Erica owns the sky

An article about our win of the Rock section and progression to the final round of OzSong - MUSIC NT

This is an interview done just after we finished recording our very 1st tracks. - MUSIC NT

Not long ago, I contacted a young Darwin musician called Sam Korn.

He was in the throes of digitally launching a new NT originals band, Erica Owns The Sky.

Intrigued by the name – and who was in it – we ‘Facebooked’ each other.

Sam told me that he’d been “half killing” himself “digitally promoting the band”, and welcomed any help Music NT might be able to contribute towards getting the word out about this new enterprise…

Supporting original music in the Northern Territory is what we do at Music NT, and hats off to Sam for having a) a promotion strategy, b) a bit of ambition, and c) for not being too proud to ask for some support – something that’s rarer than you think in the NT…

In the music business, little ‘chutzpah’ can go a long way, specially if you’re in a remote place such as the NT.

And the band members of Erica Owns The Sky have got just enough to give it a red hot go, having come from a tight-knit community of musicians who formed in that ‘other’ music scene in Darwin, the covers circuit. Their aim is to make “radio-friendly”, original rock, which will appeal to a broad audience in the mainstream marketplace.

So who is on Erica Owns The Sky? What is their ‘rock pedigree’? And how did they arrive at their strangely compelling band name..?! EOS is a three-piece rock outfit who formed in 2010. The band members cut their musical teeth on the Darwin cover band circuit – not an unusual story in the NT’s capital – and since coming together to play original music, have been bunkered down writing songs and rehearsing, readying for their official launch early this year.

Sam Korn fronts the band on vocals and guitar, a “classically trained pianist” and multi-instrumentalist who started out singing in cover band Bolverk (with band mate Stuart McWilliam), then Perth metal band Oryon.” He also says he’s been “been writing radio rock for over 15 years” which clearly informs his new band’s sound when you check out their tracks on MySpace.

Stuart McWilliam is EOS’s other driving force. Like Sam he began his professional music career playing “around town in various cover and original bands such as Bolverk, Dabool and more recently in cover band Strangelove” made up of members of well-known and loved Darwin band, roymackonkey. Stuart also says also has “a Cert 3 in Contemporary Music, and Diploma of Music” from CDU.

Bass player Atti Godolley is the third EOS member, one of the many who has graced the stage with roymackonkey over the years, and tells us that he “most recently provided the bottom end for Melbourne-based outfit Ownkind,” and that he and Stuart “have been involved in cover bands together for the last five years including Strangelove and Sidetracked.”

The three have come together with one united ambition: “to finally do something big”, aiming their music squarely at a commercial radio market. As yet they haven’t hit the stage – but they’re about to, doing everything right in the meantime by making their presence felt on the net, and more.

Sam Korn recently spoke to Music NT about the band’s 2011 music ambitions, and, how they chose their name amongst many other things…

Men in black and white.. Sam Korn & Stuart McWilliam. Pic: Auki Henry.

Music NT: How did the band come about – and why?

Sam Korn: We all sort of come together as a collective of like-minded people serious about their music and looking to finally do something big. We’d all crossed paths in other projects and realised that we enjoy making a similar style of good music and could work well together.

MuNT: How would you describe your music?

SK: A little bit of Matchbox 20 with some Nickelback and Live thrown in- and add a piece of Darwin added in for good measure!

MuNT: It’s an intriguing band name – what or who inspired it? And is there a real ‘Erica’?

SK: There is an ‘Erica’ who inspired the meaning, but in the context of the band name Erica is really a generalisation for anyone. ‘Owning the sky’ is about working hard to make your dreams come true. We felt it really fit with what we were trying to achieve with our music.

MuNT: Have you guys been playing gigs – if so where? And the reception to your music so far?

SK: We haven’t done any gigs as ‘Erica Owns The Sky’ yet as we are concentrating on our writing, but we are all pretty experienced and work-hardened musos, and for this reason we are hoping for a good reception when it comes time to play live. If the feedback from our web-based promotions is any indicator then our gigs are going to be a lot of fun for everyone.

MuNT: How did your particular sound come about?

