Exposed Vocals just caught an exclusive interview with ‘iDunnö

iDunnö is a Melbourne based punk rock metal with an old school vibe. We sing what we feel and don’t give a F@*K if you don’t like it. We are not kids so we sing about real life experiences such as relationships, terror, relationships, perspective & relationships. With irony and always a sense of humour 😉

Alex , Lukey and Deano basically took the approach the current rock scene needed an injection of vitality and with all our hero’s retiring or departing- someone had to do something! So the songwriting and jamming began.

It was friends of the band that urged them to bring forward a single release after hearing early demos.

Although since we have been told we are great or people REALLY hate us. No middle ground. https://www.facebook.com/iDunnoMusic/posts/262462064165644:0

iDunnö the band has been working for the best part of a couple of years rehearsing demo’s. Recently they have spent time in Salt recording studios in Melbourne, Australia laying down tracks from a forthcoming record.

Recent developments for the band include a worldwide single release for ‘Pissed off and Married’ on iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon, YouTube +150 more streaming services.

Our dream would be to play a US and European tour.

And the name? Well it’s Australian humour.

“What’s your bands name”? ……..I dunno.

What? iDunnö it’s really the name……get it?

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

iDunnö: Both iDunnö lead guitarist Deano and me (Alex) the Lead vocalist grew up and are currently based in Melbourne, Australia.
Well we are flattered to be called artists but it’s been a slow progression and then all of a sudden we have song (‘Pissed Off and Married’) that seems to have taken us up a couple of levels real quick.
We basically took the approach the current rock scene needed an injection of vitality and with all of our hard rock hero’s retiring or departing- someone had to do something! So the song writing and jamming began.

Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name?

iDunnö: People would ask “What’s your bands name”? And we answer I dunno.
What? iDunnö it’s really the name……get it?

What was your inspiration behind it?

iDunnö: Well folks that’s a little bit Australian humour!

Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing?

It’s never going to go away and it has turned the music industry model on its head. A band like iDunnö may not have ever got our music heard 20 years ago. So in that respect it’s been great for a new artist. If you talk to the classic bands they hate it because they can’t make the same amount of money anymore.

Do you ever give your music away for free?

iDunnö: Yes we don’t do music for the money. Any money we get we invest back into equipment, studio time, marketing and beer.

Why?

iDunnö: Because we just get a kick out of it and enjoy the feedback. Especially from the haters. And for some reason particularly in America they either love or REALLY hate us. At this stage it’s split about 50/50. Not much grey.

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

iDunnö: Put it out there. It’s a big step but once you do it there’s no turning back.

Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?

iDunnö: Yes but we are the sort of chaotic rock band that mistakes actually enhances what we do. You will never see a band iDunnö on American Idol or The Voice. Those shows are the complete opposite of what we do. We think that most music today in so overproduced with a perfect sameness. It’s boring!

We first recorded ‘Pissed Off and Married’ as a demo in my office at work. We went into the studio and re-recorded it professionally. But something got lost in sound. It became almost polished and lacked the raw energy of the original demo. So we binned the studio version and released the one take demo

Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?

iDunnö: Right now we have had some feelers out and considering our touring options. We are also thinking of running our own festival of sorts with other bands we like in Australia. But ultimately to tour both the US and Europe would be a dream come true. Any promoters reading this we would be interested in talking!

Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?

iDunnö: My songwriting inspiration comes from my rock hero’s and the records they produced. I love John Lydon’s wit, Bon Scott’s humor, Dave Mustaine’s anger and a guy most people have never heard of outside Australia, the late and great Doc Neeson from The Angels/Angel City.
The usual song writing process usually takes place in the home studio with Deano, iDunnö’s lead guitarist or during downtime relaxed with a beer in one hand and guitar in the other.

Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

iDunnö: No website yet we don’t see the need for a band website at this stage. So much can be achieved today via social networking.
We do use Facebook as our public facing online platform. This has been great to connect with fans and the haters all over the world.

Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?

iDunnö: Bee Gees and Poison.

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

iDunnö: We would spend it all outrageously on a big stage show complete with pyrotechnics and lasers. Spinal Tap and Kiss would be blown out of the water.

Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?

iDunnö: We use a MacBook pro and a collection of guitars, Ibanez, ESP, Gibson , a Yamaha guitar I made in Japan some years ago and a $99 bass guitar. And just recently with our first royalty check we bought a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Studio.

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

iDunnö: Social media

Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?

iDunnö: Sex Pistols.
iDunnö: Pure energy, aggression and style.

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

iDunnö: We have a few new singles that are almost ready. The next will be ‘Speck in the Universe’ I think it’s probably our best work to date It deals with realization most of us come to at some stage in our lives. We are just specks in the universe after-all!

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

iDunnö: Like our band name, I Dunno.

Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?

iDunnö: I think it was a Devo record. They were crazy cats back in the day. Deano’s was a Kiss record.

Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?

iDunnö: Music comes first and the rest follows.

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2017?

iDunnö: Definitely more singles. We are also still defining our sound.

As I said earlier an international tour or festival dates would be a dream come true.

Alex -Lead Vocalist and Guitarist for iDunnö.