THE BUTCHER BIRDS MARKET DAY CASUALTIES If you’re yet to hear of these birds, you ought to soon. On the line-up for 4ZZZ’s Market Day, The Butcher Birds have a CD on the way and a spate of shows coming up. "The band started when I met Stacey through her boyfriend Nate, who played in the Wulvs," explains the band’s bassist Jo. " I met her and thought that she was really strong and funny and cool. I wanted to start a gang with her, and the next best thing was starting a band. I didn’t have the time or the means to do anything but I learnt to play bass anyway because I wanted to play with her so badly. We got our friend Steve who played in Wulvs to play drums. I [then] met Jacinta at a Red Paintings show in the toilets when The Mean Streaks played with her band, Dictator Chic." Aside from the influence of various local bands (she’s also the vocalist in The Mean Streaks) Jo says she is most influenced by seminal acts such as Bikini Kill, PJ Harvey, Roy Orbison, AC/DC and Sonic Youth. "Sonic Youth influenced everyone who came out of the nineties and the early noughties, and some parts of the 80s, so it’s hard to escape them even if you don’t like them directly." Getting regular airplay on 4ZZZ, the band is obviously looking forward to Market Day. "There’s always all these great bands that play. It’s kind of like a big house party, getting horrendously drunk on tinnies with everyone you know. Everyone should come and support it because they’ve done a lot of good for me in the past. Triple Z is a good showcase for us, we just need to play to a wider audience." Butcher Birds will also play Ladyfest in November with Erase Errata. "It sounds like an interesting day," says Jo. "Obviously, there are not many women doing rock n roll stuff in Brisbane, so it’s really great that girls are doing stuff to bring other women to the forefront creatively, and that’s never a bad thing." The band is also hoping to get a CD out soon. "We have actually recorded but that’s not out yet. We’re kind of looking for someone to help us release that. It’s just a little five song EP. We recorded that with a friend of ours, Emerson. It’s going to be called ‘Eat Their Young’. We’re getting it mastered this week, and that has most of the tracks we play live on it. Hopefully we can get it out in the near future." Yen Tran Butcher Birds play 4ZZZ’s Market Day on Saturday October 21 at The RNA Showgrounds. They’re also appearing at Ladyfest, Thursday November 23 at The Powerhouse. back to top ^

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