SK: The songwriting style has been fine-tuned over many years and so far we collaborate freakishly well… The bands sound came about from the influence of all of the bands we love and years of evolving styles through playing in our own bands.

MuNT: What are your ambitions?

SK: Our ambitions for the band is to take it as far as it will go and continue to challenge ourselves to make better music and evolve as musicians. We are aiming for the ‘top’ and will work as hard as we need to for as long as we need to, in order to get there.

Men at work... Sam Korn & Stuart McWilliam, 'Erica Owns The Sky'. Pic: Auki Henry.

MuNT: You’ve spent a lot of time promoting the band online prior to performing – can you tell us a bit about that side of things? What you’ve learned too?

SK: Digitally promoting the band for us consists of putting the band out there in every possible way and covering as much or the web as we can. This means every band site, countless hours networking on social media, submissions for licensing for TV and Film that involves countless emails to movie, TV production companies… Thank you emails to fans. We are spending a huge amount of time promoting the band and giving ourselves as much chance as we can to be heard. The digital age means that you CAN have international exposure from a city like Darwin with a little hard work.

MuNT: Many artists love the ‘DIY era’.. But many also realise just how much of their time is taken up by doing things that take them away from their music.. What have you found in your DIY efforts? And what do you prefer – how do you strike that balance?

SK: We are lucky in the respect that between us we have literally hundreds of songs already written, that only need to be fine-tuned to suit our new, collective style. This gives us a fair bit of time to do the hard yards that need to be done in order to make a go of this on our own.

Having people you can trust is also a big part of it; everyone is doing their part and no one person is over-burdened. This is very important.

MuNT: What got you personally into music on the first place? And is there anyone in the NT in particular you find inspiring or has been a bit of a mentor for you?

SK: For me it was my classical piano teacher Jill Kuhn that really got me loving music. Within 3 months of starting classical lessons as a kid I was writing my first pieces on piano. Without her I wouldn’t be writing music today.

MuNT: Who are some of your favourite NT bands? And other non-NT artists?

SK: Favourite NT bands at the moment would have to be Roymackonkey, Leah Flannagan and Terracotta Pigeons. Non-NT would be Matchbox 20, The Break & Repair Method, Silversun Pickups, Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus, and thousands of others.

Atti Godolley, bass player for 'Erica Owns The Sky'. Pic: MySpace.

MuNT: What is the best thing about being in a band in the NT? And the most challenging?

SK: The best thing would be the support that you get from Territorians. They get behind their own like no other state in Australia. The ‘most challenging’ would be the isolation and vast distances you need to travel to tour and bring your music to people outside of Darwin – which we think will be a challenge. The internet is helping close the gap in some ways, but the distance is still a factor.

MuNT: Do you have ambitions to make music and a living from it elsewhere? Or do you feel you can stay in Darwin and still be a successful professional band?

SK: I think it’s definitely possible to be a successful Darwin-based band. These days it seems all of the income from music is made from touring and online sales, travelling is a must no matter where we are based so there is no reason we couldn’t continue to live in Darwin. With the lowering cost of airfares it has become much more realistic to travel interstate for a weekend to play gigs.

MuNT: You have some tracks on your various websites – who does your recording?

SK: We have a decent setup for tracking our own songs here in Darwin to get a feel for what sounds good, all our studio recordings are done with Brisbane-based producer Stuart Stuart. We are returning early next year to continue work on our first album which should be released sometime in 2011.

MuNT: Do you feel part of a music community in Darwin?

In living colour.. Sam & Stuart from 'Erica Owns The Sky'. Pic: Auki Henry

SK: Yes all three of us have collectively played thousands of gigs in Darwin and could probably walk into any venue, on any given night in Darwin, and know most of the guys on stage playing, having played with them previously in other projects.

We have also gotten tremendous support from our Darwin peers so far with Erica Owns The Sky, which we really appreciate.

MuNT: Finally Sam, what does the real “Erica” think of your music?!!

SK: She loves it! Her favourite song is ‘Fade To Blue’…

Check out Erica Owns The Sky’s music on Myspace and Unearthed, and join their community on Facebook.

Words: Megan Spencer. Thanks to Sam Korn and ‘Erica Owns The Sky’ for the interview and pics.
- Music NT website