Death set.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

FUCK BALTIMORE. It is dirty, dangerous, and filled to the brim with kids whom don't give a shit. In the throws of their Wham City upswing, the city has somehow cast off all pretense in favor of good times. Take Death Set, for example. They smell like a loft party. They clearly love the Black Flag and Human League equally. They are originally from Australia. They're signed to Ninja Tunes. Really, they're perfect. And that somehow Baltimore, of all places (not New York, not Chicago, not Seattle), birthed them is a testament to the character of a city with nothing to lose. Fuck Baltimore. Baltimore is awesome.

Do either of you skate?

Yep, Beau, Jah, and I skate. Hard to find time these days with non-stop touring, hut I definitely love the community aspect of going out to a spot with my friends.

What was the music scene like in Sydney before you moved to the US? Clearly more is happening than Ben Lee and Nick Cave.

Yep, true. To be honest Sydney was more of a glossed-up ecstasy-drenched electro type scene, which is rad too. And I'm far from hating; it just didn't seem to have the community or infrastructure to support a healthy, underground, experimental scene like Bmore. I love Sydney though, and it's super beautiful, and I know so many rad people there. But there are probably lots of things that make a scene like Bmore exist, like cheap warehouses to throw parties in, a big art school full of drunken, underage, mostly open kids looking to spazz, and cheap rent to support broke touring musicians.

You now live in Baltimore. Do you get handed over-sized thrift store glasses and brightly-colored windbreakers when you sign your lease?

Yep, of course. And we have to live off acorn milk and wear goofy shirts with the nipples cut out.

Tell me a little about Baltimore right now. The city is the new hot spot, with Dan Deacon really leading something of a DIY revitalization. Are there any downsides to the hype?

Well, I step out my front door to crack viles and corner kids. The murder rate is one of the highest. There really isn't anything there except for what the kids are making DIY style. And it's amazing. It's kind of like the shitty city scenario where there isn't anything to do except make your own scene, like Detroit with techno I guess. The DIY scene here is really awesome and positive. The bands coming out of Bmore are generally so eclectic that there really isn't a competitive nature about it; more so supportive. When I first moved there, the warehouse parties were so, so bonkas.

Like Dan Deacon telling 100 drunken art nerds to lie on the floor, then jump up on the count of 10 and spazz like a maniac. It was like nothing I had seen before. Not in Australia. Japan, the UK. or even NY at that time. It had a real sense of unpretentiousness and productivity with no promise of any rewards. It's great that most of the bands now are getting great label support and recognition, but with that, I think some of the magic of that time has been lost. How important is playing live for you?

Playing live is, without a doubt, the most important thing for me with this band. I always wanted to be a hard working band, like in the books I would read of bands like Black Flag and The Minutemen. I hope that aesthetic has rubbed off onto the record. We were writing tracks in the back of our heads that would make a warehouse full of kids spazz, rather than focusing on the recording. For me still, to this very day, the best shows are some shitty PA in some kid's tiny basement or warehouse with a bunch of psyched kids getting crazy. All smiles, and rad, positive energy.

Do you ever see that guy from Ace Of Cakes at any of your shows?

Nope ... Seen John Waters chilling at some of the bars we go to, though. Bmore's best export.