Rob Nassif, drummer of GYROSCOPE, has a surprising amount of enthusiasm in him for someone who has been a big part of the music industry for over a decade now. Having expected to have to coax the excitement out of him (seriously, when you’ve been playing and touring for that long, interviews must have completely lost their appeal, right?), I’m unprepared for his sudden burst of animation.
“I’m excited big time for the tour!” he exclaims, right off the bat. “It’s the main tour to support Cohesion, and we’ll be playing heaps of songs off the album for the first time. It’s gonna be great, man!”
Gyroscope would be well within their rights to be chuffed for the new album. Cohesion debuted at number three on the ARIA charts, and has already become a fan favourite. “We’re really stoked,” Rob admits. “It’s pretty crazy to find out it was only 11 copies short of going to number two! If I’d known, I would have bought a couple more copies…”
It’s refreshing to see that the band haven’t succumbed to complacency, having managed to maintain their momentum for 13 years now. Gyroscope are still pushing their limits, and trying new things. Cohesion is even edgier and faster paced than the band’s previous records, and each of the songs has a hook of its own. Even Rob finds it difficult to pin down his favourite track. “It’s always changing! They’re all my little babies, I love them all! The beauty of the record, though, is that the songs translate really well live.”
The band are pretty excited for their national tour, though I can’t get Rob to disclose his favourite tour destination. “It doesn’t matter where you play, as long as the crowd is into it,” he says, diplomatically. I’m pretty sure that means “Canberra” though.
Supporting Gyroscope on the tour is After The Fall and The Vasco Era. Rob is almost as enthusiastic about the support acts as he is about his own music. “The Vasco Era are just a tremendous live band, we’ve been fans of theirs for a long time. And After The Fall are long time friends of our band, and we thought it’d be great to help them out with a tour, and hang out with them.”
This sense of solidarity is pretty characteristic of the Perth music scene in general. “Because we’re all over here by ourselves, there’s a lot of support. I would say that in other states there’s a lot of competition between bands, but there isn’t competition so much here. We’re just friends hanging out and playing music and supporting each other!”
Rob may be the most well-adjusted musician I’ve ever spoken to. His advice to young bands? “Just enjoy it! It’s a hard game, this music industry, so firstly just have fun!”
Sound advice, from a man with a great sound of his own. If Gyroscope’s career is anything to go by, it’s a formula for success!
Catch Gyroscope at the ANU Bar on Saturday June 19 with After the Fall and The Vasco Era. Tickets through Ticketek.
