V: Do you guys go by any one particular genre, or do you consider yourselves more of a blend? S.R: We take a bunch of different influences. We’re definitely indie rock, but we take influences from pop and alt-rock. The alt-rock label gets thrown around a lot, as well as indie with the catchiness of some of the choruses that are common with that sort of style. We are constantly trying to change what we do and who we’re trying to emulate and draw influence from. I guess there’s no real concrete answer, but we’re definitely a part of the indie rock category on Spotify and Triple J.
take risks and do something new? S.R: Yeah, definitely in terms of the structure of our songs, you know, we’re not playing any crazy stuff in five/four time just yet or anything. But we’re always trying to differentiate ourselves from acts that have gone before us; we don’t want to be tainted as the next DMA’s. And, we don’t want to be one of those bands that just copy Sticky Fingers.
V: How did you guys come up with your band name and what influenced your choice?
V: Yeah, I know you guys are definitely not afraid to do really long songs as well, which I really love…
S.R: When we started working together in early 2019, we were so pushed for a name. We went through all these shocking names, like Junior was one, but we never really got into that one. However, in New York there’s an old monorail platform in the city that’s overgrown, and it’s this blend of old rusty train tracks and a boardwalk. It’s called the Highline, so that’s where we got the name. There was no other real band called it, and we were just like, yeah, “we hate this one the least”. So we just ran with it. We didn’t really love the name at first, but then it became us.
S.R: Yeah (laughs), I mean our longest is a song called ‘Busy’; to which is definitely our favourite song we’ve ever made. The two-minute guitar outro is by far the most fun we ever have had playing both, in rehearsals and on stage. So we’re definitely looking to do more stuff like that down the line. We’ve got some new songs coming out this year that go down a bit more of a unique path, as opposed to that stock-standard verse chorus verse chorus bridge formula.
V: Would you guys consider yourselves a boyband?
ARTS & LIFESTYLE
S.R: No, definitely not. (laughs) No, nah. No… I don’t think we’re anywhere near attractive enough to be called a boy band.
So when we write songs, we try to keep that feedback in mind and try to be more original, whether it’s the soundscape, the structure of the songs, or the meaning of the lyrics. We definitely try to carve out our own reputation. We’re trying to work on our sound and develop our own sort of niche within that broader genre. Especially with me, I try to sort of sing with my own kind of voice. We do get compared to a lot of other acts as well, which is very flattering, however at the same time, we do just want to be our own thing.
V: Did you guys have any inspiration from other bands? Particularly from the Sydney music scene? S.R: Well, Oasis but particularly, DMA’s in terms of all four of us admiring one act. Going to the same school, we had known them since we were 15, and I’ve just followed them forever. The journey they’ve gone on in terms of creating their first EP and taking off, to smashing out of the Sydney scene and then really dominating over in Britain. It has been very inspiring to see what’s possible. V: It’s safe to follow what’s been done before and what’s been successful, but have you taken steps to
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