SEVEN years of hard work from Adelaide rock band TEST EAGLES is beginning to pay off for rock'n'roll siblings MAT and ADY MATT. Their latest single LIKE NO OTHER brought them into contact with a childhood hero, Australian electronic music pioneer OLLIE OLSEN. It was a dream come true for the brothers, who were barely in their teens when Olsen masterminded the MAX Q project with INXS front man MICHAEL HUTCHENCE. Not only were the brothers huge fans of INXS, but the MAX Q project was one of the main inspirations behind the Test Eagles sound, an eclectic mix of electronic and rock sounds.
Olsen's remix was the band's third single from its debut album NON COMPREHENDUS which guitarist Matt pointed out was a significant highlight in his group's career.
'It's pretty crazy,' he said.
'It was hard to believe that he was going to do it, and then getting it back and listening to it the first few times, it was really exciting and it's great to become a part of that I suppose after all those years of hard work and everything.'
Test Eagles unique deal with their hometown record label KRELL RECORDS, which in turn has a marketing and distribution deal with SONY MUSIC AUSTRALIA, has had its advantages.
'They wanted a remix of LIKE NO OTHER and basically asked us who we wanted and we said Ollie straight away, that was our first preference and he was really keen to do it so it worked out well,' Matt said.
Max Q's use of drum beats and samples, and even string sections and just different instruments 'really opened our eyes', according to Matt.
With the recording of Non Comprehendus the brothers and bass player 'D' found themselves up against a steep learning curve when it came to introducing the technology to their songs.
'We'd spent a year to six months putting all our heart and soul into writing these songs and then with the actual technical process you'd have to change certain things and do things a different way,' he said.
Some of the sounds coming from electronic synthesisers and sampling equipment are fairly extreme, in keeping with the band's desire to display an 'industrial techno' aspect to its personality.
'I think it's really reinforced the variety and versatility we have on the record,' Matt said.
'Whether they like it or not I think people are going to say What sort of stuff are these guys going to get up to into the future?"
'It's cool to have that rather than being trapped into being a punk or something like that. This way our options are kind of open and we can go where we want to go and I like that.'
Sunday's all-ages show at the Croatian Wickham Sports Club is the group's first all-ages show in the Hunter since DOGBITE 98. TE has a five copies of LIKE NO OTHER to give away.
To go in the draw mail an envelope, with your name, address and telephone number on the back, to TEST EAGLES GIVEAWAY, PO Box 615, Newcastle, 2300.
Or enter on-line at www.nnp.com.au TE
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