Sonic Travels with Lynden Bassett and Ben Marston

Brass Knuckle Brass Band

What can people expect from the set you’ll be performing at Ainslie Salon: Sonic Travels?

With Brass Knuckle Brass Band it is always a party. Our roots are firmly planted in New Orleans where this kind of instrumentation was literally developed on the streets however we like to incorporate elements from hip-hop, funk, world music and surprisingly enough for a brass band techno. Dancing is the name of the game and if you have never danced to a brass band it is definitely something you should try.

Who has had the greatest impact on your development as an artist?

As mentioned before you can’t play in a group like this and not be strongly influenced by the city of New Orleans. In particular the groups of the new wave brass band era, The Rebirth Brass Band and The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. We also pay close attention to some of the groups from the UK and Europe, a British tuba player by the name of Theon Cross and Gallowstreet, a band from the Netherlands.

What are you most looking forward to in regards to your upcoming performance at Ainslie Salon: Sonic Travels?  

In Canberra it is always great to find new places to play and although we have played at Ainslie before it was a long time ago. The chance to help new people discover the joys of dancing to an acoustic brass band is always a motivating factor. The bottom line is, we always just want a chance to play!

How would you describe the Canberra music scene you are a part of and which local performers do you think people should know about?  

Bear with us on this one; The music scene in Canberra is a bit like the south coast of NSW 30 years ago. Back then you could go to some of the most incredible beaches in the world, which we all know is not an understatement, spend an entire day swimming, surfing, doing beach stuff all for the price of half a tank of fuel, a small tent and an esky full of food and drink. You could do all this and basically have it all to yourself.

A local BKBB favourite is always Citizen Kay. We always enjoy a chance to collaborate. There are many players in the local jazz scene that we recommend people check out and rather than highlight a few we recommend people give Canberra jazz the attention it deserves. There are some genuine national treasures right here. We also hear that there is a really good polka band that only comes out at Oktoberfest events? Something to do with pork knuckles? We’re not sure but apparently they’re pretty good too…

When you’re not creating music, how do you like to spend your time?  

There is definitely a lot of parenting going on right now. But when we get time away from that and practice there is a fair bit of ale tasting and we have a resident food critic who passionately samples most of Canberra’s post gig eating options. So much so that one of his compositions for the band is named after his favourite dish!