The Tommyhawks

For many bands it’s not necessarily the moments on stage that stand out in their memories but rather it’s the feeling of camaraderie they have when travelling up and down the roads between gigs.

The Tommyhawks Ness Thornton echoed this sentiment when speaking to the City Hub ahead of their shows in Sydney next week.

“We tour a lot in a camper van and it’s just so rad to be in a van with a fridge, some beer and be able to stop at beachside towns in between gigs to hang out for a day.”

Inevitably with four band members cramped into the tight quarters of a camper van for “weeks at a time” they have moments where they get on each others nerves. Although Ness says they’ve all grown to recognise when “someone needs their space” and thus they haven’t had any “major blow ups.”

The Tommyhawks was originally a duo project conceived by Ness and Addison Axe following the departure of their drummer from a previous band. Losing their drummer was “really disappointing” for the duo because they wouldn’t be able to “jam every week” anymore, so they set out to find a replacement but wound up with both a new drummer and a saxophonist. This new configuration brought with it a lot of excitement which according to Ness was what “kept the band going.”

Ahead of the upcoming shows in Sydney the band’s excitement was clear in Ness’ voice.

The second show of the stop at the Meatstock barbecue festival is a somewhat unexpected one for The Tommyhawks given that the band consists of two vegans and a vegetarian.

“It’s a bit confronting and obviously nothing we would chose to partake in,” explained Ness, “but the world is made of many many different types of people with many different priorities and ethics so we’re not judging anyone else.”

Following this tour the band will likely head home to begin work on a debut album because as Ness said “It would seem that it might be time to do an album given that we’ve done the three EP’s now.”

May 4. Frankie’s Pizza, 50 Hunter St, Sydney. Info: www.thetommyhawks.com

May 6. Meatstock Festival, Sydney Showgrounds, 1 Showground Rd, Sydney Olympic Park. Tickets & Info: www.meatstock.com.au