Ash Archer and The Spitfires can’t wait to showcase their unique onstage chemistry and their timeless tunes on stage at The Espy this Saturday, August 2nd. You may know the band from when they played in the bed of a moving truck for the Weerama Festival commemorating the 40th anniversary of AC/DC… well, this time the stage is going to be more solid, but the pressure will be just as high, as they’re battling it out with five other local bands in round one of Emergenza Festival Australia. Hear what the band has to say about it in their own words:

HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE NAME ASH ARCHER AND THE SPITFIRES?
The name Ash Archer and The Spitfires came from the band being a live performance band for my first solo album Ride Like The Wind. Originally the band was called Ash Archer and the Venues, but over time the original line-up moved on and the current line-up decided to create a new identity. The Spitfires, named after the World War II aircraft, came from, both my secondary passion of aircraft and flying, as well as our member Jasmine being also involved in the air force cadets.

WHO PLAYS WHAT IN THE BAND AND WHAT KEEPS YOU INSPIRED TO PLAY MUSIC TOGETHER?
The band consists of me, Ash Archer, as the lead vocalist, primary songwriter, harmonica and acoustic guitars, Jordan McSwain as our lead guitarist, Daniel Marsh as the drummer and backing vocalist, Jasmine Quick as the main backing vocalist and keyboard player, Connor Macaulay as the bass player and backing vocalist and Tom Kuecher as Rhythm Guitarist. For myself as the main songwriter, I'm inspired to keep playing by wanting to share the messages in my music to connect and inspire people to live better lives and care about each other. The lyrics in my songs are inspired by the everyday feelings of myself and those around me, and hoping that the relevance that is in the lyrics helps people to better understand each other to inspire them to connect with each other. As the band has progressed with me live, I've also grown to love them as a family, and the creative energy we share both writing and onstage is something you just can't get doing anything else. We all want to be the best we can be musically, as performers, and as messengers that connect with people, and as a band, we use that will to feed off each other and build it into a chemistry onstage that you just don't see with other bands, it is unique to us.

IF YOU COULD DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND IN THREE WORDS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?
Nobody like us—we take our unique sound from a variety of inspirations, genres and musical techniques. The members of the band all come from different musical backgrounds, but we respect and appreciate each other's loves as a whole. Most bands will stick to one genre or passion, whereas we think a truly successful and unique band brings something new and creative to the audience—we utilize our different musical backgrounds to create that new, unique blend. Hence, there literally is nobody like us.

WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR MAJOR MUSICAL INFLUENCES?
We play a variety of covers, but in terms of sound, it's very hard to pin down a small list of inspirations as we listen and take inspiration from so many artists. I guess in terms of writing, our main influences would be Bon Jovi, INXS, Maroon 5, Nickelback and Five For Fighting. I'm a fan of big, catchy choruses, utilizing a variety of sounds to make a diverse album, and having a mix of poppy, danceable sounds alongside hard-hitting drums and guitars, which all of these artists that I personally love do this effectively—they all come from different eras and genres, so we tend to look at that, see what they did so well to become timeless acts, and try to take that and apply it to our own music to create something new and effective.

WHAT'S THE CRAZIEST THING YOU'VE DONE TOGETHER AS A BAND?
Well, we've done some crazy stuff together, that's for sure, but I'd have to say playing the Weerama Festival on the back of a moving flatbed truck takes the top spot. We talked about it in tribute to AC/DC's 40th year anniversary and said, "Wouldn't it be so cool to play in the parade on a moving truck?", but then we ended up doing it! I swear Daniel couldn't keep his cymbals upright whenever we went over a speed bump, as well, I thought I was going to eat my microphone when it tilted over on each one. But even five months later, we still get people coming up to us on the streets of Western Melbourne saying they remember us as the band that was on the truck in the parade –it was a great gig and great publicity for the band.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO MOST ABOUT YOUR SHOW AT THE ESPY?
Well, The Espy is such a quintessential part of Melbourne lifestyle. I mean, anyone who's anyone has played there before, including so many of my favorite bands—Cold Chisel, INXS, The Angels, AC/DC, Hunters and Collectors… playing the same venue as my personal heroes is a big thing to look forward to, but we also look forward to playing a high-atmosphere venue as a band and hopefully being able to break into playing more and more hotels in Melbourne, including coming back to The Espy—it's definitely one of our favorite places to play—you just don't get that atmosphere anywhere else, and the audience loves getting involved with the bands.

WITH OTHER BATTLE OF THE BANDS COMPETITIONS AROUND, WHAT MADE YOU CHOOSE EMERGENZA?
We definitely do a whole variety of battles, as we want to play as much as we can, but Emergenza really stood out as a great opportunity for us to expand as a band and play some of the bars we've dreamed of playing, such as the Hi-Fi Bar and The Gershwin Room. We want to play to as many people in as many places as we can and showcase our love of music and of people onstage around the world, and excelling in a worldwide competition such as Emergenza could help us achieve our dream. It sets itself apart by being a competition that connects people, bands and the world, and we're proud to be involved with that.

For more details on the show at The Espy, August 2nd, click here.