datsuns

September 2003

They Will Rock You
The Datsuns: Neither Cars nor Dogs
By S.Appel

"Are you named after the car or the dog?" That was one of the positively brilliant questions the stage manager at Much Music wanted me to ask the Datsuns at a recent TV taping of the network's show called "IMX". Part game show, part talk show, I was part of the interactive yet tiny studio audience. And since the rest of the kids present were fans of the headlining guests and personality-lacking group POD, I was enlisted to ask a couple questions to the Datsuns. First things first, however, as I felt the need to correct the stage manager: "But a datsun isn't a dog. Dachshun is a dog." Um, hello McFly?

You've probably heard them, seen them, or read about them by now. Having been busting their bell-bottomed butts all over the world supporting their debut self-titled CD, their faces have been in nearly every music publication this side of Jupiter. As a result, The Datsuns have gone from underground bar band to club-filling headliners this past year in large part due to their live shows complete with synchronized scissor-kicks, back-bended guitar riffs, and stadium rock showmanship (and the record ain't half bad either). But we recently spoke with singer/ bassist Dolf in a quest to find out some stuff about the New Zealanders that you might not already know (and trust me, the words "car" and "dogs" were not brought up).

1) They tour, and tour, and tour, and tour...did I mention they tour?

"We've been on tour pretty much since last March nonstop," says Dolf of the Datsuns' on-the-road schedule. And he doesn't mean 6 months ago March, he means 2002. "We've been on tour [in 2003] since the beginning of January. We had a couple weeks off at Christmas and then had a week off in May." So how do these wonders from down-under keep motivated while living on a bus? "I fucking love to tour," Dolf continues. "I think I really appreciate the fact that we've been able to do this. We're a live band and not being able to tour is really bad."

Not only that, but he also says that when they do have time off, boredom eventually creeps in. "That's the problem with going home. Because as much as I love my family and friends, your feet start to move after a couple of days and then it's time to move on." Currently, Dolf's feet (along with those belonging to Matt, Phil, and Christian) can be found back in New Zealand, as the foursome is getting ready to go back into the studio to record the next album.

2) They've played for the Prince of Darkness.

To those of us who are familiar with the Datsuns' sound (which recalls every 70's rock icon from Led Zeppelin to Deep Purple), the fact that they played on a few dates of the 2003 Ozzfest tour seems like a match made in hard rock heaven. Initially, Dolf had reservations. "It's kinda weird," he says of the experience. "Like, we're in this band that indie kids generally go see. Or people who are really into rock bands will maybe come out to see us, people who have been into rock 'n' roll for ages." And with a line-up that also included such non-indie rock acts like Korn and Marilyn Manson, it is easy to see how the Datsuns wouldn't initially fit in with the rest of the lot. They had even thought about printing up t-shirts that declared them to be "The Most Hated Band at Ozzfest". But we doubt it was necessary.

But even so, playing on the same stage as Mr. Osbourne has to be pretty cool. You're a fan, right? "Oh yeah," enthuses Dolf. "Between us, I probably have more Black Sabbath records than anyone."

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