Up and coming Perth group Sir Thomas have been winning fans in their local town left right and centre! Simon Clark had a chat drummer (and back up vocalist) Callum Moncrieff about the band!

Who do you consider to be your influences? 

I think that one of the great things about Sir Thomas is that all of the members each have varied influences and interests. We all come to the band from really different musical places. I think that for me I see Sir Thomas to represent some of the great English bands like Radiohead, Elbow and the Doves. When I first heard Elbow with their beautiful piano parts and arrangements I fell in love and their drummer became a huge influence for me to play less and give more to the song. Kitt (Byfield - keys, lead vox) and Mel (Hall - bass, vox) grew up in country WA listening to 70s rock and they both love Nick Drake as an influence. Chris (de Groot - aux keys) just finished his Masters in Film Composition so he loves guys like Moricone and that sort of thing. I played in punk bands at school and did some experimental rock and, also a pretty average pop band...Oh, I have a major man-crush on Carter Beauford from the Dave Matthews Band too! 

So many bands these days are guitar driven, did you make a conscious effort to move away from that?

The band sort of formed around Kitt's piano parts . He initially wrote some songs for just keys with him singing. Kitt and I went to uni together studying classical percussion and he brought in a CD that he had recorded, I loved it, I couldnt believe Kitt's voice sounded like that so I said that if he ever wanted to put some drums on it I would be keen. About a year later he asked me to pop round and have a jam. Mel joined the band a few weeks later and we started doing some gigs about the place. A lot of people we respected told us they thought the band could benefit from another instrument so began brainstorming. This is where the different influences came in, I was thinking about Radiohead so was keen to add extra top melody lines, Kitt was thinking about a cello or another deeper instrument. In the end we decided to give another keyboard a shot! Chris listened to the stuff and came up with some awesome lines and sound effects to go with the existing songs. He also plays melodica, glockenspiel and an 80s synth. Chris was actually also a drummer at school! 

If so why?

One thing I like about not having a guitar is that we don't have to work with a lead guitarist...haha, but seriously, it just gives the band a really unique sound, I think we have more freedom, especially when Chris can add parts that wont be lost under a Marshall stack. We do have a bit of trouble fitting in with other Perth bands, the scene here is traditionally very guitar driven and indie rock. We have a bit of trouble with the sound in some pubs too. They are used to micing the amps, cranking it, and walking away. Our music has a lot of subtleties and dynamic changes, this gig at the Freo Arts Centre in a few weeks will be able to exploit those differences as we have got our own sound guy (Ben Morris) and hired some sweet gear!

What can audiences expect from your live shows?

We are pretty serious on stage, we have to concentrate a lot too because Kitt loves writing in tricky time signatures! We spend tons of time on crafting the songs and we really want to get that across to the audience. We arent glam rock, hair metal or punk. Theres not going to be too many crazy on stage antics but the sound is what makes us different. When it's right, it truly is a beautiful thing. And I mean it, Kitt's voice is amazing. His lyrics are touching and the music works around that. I guess this is kind of music where you can sit back and take it all in. Again, this is why I think this venue will be great for us, you can bring a rug and a picnic and chill on the lawn. There is a great bar serving Little Creatures beer too! 

How do you approach the song writing process? what comes first the lyrics or the music?

I can't speak exactly on Kitt's behalf because he usually brings a skeleton of the piano part with lyrics already but I think he comes up with the piano part first. Once he brings that to the rehearsal we work on arranging it together, extra choruses, longer bridges etc. Chris will take it away and write some additional parts and then we come back together to work further on it. It is a very open process and everyone is free to make suggestions. Being a drummer Kitt writes with rhythm in mind so many times he will have a suggestion for a drum beat, which I love, I totally respect Kitt as a complete musician. We are actually doing a gig later this year in a percussion quartet together. The finished songs will normally have a pretty long incubation time too before we play them live, they have to be right. 

What has been your favourite/greatest moment in music so far?

Where Kitt and Mel come from, Grass Valley and Northam respectively, there is a great music culture. They are small country towns but the percentage of musicians is high. Each year these guys put on a Farm Day concert where all of the musicians in the area can play, and some of us come up from Perth. All of the money raised goes towards the Cancer Hospice in Northam. All of the people from the region come to a farm where the guys have carved out a huge amphitheatre and hang out with some drinks and food and people kick the footy and play cricket. It really is a fantastic environment. The organisers even organised a radio signal so that if it rains everyone can sit in their cars and still listen to the show! 

The other great thing for us was in the recording studio making our EP. There was a Yamaha grand there, and as we were getting towards the finished product there was a really palpable sense of excitement in the band. Our main goal right now is to get a super recording done. There is something magical about listening to the band recorded the way we always wanted to hear it. 

What are your plans for the future? Recording? Touring?

Well, I guess a recording is the next phase. A full album would be nice but we can only do all of our recording on grant funding at the moment. I have been talking to a producer who recently returned from the US about working together on a new recording. Nothing set in stone yet but this is a really exciting prospect. This guy is really interested in our music as he was a classical pianist before heading over seas to make his mark there. 

We are also planning a little trip to Adelaide in January 2011. This is my home town so I am totally pumped to bring one of my favourite projects from my time in Perth (8 years) back to the crew in Adels! 

After that, I believe we were talking about playing Wimbledon...

Find out more:


http://www.myspace.com/knightsofsirthomas and http://www.sonicbids.com/knightsofsirthomas

And check out the band on the radio! Sir Thomas will be on the RTR FM Breakfast show on Tuesday 5 October to play a song live and chat about their show at Fremantle Arts Centre on Friday 8 October