Beginning their time together playing only covers, Epidemic… Over had no intention of ever writing their own music. That is, until boredom brought on a jam session that would change everything.
“We had no intention of doing anything, we just started jamming and we wrote a song really quickly and we liked it … then we pretty much quit covers,” Nathan Bedford says.
With a song and a new dream the four-piece were only missing two things, a name and a contract, one of which was a little less difficult to come by.
“Our guitarist Ben came up with all these names and he sent them to us in a text message and they were all pretty shit,” Bedford laughs. “So that was the best of the worst.”
The newly named Epidemic… Over were quickly brought back to reality when they realized just how hard their new path was going to be. It didn’t take long for the boys to figure out the struggle to become a full-time musician is a tough road when there are bills to pay and mouths to feed. The band members hold down day jobs to help them make it from week to week, but they are always musicians first. Wanting to take their music to the next level, they hope that steady touring and their latest EP project might help them get more exposure.
With a lack of money restricting their time in recording studios, the band came up with a way around the problem for their next EP, Long Way Home, due out in February next year. Converting a homestead in regional Queensland into “Karibu Studio”, E…O found a cheaper way to spend more time recording. This process gave the band a much-needed financial break and influenced their music for the better.
“I think the reason we got such a good result out of the studio is the fact that we did it somewhere different where there’s less pressure… At Karibu we lived and breathed it and spent as much time working on it as possible and it was really comfortable,” Bedford says. “I truthfully don’t think that we’ll go into a conventional studio again.”
Bedford takes on the task of writing each song’s lyrics and though they are usually inspired by the music his band creates, the new EP sees him drawing from more personal places. Now more emotionally connected to his music then ever, Bedford sometimes struggles to play his own work live.
“I’m not always comfortable with putting my personal feelings out there. But, it is what it is, that’s what I wrote, so I gotta do it, and I still love performing the songs and I think if I’m connected emotionally to the music people might see that and maybe even like it a bit more ‘cause it means so much,” he says.
The boys will be playing all the songs off their upcoming EP during their tour for the release’s first cut, Pushing The Stone. And while they believe their current project is the best representation of the band yet, they still plan on playing all their past songs during the tour as well.
“We just wanna go out and have a good time and have an adventure and have a story to tell our kids one day, you know.” Bedford says.
EPIDEMIC… OVER play Tattered ‘N’ Torn at the Gold Coast’s Beach House Tavern on Sunday Oct 23 (along with Averice, Burning Brooklyn and more), then bring their PUSHING THE STONE tour to The Tempo Hotel on Friday Oct 28. www.epidemicover.com.au
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