When did you decide that a career in music was for you?

I don't think I can pinpoint an exact moment where I knew that a 'career' in music was for me, but I remember the moment that made me want to do nothing else but learn how to play instruments and write songs. I was about 7 years old, and my then girlfriend at the time (ahhh young love haha) dumped me in the playground because she said that she was leaving me for the drummer from Hanson. Mbop was number one in the charts at the time so Hanson was a pretty big deal. In an attempt to get my girlfriend back I decided to start learning the drums. My parents bought my a pair of drumsticks and I began by learning rudiments on pillows and cushions laid out like a drum kit in the living room. It wasn't long before drumming completely captured my interest and I didn't want her back any more haha. All I wanted to do was play the drums and everything for me snowballed from there.

 

- Who are your musical inspirations and why?

When it comes to writing songs, I'd say my two biggest influences are Noel Gallagher and Max Martin. I've always been into guitar music like Oasis, Linkin Park and New Found Glory, but I also have no shame in saying that I have always been heavily into girl bands and boy bands. And, as we all know, a lot of the best boy bands and girl bands of the late 90's had a lot of their songs written by Max Martin & his team. So, when you listen to really great pop music like NSync & the Backstreet boys for long enough from such an early age, the idea of what a great melody should not only sound like, but also feel like becomes part of your DNA. When you put that together with everything else I was listening to too at the time like like Sum 41 and The Offspring, you get iNTeRNeT FReNDz. 

 

- Can you tell me 3 things about yourself that people might not already know?

I'm petrified of snakes, Japanese BBQ is my favorite food and I cried like a baby when I got my knuckles tattooed.

 

- What song of yours best describes you and why?

Well so far we've only released three songs, but out of those I'd say the most biographical is Warning Signs. If you read the lyrics as a poem, it doesn't take a genius to work out that it was written about struggling with sobriety. And, I also wrote this song when I was completely wasted which might make it more authentic in some way? I'm not sure haha. Either way, the subject matter isn't something to be proud of but at least this song came from a real place.

 

- What has been the best gig you have done to date and why?

We haven't played any shows yet so it's probably best I skip this question

 

- If you could perform a gig at any venue where would it be and why?

Since relocating to Brisbane Australia a couple years back, I've really fallen in love with an outdoor venue here called 'Riverstage'. It's a 10,000 capacity grass amphitheatre and if me and Michael can sell this place out one day I'll die a happy man. 

 

- What has been your best achievement to date and what would you like to achieve in the future?

I think my biggest achievement to date was convincing my now wife to marry me, haha! She's a lot smarter, kinder, cooler and better looking than me... but I am the funny one so at least I have that. If she was the funny one in the relationship as well it wouldn't be fair.

 

- What do you like best about being a musician and why?

I would never claim to be a musician... I can play a lot of instruments well enough to get by in the studio but I wouldn't describe myself as a player. Songwriting is my thing so I feel confident enough to talk freely about what I like best about writing songs. I always joke that for someone that really doesn't like hippy culture, I do find myself believing more and more in some hippy practices the more I sit down to write. The best songs always seem to come from somewhere else, like they're not even mine. I've had experiences where I've just been driving home from the supermarket and almost an entire songs with lyrics gets downloaded into my head so when I get home I'm scrambling to write it all down before it gets forgotten. I've noticed that this tends to happen to me the more I meditate and focus on being a kinder person. I think the universe or God (whatever you wanna call it) likes to give back what you release into the world. I try to write almost every day and it usually starts by playing around with my guitar whilst watching netflix. If nothing happens within the first 15 minutes I usually put the guitar down and try again the next day. But a lot of the time, I'll hit on a chord change or a melody that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and THAT is the best feeling in the world. If you could bottle that feeling and sell it as a pill, I'd be broke in a week.

 

- What has been the best gig you have been to as a fan and can you tell us about it?

There's too many to mention but my first gig was at around nine years old seeing Bon Jovi in Cardiff. I got so excited at the concept of live music that I went to the toilet three times during the first song and nothing came out. Everyone sitting around me must have thought I was nuts making all those trips to the bathroom so frequently. Seeing Blink back together at WWWY was really special... That was a teary one for me because I didn't think I was ever going to see all three of them on stage together again. Being front row for Linkin Park and Jay Z at Milton Keynes bowl in the mid 2000's was really cool too. 

 

- What would your ideal festival line up be and why?

Alright picture this... 60,000 people out in Palm Springs at the same site as coachella. We have one stage, and all afternoon are all of the greatest boy bands and girl bands from the late 90's performing the big hits. I'm talking Backstreet Boys, NSync, The Spice Girls, TLC and all the rest. In the evening we'd have Neck Deep followed by the long awaited Oasis reunion. When it gets dark, iNTeRNeT FReNDz would take to the stage (who are obviously going to be the headliners) but for the encore, we'd pay Derek from State Champs an extraordinary amount of money that he wouldn't be able to turn down to come out of stage and sing 'All You Are Is History' infront of 60,000 people equipped with only a cowbell. Sounds like a party to me.

