Writer: Joseph Maranta
Photographer: Alison Road @alisonroadband
The picnic is a disaster. The heat has sent their bodies into fight mode. Extremely irritable and pessimistic at the world, the tall bristly grass brushing against their skin is enough to send them into a brief murderous rage. The bottle of prosecco is just below chilled and starting to sweat while the mud cake is leaking icing. Every minor inconvenience serves as another death knell for this god forsaken picnic.
A glance to the heavens reveals that the sun still has hours left on its journey westward. In the meantime, it continues to glare down on them, the wind providing no reprieve as the leaves on the nearby Iron Barks lay motionless.
Wiping sweat off their brow, they spot a desire path leading downhill. Its final destination is hidden by dense foliage, though it beckons them forward in promise of a cooling body of water. Sending off the picnic planner like a canary in a coal mine, the begrudged organiser of the day returns with good news. The picnic is now over, but its failure was not in vain.
This is Alison Road
An alternative rock quartet hailing from Meanjin composed of Josh (Drums), Sacha (Vox + Guitar), Karissa (Bass) and Zac (Guitar).
Drawing influence from the 90s, their guitar-driven rock has a poignant edge providing a value proposition within the burgeoning RiverCity scene. Characterised by emotional chords and evocative songwriting, the music of Alison Road is akin to a long-awaited reunion with a family member, comforting, but still sombre.
JOE: Thanks for coming to chat guys! So firstly, how did the band form?
SACHA: Karissa and I originally played together in high school. Just for fun.
KARISSA: Our band was called the ‘Anti-Karissa Club’ at the time. Whenever we played, all the teachers just thought they were bullying me because of the name. We had to change the name to AKC club, which was lame.
SACHA: After we graduated and moved to Brisbane, we continued in a band and the old members left. So now we have Josh and Zac.
JOE: All of you play in other bands currently, how do you think having other projects affects the music of Alison Road?
KARISSA: I think we’ve done a good job of finding our own sound in the past year. We’ve been writing a lot recently, so even though we’re all in different projects I think the four of us come together to make a unique sound.
JOSH: When we do jam, we all have an idea of where the songs are supposed to go. We might riff and ask ourselves if this sounds like Alison Road, or another band that we play in.
JOE: There’s a lot of traffic named adjacent bands doing the rounds at the moment. Do any of you have a favourite Road, Street or Avenue band?
SACHA: I am a big Pacific Avenue fan, coming from the Gold Coast.
JOSH: Parkway Drive.
JOE: You make guitar-driven music, do each of you have a favourite guitar breakdown in any song? And Josh, choose your favourite drum fill since you’re the drummer.
SACHA: This is pretty niche, but the end of ‘Sugar Tastes Like Salt’ by The Orielles. Also Dogs by Pink Floyd.
KARISSA: Superimposed and Motionless by Mouse. All the instruments cut out except for two guitars, and there’s a really cool call and response thing going on.
JOSH: The first drums on Silverfuck by The Smashing Pumpkins. Also In Bloom by Nirvana, everyone knows what song it is as soon as you play it, so that’s pretty up there.
JOE: Your latest release 'Dog in a Hot Car' has a very poignant subject matter, that being the destruction of the Earth for corporate profit. Since its release have any of you seen any positive news in the conservation world?
SACHA: No. I mean they recently found a once-thought extinct pink slug, I’m not sure if you saw that. They also found a new species of trapdoor spider. But from a political standpoint, no. Just more coal mines that the minister for the environment keeps opening.
JOE: Triple J’s Hottest 100 results come out soon, are there any tracks in particular you hope will win?
JOSH: I’d say Favourite or Bug by Fontaines D.C.
KARISSA and SACHA: Girl, so confusing featuring Lorde.
JOE: Are you currently in a writing or producing stage with Alison Road?
SACHA: We’re about to start recording an EP which we wrote last year.
JOE: So what can we expect from the new EP?
KARISSA: Interesting song names.
SACHA: I think it’s different to what we’ve put out recently. It might sound weird, but I think you’ll be able to tell that we wrote this in winter. It has that sort of vibe, it plays with different tunings.
KARISSA: I think it’s inspired a bit by 90s bands, think Dinosaur Jr or Smashing Pumpkins.
SACHA: We’re recording it in Brisbane with Isaac from Melaleuca.
KARISSA: He’s set up a studio at a roastery we work at. You have to crawl past our shelving units and the stock to get there.
JOE: Have you been playing the EP live? If so, do you have a favourite song to perform?
SACHA: Yeah, it’s a song called Vagina Inspection. It’s a piece of feminist prose.
KARISSA: I think mine is probably Dino Song.
JOSH: Mine would probably be I Wish I Was J Mascis. Or End Song.
JOE: I think recently, Brisbane bands have been bucking the trend of moving to Melbourne, more so than the scenes of other cities. Why do you think Brisbane bands are staying here?
JOSH: I know Radium Dolls said something along the lines of “We’ll never leave Brisbane”, and I think it’s something to do with owing it to the Brisbane music scene. You don’t want to betray it. We have a really good scene going, I can see why people move to Melbourne though.
SACHA: I think Melbourne is a bit over-saturated at the moment. I think our scene is growing right now, and coming from the Gold Coast it’s been really cool to be here. It’s the big city for us, so I’m not bored enough to go to Melbourne yet.
JOE: Brisbane has still suffered a lot of venue closures, namely The Zoo & Stranded Bar as well as the recent announcement of Season Three’s impending closure. With that in mind, do you think the D.I.Y scene will grow as a result?
JOSH: 100%. I think anywhere you go, there’ll be some D.I.Y shows. Even in a remote town, people will ask themselves “why not do it myself?”. It’s sad to see good venues closing, but I think it’s a cycle, there’s interest there so more stuff will open.
SACHA: ANTI-DISMAL and Broken Records have been huge though. Those gigs are 90% underage people, and it’s amazing to see how supportive the crowds are.
KARISSA: Dustan from Broken Records did a great job of organising a gig we played last year.
JOE: Last year saw the blossoming of Bean Magazine into the Australian mainstream, is there another Brisbane band you foresee having a similar rise in 2025?
JOSH: I’m really loving what Blue Diner is doing. Rei does a lot for the Brisbane music scene, and Blue Diner are on a great trajectory.
KARISSA: I think it’s also luck of the draw to an extent.
SACHA: With bands like Girl and Girl, Bean Magazine and maybe Blue Diner, they just have a stage presence about them, as well as being unique. Bands that are really enticing to watch, who make you crave more and more.
JOE: So as we fully enter 2025, what would you say are the main goals for Alison Road this year.
KARISSA: Finally releasing the music videos for the two songs we put out last year. That’s step one for this year. We’re also doing QUBE effect this year, it’s a council run program. You get mentorship and workshop opportunities, as well as a music video. There’s some cool prizes like having an opportunity to play at GOMA and the Tenerife festival.
SACHA: EP and playing some gigs.
JOSH: We’ll see if we can get a tour in.
KARISSA: To be able to play in Wollongong, it's my dream.
ALISON ROAD
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