Interview by Noah Cross. 

For Big City Exile, every new day brings another moderate success. From meeting their lead singer at a drunken, debauched Newcastle party, the band have quickly endeared themselves to their local listeners. In April, the five-piece spread their wings to prestigious venues throughout Sydney and Melbourne (The Metro Theatre, The Annandale, The Hopetoun, The Esplanade, The Rob Roy) on their Whirlwind Romance tour. 

“Most of the touring experience was a bleary, red-eyed haze of cigarettes, alcohol and ringing ears,” says guitarist, Sean Roche. “The funnest shows were at The Annandale. There was a strong audience reaction.” 

Big City Exile’s very first show at the Annandale will surely go down in legend. It wasn’t just their inaugural performance at the historic venue, it was their Sydney debut. A review in Brag Magazine described them as ‘…utterly engaging, vivacious, sexual and erratic. Your new favourite band = Big City Exile.’ 

“The Annandale show was a feeding-frenzy of music-loving idiots. They went home satisfied. We had a hella good time,” says guitar-bandito, Shay Sullivan. “We like to create a visceral sound-scape.” 

Their performance at The Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda, Melbourne, had a silencing effect on the 250 people in the room. The set exploded from the beginning with their hit ‘Triangle Song’, ebbed and flowed through a dreamy middle section and then climaxed with a dizzying, tumultuous crescendo that that only just fell short of literally melting the faces of the fans in the front row. 

Big City Exile have discovered the importance of occasionally leaving the claustrophobic bubble of your home town. “Playing outside of Newcastle can be scary, but it’s also exciting. No one has seen you before, so they don’t have any preconceived ideas about you. You’ve got a clean slate. Its extremely liberating,” says lead singer, Mark Forester. 

I ask Forester to tell me his philosophy on lyrics. “No one will ever say that Big City Exile write meaningless lyrics. There are a million songs about a girl out there, or “Why am I so unhappy?” and while I don’t deny that those type of songs are emotionally relevant to a good many people, I refuse to write them. Songs are a soapbox for self-expression, both emotional and intellectual and that is how I use them,” says Forester. 

Via the power of radio (FBi Sydney), the internet (www.myspace.com/bigcityexile) and television (ABC’s RAGE), the band have found themselves pulling impressive crowds everywhere they go. “The punters have been licking our Cuban heels,” says precocious drummer, Savion Barwegen, with a fierce flick of his golden chest locks. 

The band’s music is best described as alternative-rock, laced with meaty hooks from a diverse range of influences. But even that doesn’t quite capture their unique nature. “Our music is like an ever-evolving science experiment. It’s messy, raw and dynamic. We want to catch the listener off-guard and engage them,” says Roche. 

Some listeners describe Big City Exile as the bastard child of The Smiths and The Mars Volta, with The Doors’ Jim Morrison leading the way. This eclectic sound means they can be paired off with bands from various genres. They’ve played alongside everyone from After The Fall, to Tambalane, The Sparrows and The Devoted Few. 

Big City Exile came about when life long friends Roche and Sullivan, began jamming at school. It wasn’t long before bassist Nathan McKenna, and drummer Barwegen, were added to the lineup.

The boys found Barwegen at their Newcastle watering-hole, The Cambridge Hotel, where he had passed out on the timber floor. “I can only remember waking up outside with a craving for a cigarette. Suddenly I found myself sitting next to two shaggy men talking about their need for a drummer,” says Barwegen. “I explained that I can play the drums better than I can dance when I’m inebriated. The next week we polished off a few bottles of wine and jammed all night long.” 

At this stage, the untitled group were cooking up an alternative country sound. When they met Forester, a talented Thespian, they had not only found a dynamic performer, but a singer who could push them in a theatrical, eccentric direction.

Currently, the band’s goal is to launch an EP release and then tour extensively around Australia. 

Big City Exile are five guys you need to keep your eyes on.