Estimated Time of Arrival: An Interview With Ambulance LTD

By: Julie Simmons

Saturday January 22, 2005

Guitarist, Benji Lysaght, and bass guitarist/backing vocalist, Matt Dublin, make no apologies for borrowing styles especially when they seem to subscribe to the theory that art is evolutionary.
Upon hearing a live performance of "Anecdote," a nearby concertgoer detects a recognizable riff and tattles his discovery to a friend by singing a familiar chorus, "Sounds like Rod Stewart's 'Young Hearts Be Free Tonight'." Even if Ambulance Ltd is prone to wearing its influences on its sleeve, is this really such a bad thing if it's done extraordinarily well and, with a sense of humor? Guitarist, Benji Lysaght, and bass guitarist/backing vocalist, Matt Dublin, make no apologies for borrowing styles especially when they seem to subscribe to the theory that art is evolutionary.

Julie Simmons: I'm sure you're aware that people are comparing you to about 20 different, well-known bands like The Romones, David Bowie, Spiritualized, The Stones and The Beatles. How fair is it to compare?

Lysaght: Well, you can say that the song "Primitive" is deeply rooted in the Velvet Underground. But, I prefer to think that it's taking ideas that might have come from an open sound form and then we restructure it. It's similar to the way the Beatles referenced different styles of music and put them into popular song formats like on Rubber Soul .

Dublin: The Beatles started it, but they passed the torch on to us -- it is our destiny.

So, are you saying that your songs are band-inspired, song-inspired or neither?

Dublin: It's beyond songs and bands. It's more about pulling from musical genres. Benji and Darren [Beckett -- drummer] were -- and still are -- serious, serious jazz guitarists.

Lysaght: I prefer to keep my failures to myself.

How does having an album with varied genres influence live performances? Is it a challenge or is variety a bonus?

Dublin: Audiences are intelligent, but they need to be able to get a grip on you, until they experience your music for what it is.

How do you make it coherent?

Dublin: Through the songwriting. Or, maybe it's the drop set and that there are no costume changes.

Lysaght: Ultimately, we're looking forward to developing a band sound. Some of it's writing and some of it's arranging the orchestration.

Dublin: Yes, and our next record is going to be a concept album about space. Each planet is going to have it's own song.