A day at the races
Randwick Racecourse has a long and illustrious rock'n'roll history that takes in Roy Orbison and the Stones. Now it's The Potbelleez' turn. Johnny Sonic tells Bianca O'Neill about tracks and the track
Setting hearts to a flutter... British India
C’mon now, you know the song – that electro hit that went to number one on the dance charts – the same one you can’t help but sing along to ecstatically once you’ve had a few too many cheeky chardies on a Saturday night in the Cross.
Now ‘Don’t Let Go’ has gone gold, having sold over 35,000 copies and topped the ARIA charts. But according to founding member of The Potbelleez, Johnny Sonic, success hasn’t gone to their heads.
“You’re only as good as your last song at the end of the day,” plainly states Sonic. “If we started letting this go to our heads it would just block the musical journey that we’re on. If we’re on stage and there’s 10 or 10,000 people singing along we’ve got our hands up in the air no matter what – because it’s a song that we wrote and we love to sing. It just defeats the whole purpose of doing what we’re doing.”
Regardless of the superstar moniker, Mr Sonic comes across as remarkably genuine and humble. Then again, he may be just trying to fool Time Out with that larrikin-like Irish accent of his.
Sonic tells us that it’s that big bit of Irish in him that drives him to regard melody and lyric over cleverness: “Melody has always been a major part of who we are as artists, especially being Irish and coming from that background. Being involved in songwriting is something we’ve always loved to do, and there’s so much you can say through melody and lyrical content that you can’t with synthesisers.”
Having told excitedly of the fact he is itching to get back to performing live after a two month absence, Sonic explains his delight at his first gig back being the Lawn Party. But which band are The Potbelleez looking forward to seeing on the day?
After much politically correct banter about how wonderful all the bands are on the bill, Sonic (admittedly under duress) finally commits: Van She, he says, should be the one to catch.
But what about the other most important part of the day? Although we trust Sonic to give us a solid tip in areas of musical expertise: “Just do the swirly thing and pick the first one that your finger hits, bet all your money on it and go home with a smile on your face.”
And if we lose?
“Drink yourself silly until you forget that you put your money on it in the first place.”
The Lawn Party features The Potbelleez, Van She, British India, Lost Valentinos and Vandalism. Sat 26 April from 12 noon, Royal Randwick Racecourse, $165.