By James O’Toole

Drawing inspiration for their name from such legendary bands as the Motor City 5 and The New York Dolls, The Devilrock Four originally hail from Tasmania and are now making an impact on the mainland with the release of their debut EP, Livin’ This Low. James O’Toole spoke with vocalist and guitarist Carl Treasure and learned, among other things, that Devilrock is actually a real place in Tasmania.

O’Toole: Your EP has a great live feel to it, how did you manage to capture that live energy?

Carl Treasure: It was recorded live. They have a massive room at Birdland and in the middle is a drum room with windows. We set up our amps outside and watched the drummer through the window. It was a really good way to do it.

O’Toole: What made you initially pick up a guitar and start playing music? How old were you?

Treasure: My dad played guitar. I was fifteen when I started playing. When I was around fifteen or sixteen I’d just been listening to AC/DC to that point but then I started listening to Nirvana, Mudhoney, alternative stuff like My Bloody Valentine and Ride, I liked that shoe gazer sort of stuff for a long time. I still do, but I always keep AC/DC at the top of my list!

O’Toole: How do your songs come together? Is it a case of the band jamming or are there main songwriters in the band?

Treasure: Most of the songs have been written by someone who had an idea but by the time we play it in band practice they change or sound different somehow. Everyone in the band has their own playing style, which is good.

O’Toole: Can you tell us about your guitar and amp set up?

Treasure: Everything in the band is Fender, pretty much. There are four Strats, a Tele and a Jazz bass. On the recording I borrowed a Les Paul so the two rhythm sounds were different, but I actually like the sound of a Strat better so that’s what I play live.

O’Toole: Are you conscious then of making sure your live sound is different between the two guitars?

Treasure: Yeah, that occurs naturally with the amps. I have an 800, the two channel one which I have on the gain channel which is fairly crunchy, while Jonny (Driver, the band’s other guitarist) has an old Seventies JMP which he cranks up to break up, so even though we are both using Strats we sound really different.

O’Toole: Guitar sound can be a real signature for individual players. How did you arrive at your current sound?

Treasure: A lot of guys who are going to play heavy rock go out and buy a Les Paul or an SG. I don’t find them comfortable at all. If I could get the sound I wanted from them I’d get used to it, but the Strat always sounded right to me. I used to work in a guitar shop and play a fair bit of stuff that came through there.

O’Toole: What do you hope to achieve with the band in the next twelve months?

Treasure: Realistically, a lot of touring. We have a product we’re pretty happy with, it’s doing quite well and getting played on radio a bit, so we plan to tour and promote the hell out of it. Hopefully when twelve months are up we should have a full album recording.

Livin’ This Low is available now through Shock Records. For more info on the band, check out www.thedevilrockfour.com