Russian Caravan say they won’t let the grandeur and prestige of The Metro Theatre get to their nerves too much – they plan to put on just as rockin’ of a show as ever on the night of the finals. You won’t want to miss the big night, where the band goes head to head with 18 others in hopes of making it through one more round of the Emergenza Festival. Before the show, the band sits down with us to talk about what the experience has been like so far and what’s going to give the band their edge in the finals.

SO, DO YOU THINK YOU'RE READY FOR THE BIG NIGHT?
Hopefully.

WHAT’S THE BAND DOING TO GET READY FOR THE FINALS? REHEARSING MUCH?
Yeah, we’re trying to rehearse more often and think of ways that we can improve or change up some of our older songs.

WHAT, IF ANY, CHANGES HAVE YOU MADE TO YOUR STAGE SET-UP OR YOUR LIVE PERFORMANCE WITH THE FINALS IN MIND?
We mostly keep the same stage arrangement, for no real reason – just because that’s how it always works out when we set up. We’ll also try to coordinate outfits so Austin and Grace don’t end up wearing the same thing again.

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THE BIG NIGHT?
I think playing at The Metro Theatre is such a big thing that it’s pretty hard to have expectations, but we’ll try to treat it like any other gig and ignore the fact that it’s such a big venue.

WHAT EFFECT DO YOU THINK WINNING WOULD HAVE ON THE BAND?
First of all, going to Germany would be pretty cool, but also travelling would allow us to get our music across to a different fan base.

CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THE FESTIVAL SO FAR? ANY FUNNY ANECDOTES FROM YOUR PREVIOUS SHOWS OR REHEARSALS LEADING UP TO THE FINALS?
We’ve really enjoyed playing at such iconic venues, but we like to balance out the formality of playing at places like The Metro and The Factory by being really informal with our set lists, which means writing them on McDonald’s napkins.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO MOST ABOUT PLAYING THE METRO IN SYDNEY?
Probably just knowing that so many great acts have stood on that stage before us – that will be pretty humbling, cool, and terrifying.

WHAT IS GOING TO SET YOU APART FROM THE OTHER BANDS AND SECURE A WIN FOR YOUR BAND?
Definitely our superior levels of swag.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO BANDS THAT ARE CONSIDERING SIGNING UP FOR THE FESTIVAL NEXT YEAR?
We would definitely recommend it. It’s been so much fun getting to play on such cool stages and also meet other cool bands in the competition.

IF YOU HAVE THE DESIRE TO SHOUT OUT TO ANY OF THE BANDS OR SAY ANY THANKS, DO SO HERE:
We would just love to shout out the one and only Seizure Kaiser. He has been a rad mentor to this band and even taught us the true meaning of Christmas.