The Best-Laid Plan
A year and a half on from their reunion, a handful of tours down and with a new album on the shelves, THE GETAWAY PLAN are well and truly back in the mind frame of a full-time, fully functioning band. “It felt natural and right from the get-go,” frontman Matthew Wright says. “We fell back into the rhythm really quickly and easily and things haven't stopped since then.”
As for what spurred the reformation, Matthew explains it was a case of – to paraphrase Joni Mitchell – not knowing what you've got 'til it's gone. “I got used to writing with the same people for so long that I kind of took it for granted and when I ventured off into other things [including side-project Young Heretics] I realised that element was missing,” he says. “It was the same with all the other guys, with the other projects that they were working on [Amity for guitarist Clint Ellis, Saskia for bassist Dave Anderson and Aaron Barnett]. It just ended up that this was everyone's be-all and end-all and we're all happy for it to be that way.”
The band's anthemic second album Requiem marks a huge leap forward for the Melbourne four-piece: all soaring vocals and triumphant guitar-work. “We would have released another record in between these two if we hadn't broken up, so it's almost like we skipped an album in a sense,” Matthew explains. “Rather than trying to create the album we would have written, we just did what we want to do now.”
With the record comes a stadium-worthy live show: a proper rock show, complete with giant LED screens, strobes, percussion jams and a (sampled) children's choir. “You see so many bands touring and putting on the same show every time,” Matthew says. “It gets kind of stale. You look overseas and there's all these bands doing amazing things on stage with incredible production and you come back here and everyone's kind of doing it half-arsed.” Indeed, bands who put on a bit of a show almost seem to be treated with suspicion. “I know what you mean,” Matthew agrees. “That's probably one of my most hated things about the industry to be honest, that people assume the worst of most artists. But we just enjoy doing what we're doing. I love putting on a show.”
After a to-be-announced support slot in July, The Getaway Plan intend to take their live show to the world and, down the track, potentially relocate. “That's the ultimate goal,” Matthew says. “I don't think we want to live there permanently, but I'd definitely like to live in the UK for a period of my life with the band.”
The Getaway Plan play Groovin the Moo alongside Public Enemy, Hilltop Hoods, Wavves, Digitalism, City and Colour, Parkway Drive and many more on Sunday May 13 at The Meadows, University of Canberra. Tickets are $99.90 available from Moshtix.
