A QUICK CHAT WITH GYROSCOPE

A Quick Chat with Rob Nassif from Gyroscope.

1: You’ve had the privilege of touring nationally and internationally across the band’s long-lasting lifespan. Can you tell us some of the highs and lows of touring life?

It’s been an honour really and it was one hell of a way to spend my 20’s, that’s for sure! When I reflect on that period of time now, it’s almost all highs and not so many lows to be honest. Here are a few of the highlights:
Recording ‘Are You Involved’ in LA. We were booked in to work with Mark Hoppus in Melbourne and at the last minute he pulled out as Blink 182 had just broken up. We were quite disappointed but then we took a shot at Mark Trombino (Jimmy Eat World) and he came through. So, we ended up spending 9 weeks recording in LA staying in this brilliant place called The Oakwood Apartments which is where all the bands who did albums in LA stayed. I remember bumping into Wolfmother and also AFI who were working on albums at the same time.

Sold out show Metro City Perth: 2008. Final show of our 36 date ‘Australia Tour’. Our great friends and huge inspiration (Jebediah, Shihad) supported us, and the show sold out about two months in advance. To have 3000 people singing along to every word, in our hometown, in that venue was very special. After 36 shows we were tighter than ever and at the height of our powers.

The day I found out we’d be getting a proper wage. It was Feb 2008. I had about $400 left in my account and our manager Rae called to say that off the back of the success with ‘Snakeskin’ and having just completed Big Day Out, plus upcoming touring we would be going on a wage of $50k a year. At the age of 27 it was the first time I had ever earned more than $250 a week and it was a massive moment. Years of hard work and touring had finally started to pay off.

2: Do you all have a collective favourite album you’ve created? Or do you all have different favourites?

‘Are You Involved?’ is my favourite. The writing process was only five months and I think we were really in a rich vein of creativity when we were making it. Recording it in LA was also special and added gravity to the whole experience. It also has some of my favourite songs in ‘Dream vs Scream’ and ‘Fast Girl’.

I think all the guys have their own favourite. Overall, I am incredibly proud of all 4 albums, each one gave us something special and all hold great memories.

3: Before your breakthrough in the early 2000s, what were some obstacles / hurdles you had to overcome to get to that debut record?

Keeping a band all on the same page is hard. There was a period in the late 90’s where I didn’t really like the direction the band was headed in and almost quit, fortunately the timing coincided with me studying overseas and when I came back the new material was much better and my love for the band was rekindled.

Finding out who you are and what you want to be as a band is also a process of trial and error, a bit like becoming an adult really. We started at sixteen, so by the time we released the album we were all around twenty-three. I think that is part of what took us so long to release our first album.

Another challenge was just balancing our intense ambition to make it with the reality of being able to pay bills etc. We were all eventually kicked off the dole and it was always very tough making ends meet, but we were young and able to live on the basics, which is what we did. At the end of the day it’s all wonderful character building stuff that sets you up to appreciate the successes later in life.

4: What impact do you hope Gyroscope has had on generations of Australian music?

Hard for me to say really. But I love that we made an impact in the first place, that we moved the needle and we left a mark on this wonderful Australian music scene! If we can inspire bands to look at how we did it and encourage them to pick up an instrument, then that’s fantastic too.

5: For all the young up and coming Australian bands, do you have some words of wisdom / encouragement you’d like to share?

I have a great insight into this as I manage two up and coming bands in The Faim and RedHook. So, I think about this stuff a lot and work in it on a daily basis. The number one thing I’d say to all bands is that chasing your musical dreams is worth the effort. Whether you succeed or not doesn’t matter because the benefits you'll gain as a human being far out way the costs of chasing the dream. Being a band can be one of the greatest things you do with your life. Go for it!

GYROSCOPE 4YRLV TOUR

THU 24 OCT | LION ARTS, ADELAIDE SA
Tickets on-sale here
FRI 25 OCT | PELLY BAR, FRANKSTON VIC
Tickets on-sale here
SAT 26 OCT | MAX WATTS, MELBOURNE VIC
Tickets on-sale here
SUN 27 OCT | SCENE & HEARD FESTIVAL, CAIRNS QLD
with Wolfmother, You Am I and Jebediah
Tickets on-sale here
THU 31 OCT | CROWBAR, SYDNEY NSW
Tickets on-sale here
FRI 1 NOV | UC HUB, CANBERRA ACT
Tickets on-sale here
SAT 2 NOV | SCENE & HEARD FESTIVAL, BRISBANE QLD
with The Dandy Warhols, British India, You Am I and Jebediah
Tickets on-sale here
FRI 8 NOV | JACK RABBIT SLIMS, PERTH WA
Tickets on-sale here