Have You Heard: The Volcanics

The Volcanics hit the Bassendean Hotel on Friday, May 20, with The Painkillers and Paul McCarthy & The Wishers. Bob Gordon checks in with guitarist, Tommy Hopkins.

You released your latest album, Transmission, last October. Have you been pleased with the reception to it here and overseas?

The reception to the new album has been great. We've had a heap of good reviews, both here and throughout Europe so we feel really lucky. It was great to work with Rob Younger and Kenny Watt again, and to have Wayne Connolly mix the album was amazing. The whole process of recording was really enjoyable and we were stoked with the final product.

You toured Europe not long after its release. What are your memories of that trek?

Good, bad and ugly (laughs)... but seriously, we had an amazing time! Lots of late nights and early starts before long hours on the road with a bunch of smelly guys. But there were some great shows, we were lucky enough to play at the Rockpalast Crossroads Festival on German television as well as a gig supporting The Drones in France which was a ripping show! The highlights of the tour were definitely the shows in Spain.

You're supporting The Dubrovniks on June 2 at the Rosemount. It must be great to play shows with bands you've been fans of, both as young and older men...

Yeah we're all big fans of all of James Baker's bands and of him as a person. We've also been lucky enough over the past few years to play with a bunch of bands that we all dig which has been a bit of an honour, to be honest.

Speaking of which, you're playing East Coast shows with Radio Birdman later in June. The connection with Rob Younger and co. just seems to blossom as time goes on. What are your thoughts?

Well, we're all fans of Birdman and we love Rob. He's produced our last two albums which has been an excellent experience. He's a top bloke and he has a knack for making everyone feel really comfortable in the studio which is very important. He also has some great ideas for our songs as well as about different sounds. We all consider Rob a good friend and would love to work with him, as well as Wayne Connolly, on our next album.

What's the rest of 2016 look like for you?

After launching Transmission over East and playing the shows with Birdman we have a show at The Carine on June 25 but then the big focus for us will on writing and recording for the next album. We'll likely play a few shows down south at some point during 2016 as well but the biggest goal for the band is to have a new album to be able to promote for our tour of Europe next year. 

Originally published in X-Press Magazine