1. Do you remember how the idea of forming the band first came up?

Both Myself (Kev and Todd(Guitarist) bands both ended at the same time so we had a jam and decided to form a band and the rest is history

2.How long after you formed was it until you played your first live show?

Within 3 months we were out gigging

3.What are your memories of the performance?

That i couldn’t hear anything i was doing, the monitors were terrible!

4.Tell us about the band’s name?

It came from the sporting term or last ditched effort, i mentioned it to the band and it turned out 3/4 members grandmothers were named Mary so we thought that was enough reason to choose that name
 
5.What is your latest album and why should people buy it?

We begin recording our debut album in the coming weeks, untitled as of yet, first single will be out Jan 27th, Album will be out April, our latest release is our 2nd EP entitled “A Million Miles And Days” people should get a copy of it if they like Hard Rock music with plenty of hooks

6.How would you categorize the style of the band? And did you ever consider or try playing other styles of music than the one you are playing now?

Hard Rock, Press categorizes us as a touch of grunge with a modern edge, We play the music that comes naturally to us so a reggae tune wont be coming out of us anytime soon haha

7.Can you share with us one or two of your favorite moments with the band?

1st EP Launch, sold out show, merch and cd’s were sold out before we hit the stage and it was a packed house, couldn’t of asked for a better show! and recording our 2nd EP with Jeff Tomei (Smashing Pumpkins, Jerry Cantrell, Matchbox 20) in Atlanta, we learned so much from that experience and it made us all better as musicians

8. Does the entire band contribute to the writing process?

It is mainly Me(Kev) that writes the songs, then we work on them in Vas (Drummer) studio and get them to a point were they are feeling good

9.How important do you rate the lyrical side of your albums?

I think the lyrics with this upcoming album i have went over a bit more and made sure the lyrics were the best they could be more so than the last 2 EP’s, not to say that the last 2 were garbage or anything, lyrics are one of the vital things that makes people connect with a song or makes you feel something so to me they are important

10.What are your current tour plans or upcoming shows, if any?

We are spending the rest of the year, recording the debut album, we are launching our first single from the album on January 27th in our hometown then that will follow with a Australian tour

11.Describe your live performance?

Loud, Energetic and dripping with sweat

12.What one Album should everyone have in their collection?

There is so many! if i had to pick one it would be “Dirt” by Alice In Chains”

13.Tell us about your local music scene?

We have some great Rock bands in Perth where we are from, unfortunately our “industry” doesn’t give much support to our scene, Indi bands seemed to get all praise and that suck but what can you do, there is a lot friends helping friends going on if I’m honest, but Perth has a great history in Australia for producing a lot of bands that go on to bigger things

14.Why do you think people are into your music?

We are a very hook driven band, i always believe good music has to have hooks regardless of genre

15. If we were to look at your IPod, what would we find in your music collection?

 An extensive collection of Rock/Metal from 60′s through to today and a bit of old school Hip Hop

16.Would there be any one band or musician that would surprise us that you are listening to them?

Possibly a old Scottish folk band called the “Corries”, My family is Scottish so i always had the music around growing up

17.Where can our readers find your band on the internet?

www.hailmaryband.com - Main Website

www.facebook.com/hailmarybandpage - Facebook Page

www.youtube.com/hailmaryband - Video Channel on YouTube

www.twitter.com/hailmaryband - The Tweets on Twitter

18.How has Social Networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) impacted your band?

It has been great, people can access our music or info and we can connect with fans of the band from all over the world very easy

19.Thanks for answering these questions. Do you have any last comments or words of advice for the readers of Project Backstage?

Thanks for the interview, come say hi to us on Facebook

Project Backstage