Ball Park Music Hitting Home Runs

By John Bones on October 14, 2011 in Arts

Over the past couple of years Brisbane six-piece Ball Park Music has emerged seemingly out of nowhere to become one of the country’s stand out new bands.

They’ve produced a run of brilliantly clever singles, performed numerous infectiously energetic live shows, and they’ve delivered in spades with their debut album, Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs.

On October 23, Ball Park Music will be playing a free gig at the Beach Road Hotel and during the month The Beast caught up with gutarist/bass player/back-up vocalist Dean Hanson…

Ball Park Music in a sentence is… Last week I went down to a concert and saw Ball Park Music play; they were great.

First memory of music… Blocking my ears because I was scared of hearing the bridge in Johnny Nash’s ‘I Can See Clearly Now’. This happened frequently as I rode in the backseat of my mum and dad’s car.

First album you bought… Limp Bizkit – ‘Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavoured Water’; or Korn (Damn! No ‘backwards K’ on my keyboard!) – ‘Life Is Peachy’.

Song that gives you goosebumps… The soundtrack theme to the movie Pretty Woman. I think its called ‘He Sleeps’.

Fave driving album/s… ‘First Impressions of Earth’ by The Strokes dominated my CD player for around six months and regularly makes a comeback.

A Ball Park Music highlight… I have two: playing at Triple J’s Ausmusic Month party last year to many people; and accidentally insulting Julia Stone while she was well within ear shot at Southbound 2011. Awkward…

If you could pick a supergroup its members would be… Julian Casablancas on lead vox, Chad Smith on skins, Jonsi on backing vox and guitar, and Dave Grohl on bass (he’s had a crack at everything else).

Sydney bands giving you the good tingles at the moment… Boy and Bear’s album made those guys about 78% more marriable.

Fave Sydney venue… We have had a few good nights at the Gaelic but my personal fave would be the Oxfords Art Factory.

Band or genre that gives you an ice-cream headache… Hoobastank. I have no idea what their music sounds like but that band name is f**king awful.

If you bowed to corporate sponsorship it would be to advertise… Definitely tampons! Apparently tampon brands are infamous for getting turned away by bands for promo. I can’t figure out why!

Your dream bill for a night (Ball Park Music included of course)… I’ll answer this on behalf of the whole band – one band each so it’s like a mini festival: Radiohead, The Strokes, John Mayer, RHCP, Blink 182, Darren Hanlon.

An unknown Ball Park Music fact… Dan and I shared a womb when we were foetuses; we also come from the save ovum.

What next for Ball Park Music… We will release our album and then do a couple of national tours and try to reach as many ears as possible with our music. Hopefully the album goes platinum worldwide and we can afford to buy Ferraris and fill up our tour van with petrol.

Ball Park Music will be playing a free gig at the Beach Road Hotel on October 23. To find out more about Ball Park Music visit www.facebook.com/ballparkmusic.