The Falls Q&A: with Melinda from The Falls

By John Bones on September 20, 2012 in Arts

They met. They fell in love. They wrote songs. They fought. They made up. They broke up. They wrote songs.

At a time when for most it would be the end of a relationship, for Sydney duet The Falls, or Simon Rudston-Brown and Melinda Kirwan as their friends call them, this feels like just the beginning.

They’ve recently released their debut EP ‘Hollywood’ and they’re currently touring it around the country.

During the month The Beast caught up with the female half of the local outfit…

The Falls in a sentence is…
Raw, honest indie folk.

First memory of music…
Dancing around my grandmother’s living room to old records – we’d always put on ‘Day Trip to Bangor’.

First album you bought…
‘Chain Reaction’ by John Farnham. I was completely in love with Jack Jones.

Song that gives you goosebumps…
‘Something’ by George Harrison.

Fave driving album/s…
‘Songs in the Key of Life’ by Stevie Wonder, anything by Johnny Cash or Roy Orbison, oh and that song ‘Handle with Care’ by the Traveling Wilburys

A The Falls highlight…
Not breaking up the band when we broke up as a couple and going on to record our debut EP, ‘HOLLYWOOD’.

If you could pick a supergroup its members would be…
A combination of Radiohead and Beach House, with PJ Harvey and Beck.

Sydney bands giving you the good tingles at the moment…
Evan & The Brave, Boy Outside and Packwood.

Fave Sydney venue…
Oxford Art Factory – the gallery bar and the main room are two very unique spaces. It’s really exciting that one venue can accommodate so many different levels and styles of artist, from unknown independent indie folk bands to major international touring acts.

Band or genre that gives you an ice-cream headache…
Bands like One Direction… I’m sure they are just lovely guys, but that kind of music hurts my head.

If you bowed to corporate sponsorship it would be to advertise…
Ha ha. We are quite happy to bow to corporate sponsorship. If we were being idealistic though we’d say no to fast food and would want to be the poster children for green energy.

Your dream bill for a night (The Falls included of course)…
This is a tricky one as there are so many bands we’d love to play with. How about Ryan Adams, The Falls and Neil Young. We’d die!

An unknown The Falls fact…
We like growing things! I’d love to grow a kitchen garden on the rooftop of my apartment building but I’m not allowed to. If I could I’d grow tomatoes, all kinds of herbs, rocket and nasturtiums. At the moment all I have is a succulent in my kitchen called Floyd.

What next for The Falls…
Lots of touring! We joined Passenger on his national tour in August, playing almost every capital city, and we’ll be showcasing at BIGSOUND in Brisbane on Wednesday, September 12!

To find out more about The Falls visit www.facebook.com/musicfromthefalls.