A QUICK DOZEN with MICHAEL PAVER, BATS

Shane | 10 May 2018 | Reply

A QUICK DOZEN with MICHAEL PAVER, BATS
By Shane Pinnegar

Michael Paver, singer & guitarist of Perth indie rockers BATS, tackled a Quick Dozen for us. Their album Truthless Faithless is out now.

1. Tell us a little about Truthless Faithless. Are there any hidden nuggets the band put in there that only diehard fans might pick up on?

One initial conception the album was focused on political issues affecting not just Australia but the entire world, mainly concerned with people not being able to treat other people as actual people, and the inability for folks to put the shoe on the other foot when looking at a situation affecting others. Upon reflection it is actually also quite personal, but those bits are tucked away.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realised you wanted to be a musician?

It’s a kinda therapy I guess. Rather than sitting at the pub winging like a miserable git we put it into song form. The first moment I realised I wanted to be a musician was a Meredith Music Festival around ‘99/2000. I was pretty stoned, it had been raining and I had just lost one of my shoes in a mud puddle. In my bewildered state and with one wet foot my eyes headed towards the stage to see Tim Rogers, in full double denim (flares and shirt unbuttoned to the navel) windmilling on a ginormous red guitar (probs a crockenbacker). I thought that looks pretty rad and would be a great way to live life; so for the last 18 odd years I have been a broke musician among other things.

3. Who would be your main five musical influences?

Queens Of The Stone Age – for tonality and interesting parts/structure/dark vibes
BRMC – for fat full grooves
You Am I – for the constant self deprecation and ability to not take ones self too seriously (plus great songs)
Primal Scream – for the groove & danceability
The Kinks – for obvious reasons
Black Angels – smooth and moody

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be?

Alex Turner – he’s cool as fuck, has rad lyrical style, interesting ideas and knows Josh Homme so we could kill two birds with one stone. (Google his acceptance speech for Mastercard album of the year for AM)

5. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before?

An almost-stoned energy that is made up of guitar, bass, drums and vocals awash in distortion, reverb and emotion alike. Dynamics that build and flow, ranging from ether-like lulls to fully crashing rock ‘n’ roll, soulful yet crushingly tight.

6. What’s the best thing about being a musician?

Friendship, having a gang of peeps that has your back, creativity tied in with brutal honesty and the ability to speak your mind without whinging.

7. When the band are all hanging out together, who cooks; who gets the drinks in; and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Everyone cooks and we all enjoy a beverage. Defs pro-legalisation. Hummus seems to be high on the agenda. Recording Truthless Faithless required approx 7kg of hummus.

8. If you weren’t a musician, what would be your dream job?

Teaching people to be self sustainable on a small farm. That or advertising, but you have to deal with too many people in advertising, so lets just say a house painter.

9. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep, or you would like to be able to “do over”?

I maybe wish I was not so brash when I was younger as it can get people offside (particularly in the music biz) but I was only being honest and there isn’t heaps of honesty flowing around in 2018.

10. If you were made ruler of the world, what would your first orders be?

Remove all guns from circulation and invest in renewable energies.

11. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Lullabys to Paralyse by QOTSA. It’s a rad record and was tracked in a bizarre way, so much mids going on. The secrecy surrounding Josh Homme’s tones is something I would like to explore.

12. What, for you, is the meaning of life??

Happiness, security and the ability to not give a fuck about keeping up with the Joneses

Album Link
https://soundcloud.com/batsbandperth/sets/truthless-faithless-album-wav

Press
http://rollingstoneaus.com/music/post/first-listen-bats-truthless-faithless/7280 http://rollingstoneaus.com/music/post/five-for-friday-joyride-desert-moons-milkpunch-bats- royal-and-the-southern-echo/7170-bats-truthless

http://www.musicinsight.com.au/reviews/albums/album-review-bats-truthless-faithless/ http://www.caughtinthemosh.com/batstruthlessfaithless.html

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