PRETTY THRILLS // Let The Flames Begin

Take two brothers from Sydney, add a drummer friend and a whole lot of flair, and you’ve got Pretty Thrills.

MORE: FREEDOM OF FEAR: Through The Gateways REVIEWS: THORNHILL: The Dark Pool // REFUSED: War Music // DEEZ NUTS: You Got Me F****d Up // PRETTY THRILLS: Flames

Formed out of the ashes of a previous band, the trio recently set the alternative scene alight with their debut Flames. We caught up with frontman Max Donnellan to chat about the track, their history and musical influences. Read on.

Hysteria: How did Pretty Thrills come about?

Max: Pretty Thrills is made up of myself, my brother Bryce (bass and backing vocals) and our mate Josh (Bernard, drums). We played in another band before this. Josh was friends with a mate’s girlfriend, so that was how we met.  He was introduced to that mate at a party and they found out that Josh did music so they put him in contact with me. We jammed and then decided to bring some other guys in, it just clicked. Unfortunately, that band did break up but the three of us continued on and started this new project, Pretty Thrills.

Your debut single is out, how does it feel?

It’s pretty weird. Coming up to our premiere with Hysteria, I had a lot of excitement and nerves. I’ve had these songs recorded for a while and have kind of just been sitting on them, part of me was afraid to put them out because I didn’t know what people were going to think. Once it came out I had this massive feeling of relief, even getting played on radio stations has been fucking awesome.

It must’ve been so exciting to get played on The Faction the other day.

Yeah, it was super exciting. I listen to The Faction, I’m a big fan of heavy music especially the scene here in Sydney. It was great to be alongside these bands we listen to, we got played right after Deez Nuts and I’ve been listening to them for years, so that was crazy.

We’d love to know what inspired Flames thematically.

I listen to a lot of different types of music and I wanted to encapsulate my love of pop, alt-rock and everything like that. I’ve seen both sides of partying, so I wanted to write a song that captures the duality and the pros and cons of it.  I wanted to bring those two together with a slinky kind of sound that could be attributed to partying and drugs. That was my goal, to create a picture of both sides of the coin. 

I guess my influences come from the sounds I’ve heard over the years. My parents were into really sick music so I grew up with it around me.
[MAX]

Who are some of your major musical influences?

Me personally, my biggest influence in the whole world is The Beatles. I also really love bands like Oasis and Northeast Party House, but a lot of my influence comes from heavy music. I try to take that feeling of heavy bands and put it into a pop vibe. I love bands like The Amity Affliction and I also like a lot of the 90’s grunge scene, like Nirvana. I’ve always been a huge fan of three-piece bands like The Police. That’s kind of how our sound is structured… the bass is laying down the rhythm, the guitar is playing something slinky in between filling in the grooves and the vocals just come on top. 

I guess my influences come from the sounds I’ve heard over the years. My parents were into really sick music so I grew up with it around me.  My earliest memory of music was with The Sex Pistols, my dad used to play them around me. 

Now that the single’s out, can you give us any insight on any future music?

Absolutely. We’ve got an EP recorded, we’ll push Flames for a while but there will be another song coming out. It’s called Sober, thematically it’s a little similar to Flames, it talks about the influence of the party lifestyle on relationships. 

Any plans on the touring front?

Ideally, we’d love to open up for some bands we’re really into. There’s nothing cooler than getting an opening slot for a band you love and respect, and there are so many great bands around Sydney right now. It would be the best feeling to play alongside some of them.