Brisbane, Australia's Grand Atlantic and their latest album 'How We Survive' made many 2009 year-end best of lists in their home country. The Courier Mail declared "the power-pop treat that is 'How We Survive' is bristling with muscular but always melodic tunes." Surprisingly positive response at US radio to the first single from the album has the band performing on our shores for the first time, culminating in a series of shows at this year's SXSW. We spoke to founding bassist Sean Bower as he and his bandmates were exploring Chicago by foot recently.

Describe your sound in your own words:

Well, with the fear of narrowing things down too much, we play Australian power pop, indie rock -- you know, guitar rock with plenty of melody in there.

How did your band form?

The band started in 2006 with Phil and myself, I play bass, he's the principle songwriter, guitarist and singer. We had another guitarist and drummer at that time. Morgan (guitar) and Matt (drums) joined about a year or two after that. This is Grand Atlantic, now, it feels like we're set with this as the band. If anything changed, we'd have to review the whole situation, it's working really well.

How did you come up with your band name?

That's something Phil got onto. There's an old hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, a lot of gangsters used to hang out there. It sounded like a cool kind of place. I hate to use the "r" word, but we're fan of a lot of things "retro." This hotel has a bit of mystique because of its history. Another cool story about that area, supposedly there were 3 or 4 people attacked by sharks there, and supposedly that's where the story for 'Jaws' came from. So there's a lot of cool imagery there for us. The name, itself, we think is ambiguous enough to not narrow us down too much.

What's your biggest vice?

Well, it may be obvious coming from a band of Australians, but probably the alcohol. Especially while on the road -- it's pretty hard to pass up a few free beers here or there.

What's in your festival survival kit?

The first thing I'd say not to bring is cheap hair dye that runs down the back of your neck halfway through the day. Otherwise, I don't know, sun screen and water. My argument often is that there's water in beer, but it probably doesn't really work that way.

Who was your first celebrity crush?

Can it be a cartoon crush? Josie and the Pussycats. I'll take any one of them. Hell, I'll take 'em all!

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Actually, Morgan, the guitarist, recently shared one, so be sure you say this is him. You know the artist Snow, the song 'Informer'? Well, apparently as a child Morgan loved it, learned all the words.

Beatles or Stones?

Now that is a tough one. I think as a whole, we probably lean towards the Beatles, but with a few beers we're almost as likely to choose the Stones. Probably the Beatles, overall.

What's the craziest thing you've seen on tour?

One night, at this club we were playing at, somebody broke a glass and cut someone in a fight right outside the club. Afterwards, late at we stopped at a restaurant to get a bite to eat before we went home, and two hours later two people were shot at that very same fast food place. So, we're a little bit nervous about going back to that venue now.


Matthew Wilkening is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here