Congratulations on the number one single. What does it feel like?
“A little bit surreal, I guess. I always dreamt of being in a successful rock band, as every kid does, and I don’t know how I got here but … I guess you just plug away. On Monday [when the single topped the charts] it was like ‘wow’, all this work finally paid off.”

How did you celebrate?
“We came up to Sydney on Sunday night and we woke up and found we were number one. We had a really heavy schedule this week, lots of promotion, interviews and stuff … even though we really wanted to celebrate we had to tone it down a bit. But we still went pretty hard.”

I’ve heard that the New Year’s Eve celebrations in Sydney were pretty special. What do you remember? “Man... Are you talking about the performance or the party?”

The performance!
“The performance was awesome. Walking out on that stage…there were so many people on the harbour that night. It was just amazing. We only had to play four songs so it was short and sharp. It rocked out. There was such a vibe.”

Why did you learn to play the guitar? “The first instrument I ever took up was the violin and I couldn’t stand my own noises. I played it for three years and was just starting to get the hang of it probably. I picked up the guitar and thought, ‘I like this a lot more.’ I could pick up stuff a lot quicker on the guitar than I could on the violin. It was just acoustic stuff for the first two years, playing on the good old nylon string guitars at school, with 20 other kids who’d bring their guitars in and have lessons and stuff. I got my first electric, which was my Fender Strat, a Japanese blue one and that was in grade six.”

A Fender Strat as a kick off was pretty good going.
“It was awesome. I had to go halves with my parents. I had to save up $250, which was the biggest amount in grade six.”

Do you still have that guitar, Jesse?
“I do. It’s not actually being used on the road, but I think I’ll always keep it.”

What do you think it is that keeps the guitar returning to popular music?
There are times when the synthesizer’s in, there are times where sampling seems to take over and relegate the guitar back to nothing, but it just seems to keep coming back. What is it? “I don’t know. I think it’s something that everyone’s grown up with in their musical background, [if only] in terms of listening. So I think it’s something that’s always there. I like dance music, to a degree, but some of the best dance music has got good guitar parts in there. For me, with an acoustic guitar in particular, I love the simplicity of it. I can sit on a chair and I can get a really warm tone out of the instrument. A lot of people who play the guitar use it as a method to get away from stuff. They can sit down, play the guitar and chill out.”

It has, in that setting, quite a meditative application doesn’t it?
“I think so anyway. I’m sure if you’re playing punk it’s hardly going to be meditative if you’re jumping around and head banging. I used it to relax. I sit down and play the acoustic for about half an hour and just relax.”

Judging by the new album you don’t seem all that keen on guitar solos. Why is that?
“I’m not a solo player. I can do the odd little bit but I’ve always been more of a strummer kinda guy. I don’t know why that is. Most of the guitar teachers that I’ve played with have been rhythm players so that probably has something to do with it. In terms of the record; we got this great guitarist, Andrew Day in to do some of those lead licks. He was from a band in Perth called Non-Intentional Life Form. I love his work; it’s just awesome and I was thrilled to have him come on and do stuff that I couldn’t. The recording actually took place a year and a half ago now so hopefully my skills have progressed somewhat. It was just awesome: here I was in Year 12 with one of the best guitarists I’ve ever heard playing on my CD.”

I’d actually pegged you as a riff player rather than a solo player.
“Yeah, that’s me.”

Do you want to have a go at pulling out, off the top of your head, your three favourite riffs in musical history?
“I think ‘Under the Bridge’ by Red Hot Chili Peppers: that guitar intro. It’d have to be [plays mouth guitar] Dee dee dee dededede dededede: Black Sabbath, ‘Paranoid.’ The riff from ‘46 & 2’; by Tool.”

Can I ask you for a handful of guitar heroes.
“Hendrix, definitely.”

Why Hendrix?
“The sounds he pulls. Because I’m not a solo player, he is like a superman of the guitar for me. [He’s] someone that can think of a note and his fingers just go there. That guy was just incredible. It was like he was just talking through his guitar. Everyone says that, but I think it’s the best way to describe it.”

Who else?
“I love a lot of John Lennon’s stuff, the classic guitar lines that he wrote, and the guitar arrangements throughout The Beatles stuff. As far as acoustics go, Ani DiFranco is one of the most fabulous, weird-arse folk guitarists I’ve ever heard.”

Tell me about your equipment.
“I’ve been in close contact with Maton guitars so I have been playing both six string and 12 string acoustics with the AP5 pick ups. We D.I. unless we’ve got the time and the space to set up a good mike. And I love the beautiful electrics from Maton, they are fantastic. I’ve got a Fender Deluxe with this Trace Elliot Supertramp head, 100 watts, and the Trace Elliot quadbox as well. And that’s my main rig. I’ve also got a Fender Deluxe amp which is awesome. It’s got a single 12 in it. It’s sort of like a reissue of an old Fender valve amp. It’s pretty nice. During the recordings we used the Trace Elliot, the Fender and a really old, huge SG, all valve monster. It was like something out of Dr Who. It had had blue and red and yellow buttons everywhere. It was full on. For some of the tinny sounds on the recording we used one of those tinny belt buckle amplifiers. [In terms of effects units] all I use is the valve overdrives on the Trace Elliot head. It’s one of those ones where you’ve got ‘dirty’ and ‘extra-dirty’ settings, so basically I stagger between a clean, dirty and extra-dirty sound.”

Is there any space in your day for practice?
“I honestly think I have nowhere near reached my capacity, but at the same time I don’t really know how fast I’m progressing: it’s hard to tell. Because I’ve been recording and playing these songs live I guess I have been progressing, but finding time to actually just sit down and practice by myself is definitely hard. Most of the practice is at gigs and sound checks. If I get a day off, I definitely sit down with my acoustic. That’s what I love to do when I’ve got some spare time. But I haven’t had much spare time this week, that’s for sure!”

What did your time in the studio teach you about the guitar?
“I had had very little experience recording prior to this album recording. When we did this album almost every guitar part was set up differently. We had the acoustic guitars going out of the kitchen, for example. I tried to absorb as much as I could. A huge learning curve.”

Is there a moment on the album you feel especially proud of in terms of your guitar work; a moment where you go, ‘oh, wow!’?
“I really like ‘Astral Boy.’ I wrote that about three or four years ago, so it’s really simple. I like the way it’s a simple line. It fits with the sparseness of the song. I really like the verse riff in the song called ‘Real People.’ It pumps along.” - STEPHEN ANDREW