 

- What would you say is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

That when it comes to choosing a life partner, it's really about who you want to wake up next to, not who you want to go to bed with. Although, wanting to go to bed with them as well really helps.

 

- What things make you happy and what things annoy you?

Cheese and Marmite sandwiches alongside writing songs make me pretty happy. People that walk into your room and leave without closing the door annoy me quite a lot. 

 

- What things do you like to do when you are away from music?

The older I get the more I like to enjoy the peace and quiet of doing nothing. I'm the guy that goes on vacation but stays inside the hotel the entire time ordering room service instead of sightseeing. As long as there's good food, air conditioning and a decent mattress I'm very happy.

 

- Do you think social media and the internet are a good thing in the music industry?

For the music industry? Absolutely! Social media should be treated as a marketing tool and nothing else in my opinion. If you've got something to sell, then post all the thirst traps you want in order to get those sales! But, if you're excessively posting on social media because you want to feel validated or liked then you may have bigger problems.

 

- How important do you think your look and image is when it comes to being in the music industry?

I think it depends on what genre you're in. For the most part, I don't think the music industry really exists anymore... I prefer to refer to it as the 'entertainment industry' now and entertainment mostly seems to be about grabbing and holding someone's attention. If you look boring, the average person is probably going to scroll past you on Tik Tok without giving your music a chance. It also doesn't hurt to get in the gym and into shape as well... Everyone likes to admire good looking people. That's why there's so many overly good looking tik tok stars with millions of followers and crap songs. But the gym also has a lot more benefits to it than just looking your best too.. The entertainment industry is a hard game to navigate and being fit and healthy will help with all of the anxiety and stress that any artist has to experience as part of the game.

 

- Can you tell us about any tattoos you have and the significance of them to you?

My favorite tattoo is of my wife's name on my ankle but I purposely spelt it wrong to annoy her. I had it zapped onto me at a house party in vegas some years back and to this day it still makes me laugh.

 

- What would your ideal day consist of?

Waking up early after 8 hours of sleep, hitting the gym, eating japanese bbq and pizza all day, writing a hit song and falling asleep in front of the TV with my wife.

 

- If you could say one thing to your fans, what would it be and why?

I'd say that you're more than fans to us, you're our FReNDz! We love chatting with all of you in the DM's and the real ones can be found in our discord server 'The FReND ZoNe'! We do this for us, but we also do this for you and we're going to keep going until it kills us or we run out of money.

 

- Who is iNTeRNeT FReNDz and what are the differences between you as a music artist and you away from music ?

I don't think there's any difference between who we are in the band and who we are amongst our friends and family. Me and Michael are just two guys that love making music and hoping that others love it as much as we do. What you see is what you get with us. 

 

- What was the first record or song you purchased and why?

The first album I ever purchased I believe was the self titled B*Witched album in 1998. They're an irish girl band with a smashing hit single called Cest La Vie and it's an absolute masterclass in how to write great pop music.

 

- What would say to someone thinking about becoming a musician and getting into the music industry?

Don't. hahahaha. I would say that for anyone wanting to pursue a career in a creative industry, you've gotta be tough as nails, be OK with a lot of rejection, but hungry enough to carry one regardless. If you're not willing to die or go broke for your craft then I would advise against it. I firmly believe that if you want something bad enough, it will happen for you, and if it doesn't then you never wanted it bad enough.

 

- If you could collaborate with any other band/singer or musician, who would you choose and why?

I'm not really intro collaborating at the moment... I'm pretty happy with the relationship that me and Michael have. However, if I had to choose someone, I'd choose Liam Gallagher. But instead of making any music I'd lure him to the pub for 'a few drinks' and hope that we both wake up three days later in another country (preferably in separate beds) with an insane hangover wondering what happened. 

 

- If you could have written one song from history, which would it have been and why?

Probably Step Out by Oasis so I could have gotten Liam to sing it instead of Noel. Real Oasis fans will know what I mean by this one. IYKYK.

 

- If you wrote a book about yourself, what would it have in it?

A whole lot of pictures and not many words hahahaha

 

- What has the rest of the year got in store for you?

Just a lot more of the same. We're trying to release at least one song a month until we drop. Eventually we'd like to tour the project but right now our focus is entirely on building our online community. Every day we get a ton of messages from new followers from all over the world telling us about how much they connect with our music and it's so much fun to read! We'll always be forever grateful for every single message and FReND we've made through this project <3