LOTL finds out why Sydney’s Inner West is in love with BandInTexas.

Bandintexas, who are neither banned in texas or a band in texas are the latest outfit to come out of Sydney. BandinTexas claim to be your musical friends, who can make you dance and are known to throw the wildest warehouse parties in Sydney’s inner west.

Bandintexas was formed in a dark corner of a warehouse in Sydney’s inner west. What was it that brought the four of you together on that magical night?

You’ve made it sound romantic and perhaps it was. I think dreams brought us together, maybe a couple of beers as well. We each share a passion. We love to create. We are electrified by music and brought to life by performance. We found a collective passion and entered this long-term creative relationship that is now bandintexas. Trying to manage a four-way relationship where you each love a thing you create more than each other often proves to be more challenging than actual relationships. That said, so far the band has outlasted any personal relationships we’ve had since our inception. So it must have been pretty magical.

Your music and your live performances are loved and admired in Sydney’s inner west. Aside from being ridiculously good looking, what is it about you guys that elicit that kind of response from your audience?

***blush.blush.red.cheek.struggle.to.take.a.compliment.thankyou.blush.thankyou.Lotl*

Our heart is in live performance and we are defined by our live show. In a Bandintexas set, you’ll find a combination of eclectic tunes, audience interaction, songs so catchy you can sing along on first listen, and Kelly’s stand up comedy style mid-song patter rivals some of the shows we just caught at the Sydney comedy festival.

We are also known for throwing wild underground warehouse parties in the inner west, our most recent launch of the EP was called “The Bandintexas Chainsaw Massacre”. It was at a “secret” location and we sold $10 disposable Bandintexas T-Shirts to people as they arrived. We then pumped them with super soakers full of fake blood as they entered a venue full of mannequin parts with the original film projected behind the bands. We don’t do this stuff all of the time but we find a good theme that gets the crowds dancing quickly.

Bandintexas has also been embraced by the lesbian music scene, particularly Chicks with Picks. How have you found the lesbian music scene and how has it changed?

Chicks with Picks are a critical voice not just for the lesbian community but female singers in general. The biggest change is the rise of original music and the inclusion of loud bands like us. There are so many more all-girl or female-fronted acts of distinctly different genres playing music they wrote themselves and events like Chicks with Picks are giving them a platform and a ready-made audience to play it too. Plus anything goes, last time we spray-painted ourselves as rainbows and cut strategically placed holes in the front of the T-shirt we gave to the promoter. She wore it without objection.

Is it true that being part of a band helps you to pick up? 

50% of our band are in long-term loving relationships. The other 50% are single and we say yes. But then again maybe we say no because sometimes people think that because you are in a band you think you are desirable, so they don’t even talk to you. Which kind of sucks because at heart we are just as nervous or shy as the person thinking it. The only difference is that we like to get on stage stamp our feet and squeal a little.

You guys aren’t a band in Texas nor are you banned in Texas. If you were banned in Texas, how would you go about making it happen?

We have often investigated things that are actually banned in Texas and the reality is in certain counties we would each be arrested already. Here are some of the things that are banned, not providing 24 hours notice to someone you intend to commit a crime against, owning a realistic-looking vibrator, using a feather duster to dust a public building, and owning more than six vibrators. As you can imagine a couple of those leave us red-handed especially the dusting of buildings. We are a clean bunch and can’t help but serve the public.

2014 is a big year for Bandintexas – you have just released your debut “The ABCD-EP”, which is available on iTunes and you released your first single, “White Mouses”. For the uninitiated, why should we check you guys out? 

We genuinely think we will have something for every musical walk of life. In any show, there will be a song for you or your friends to connect with. White Mouses the first single from The ABCD-EP is the grammatically incorrect brainchild of guitarist Sophie Bollen. It’s a softer and more melodic Texan tune that has vocal Texan audiences literally becoming the songs chorus hook, “they’re taking over”, as they belt at the top of their lungs in unison as the song peaks into an emotive chorus.

Our second grammatically incorrect single is Disco Blood Bath. This song is the complete opposite. It’s 80’s inspired disco-punk. This is the ultimate cocaine-fueled midlife crisis, where you buy a Harley, act like you are 20 again and completely fff things up. This song makes people dance. It makes rooms move.

We have more diversity to come. We are not pigeonholed by genre, we are your musical friends and we are pretty sure we can make you dance.

 Aside from your upcoming Australian east Coast tour – what’s next for Bandintexas?

We have just started getting a bit or airplay on Triple J Unearthed with White Mouses. And this song has also started getting a bit of attention in the USA and Asia. Disco Blood Bath is now also available for free download at Triplejunearthed.com, downloads and requests help us get on the radio and more of that is certainly the dream for the year. We want to keep getting our name out there reaching more people. Hopefully recording a new album and planning some more crazy parties along the way. Stay tuned for The Bandintexas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 later in the year.