Sleight of Hand - The Final Salute

Sleight of Hand (myspace blog) 5th Feb, 2008

The Final Salute

Sleight of Hand are playing their final shows in Newcastle on May 3 at The Loft in the Hunter street mall and the 9th May at the Cambridge Hotel. We’ll be playing a lot of songs from both releases, some new stuff we were working on and some really old songs that are embarrassing but guilty pleasures never-the-less. Thank you to those that supported what we loved to do as a band over our 8 years together and we hope to see you for our final salute… breathe.

Sleight of Hand (myspace blog) 9th Feb, 2008

Some Further Explanation

Hey everyone.. as so many of you are wondering we thought might give you some more insight..

Yes it’s true.. we boys in Sleight are calling it a day.. and it is with great pride that we have decided to do this on a good note. (excuse the pun!)

Having played hundreds of shows.. traveled thousands of kilometers again and again..and with two studio releases, we as a band still remain very close but feel this is as far as we are willing to go..

N.B Corey I just want to say that your execution of the English language is something that is envied and admired by myself, if I had tear ducts I’d be weeping. Well put Benj

The Kings Fool spoke with vocalist / guitarist Ben Leek, better known to fans as Benj Axwel, about the bands career and how they have grown.

Eight years is a long time for a band to be together, what do you put it down to, what are the secrets of your success?

“What do i put the longevity of our band down to? Well it has a lot to do with the people who really cared about our music, people who say to us that this song really meant a lot to them and it had touched them and helped get them through something tough in their life. You know, those comments are usually reserved for acts that i look up to, you know what I mean, so to have someone retort back to you is a really good inspiration and can basically override any financial compensation that you’re not receiving.

“And just the intrinsic value of writing a song. Last night we had our last rehearsal, and the last song that we have ever written we are going to be playing at our last gig, and Haff made the comment that ‘it is the song that we have never been able to write’, and I found that really odd because the song is called Step Into The Future, and it is about moving forward and moving on, and the next phase, and sort of looking positively to what could happen next. And to have those intrinsic factors and to have somebody, even if they are in your own band, validating the fact that what you’re doing has a purpose and feels good.

“Whereas everyone is caught up in their day to day 9-5 drawl, there is this life out there if you will, and i guess that is what you’re chasing when you’re in a band, that you’re really pushing and pursuing, and you want to inspire others the same way you have been inspired”.

So how did you manage to keep inspiring one another? Do you think is it because you’re such good friends and the music is just a side relationship to that, or did you become such good friends because of the music that you shared?

“Well, early on we used to have constant arguments, so i think its just a matter of compromise like in any relationship but not in any way a compromise that you sacrificing anything that you want, its more about how to understand others. For example i would come to a rehearsal and have an idea and then the next week someone else would have an idea for that idea. Whereas we used to arc up and go ‘no, no, no, no, no’! Now its, ‘alright well we will try it’, and nine times out of ten, with the ideas combined, the sum was better than the parts that made it.

“In order to stay constantly inspired I think it had a lot to do with finding ourselves. When you start a band everyone has their own individual influences, and after being together for so long and writing the sheer volume that we did, and you know a lot of them will never see the light of day, there is a stage where everything starts to sound like “our band”, and I guess, more so than anything, we were inspired by each other and our own music. We were constantly looking for new ways to develop our sound, a sound that became us. Everyone will go through their dull patches, everyone goes through their lulls. But I guess that constant source of inspiration comes from always maintaining that openness to other peoples ideas, not just within your band, but within opinions not just music”.

So those things that the band taught you about interacting with people, how have you put that into practice in your wider life?

“Well, you have to treat your band like a business as well as a recreational artistic endeavour. The amount of stories that you hear about bands getting fucked on, by record labels, signing shitty record deals and getting fucked over on tour. But I mean with anything that you want to do in life, it’s worth doing well. If you’re prepared to work through the hard stuff you come out the other side stronger, and there is nothing more true to that than being in a band, because there is nothing harder in this world than trying to get into something that is almost impossible to get into to start with. I mean, with all the problems in music at the moment as an industry, not necessarily as an art form, you know, its already really tough!

“You have to callous the mind. It hardens you up. I find that I take a lot less bullshit from people. Anything you pursue as part of a passion you’re going to develop some kind of skill, Now that might not always be clearly evident to everyone around you, but its boiling under the surface; it’s something that you can feel within, about yourself”.

High-lights and Low-lights of your career?

“My favorite moments haven’t been from gigs or recordings they have actually been moments on the road with the boys in the car. I guess what i really like about being in a band is being able to make friends all over the country. We have friends from Brisbane and Adelaide coming down for our final show. That’s the best feeling, the friendships and relationships that you make along the way. In terms of gigs, touring with Blindside was the highlight and we were all over it. We rehearsed our arses off and it was probably the best we have ever played on that tour.

“Worst gig moments their have been a few of those, but by no means at any time have we ever tried to be clinical about things. Umm, I tend to talk a lot as you have probably gathered from this interview, I tend to get up there in between songs and have a bit of a yarn. Sometimes I mouth off and I offend people, so probably the worst gig moments are more in relation to that. Corey slamming into my amp and knocking it over, when it was brand new, like $5000 worth of equipment that was a scary moment. Playing in front of a few thousand people in Toowoomba that was pretty amazing and playing in front of two people in Wollongong. You know we have done it all, apart from your Acer arena type stuff. No one moment, but the best moments are not usually music related, they are usually band related, being around your mates”.

So its all about the journey not the destination!

“Definitely!”

And finally a closing statement for everyone…

“I’d like to share my appreciation for all of your support over the years, and to all of those people who didn’t show your support over the years and let us know rather vocally that they didn’t support us either. Both of those provide inspiration and we really relished in the reaction that our band could garner within the music community. At least it gave people something to talk about!

“And to those who are considering pursuing music as an endevour, regardless of what people tell you, with the lack of financial rewards that it usually renders, the hard work and the time, and the sacrifices, the social sacrifices that you make, is COMPLETLEY worth it, because you’re not going to take money and cars and houses away with you when you die, you know what i mean? It’s the “Rocking Chair Syndrome”.

“I’m really thankful that my band has had, and i will call it the success that we have had, because to have even a handful of people who have come to every gig and buy everything that we have put out, is just such an amazing, intrinsic high. I can look back at it and say that “we did a good thing and we don’t have any regrets”. Actually thank you to everyone positive or negative who had an impact on Sleight of Hand!”

The Final Details

Cambridge Hotel 18+

8.30 - 9.00pm: Galileo’s Ghost

9.15 - 9.45pm: This Collision

10.00 - 10.30pm: Level 8

10.45 - 12.00pm: SOH

Entry is $10, get there early for Rookie’s band GG, he’s been talking it up and reckons their shit hot, only time will tell (talk about pressure haha).

Our mates in TC are coming from QLD just to play, and are animals so get amongst it.

L8 will no doubt make you shit your pants and will drink you under the table.

MERCH - is going cheap, like $10 a tee and $30 a hoodie cheap, you can also get our EP and SOMP single together at a ‘cheap cheap good quality’ price.

I think thats everything, Haff wants to play Promised land but I conveniently forgot the lyrics!

Hope to see you give the final salute!

SOH

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