome sets, thanx to everyone who bought a CD.

Wednesday December 17th Addiction 64 line up with YIDcore and Pixelated for the +18 CD launch from 9pm - hope to see you then!

Tralier Park Princess finds the local punkers live and (largely) uncut, vocalist Madball tells Steve Tauschke.

I enjoyed your de-construction of The Unguarded Moment.

"People are saying it’s a mad cover but we’ve been playing it for six years and we’re a little bit over it."

It’s a handy one to pull out all the same.

"Yeah, we had to. Having to do two sets with Goldfinger, we had to pull out everything. And not everything we did appeared on the CD either."

You had room for a spandex-metal cover too I notice, Poison’s Fallen Angel.

"Oh yeah, haaaa. I think every band should do a metal cover. Aren’t bands getting back into this big hair music? I went to that festival at the Tennis Centre …"

Livid?

"Yeah. And I saw the Hellacopters and seriously I could have closed my eyes and it would have been KISS. They were rockin’ out."

You recorded the album using a ‘mobile recording suite’ right?

"Yeah, it’s a computer with your regular 16 channel mixer but with splitters so the signal runs through the front of house but goes separately into the computer. The computer didn’t get the sound from the front of house so we didn’t have to worry about engineering it for the recording. We just took it to a guy to get it mixed down and mastered.

"We thought it was better quality than we were ever going to get. It’s a live CD and we understand there’s heaps of mistakes and things that aren’t right with it. But it still sounded kind of cool and it didn’t cost us anything to record. I remember picking up a Bad Religion live album once and you could tell where they’d put this perfect guitar part over the top. It sounded great but not like a live show. It sounded like someone had layered and layered it."

Another benefit of the live format is that you manage to spruik your $5 tee shirts between songs.

"I got paid out so much for that. Everyone goes ‘how many times did you spruik your $5 tee shirts on the night?’ The thing was, Goldfinger and Underside were charging $35 for a tee shirt at the merch table and, I mean, I don’t take the punk edict to the full DIY thing where you can’t make a living out of it but seeing a tee shirt that was probably the same quality as ours with the same printing as ours and them making $30 more than us … Not that I’ve got anything against the band, I thought they were awesome."

Tell us about the track Stars n’ Stripes? You seem to have a beef with the American-isation of Australian music.

"Matt, our old guitarist, wrote that one. It’s actually a snipe at a particular band which is better left unsaid. But it does say how ridiculous it is for all these really great Australian musicians, who write really great music, to then come out with these full American accents. I don’t understand it. There are a lot of bands in Australia, and particularly punk-pop or power-pop bands, who even use American lyrics and Americanisms. You don’t have to be a fan of Frenzal Rhomb but you do get a tinge of pride when you hear them getting signed to an American label and just being so Australian."

Any plans to release another Punk O’Clock compilation?

"I dunno. If we do another one, it will be number four. I’m not making anyone any promises. But there’s little bands everywhere. I was just on the internet then and I just listened to a track by this little band of 14/15 year olds from the northern suburbs called Twist of Fate and they were awesome. I mate just emailed me and said you’ve got to listen to this. There’s always bands you can work with. If I do another comp maybe it will be more rock. Maybe."

Addiction 64 launch Trailer Park Princess on Sunday December 14 at The Backyard, 88 Alma St East Malvern 12pm-6pm (all ages) and next Wednesday December 17 at the Duke of Windsor. The album is available at Missing Link through Care Factor.

Addiction 64's latest offering, a live CD, entitled "Trailer Park Princess Live at the Corner Hotel" is available now from Missing Link (Melbourne), www.fist2face.com , ebay and from www.carefactor.tk for the low price of AU$5 - that's right 15 Addiction 64 ska flavoured punk tracks for AU$5 - GET IT NOW.