Q&A with Adam McMaster

Adam McMaster is the drummer for the band ‘Slipways’ which began in Bega on the NSW south coast. Recently, the band has transitioned to Canberra and gained and then lost a bass player, Toby, in that time. The band is currently a three piece and are playing at venues across Canberra such as the Phoenix bar and Transit bar. McMaster speaks about the tough times without a fourth member of the band as well as the possibility of broadening their horizon when it comes to venues.

Where did the name ‘Slipways’ originate from?

It came from Zack (lead singer) mostly, his grandfather used to work on some slipways. We’ve had a lot of trouble naming bands in the past and that one sort of just stuck.

When bass player Toby joined, do you feel as though the band improved?

It’s lacking a bit without a bass player and we’d been looking for someone for quite a few months and when we finally found someone it was a bit of a relief and certainly adds a new dimension.

With his departure from the band last month, where to now for Slipways?

Until we can find a fourth, I guess we are just going to continue as a three piece. We will either make do with two guitars or one of the guys will jump on bass and we will be a little bit stripped back for the moment.

Are there any new songs on the horizon before you find a bass player?

There are always new songs on the horizon, we’ve got a couple that we’re working on at the moment.

There’s almost 3000 views on your music video for ‘Glue’ now on Facebook, how does it feel getting your band name out there more?

That’s actually been a really surprising thing. I think Zack wrote that song in three hours at two in the morning one night and just messaged me and said “I’ve got this song” and I thought to myself it’s actually really good. We were practicing one day and his girlfriend decided that she was going to record it and then by that evening we had a video out there and I’m actually really surprised in how much it’s blown up. It’s not giving us that much success but it’s good to just get our names out there and get something out there for people to listen to.

Is there any thought of taking the band to new locations to increase your following?

The majority of our shows have been in Bega as we are all from down there and I moved here (Canberra) a couple of years ago and we’ve been trying to get some sort of a following up here but just playing a couple of shows here and there when we can. In saying that, if we do get the opportunity to play elsewhere, we will take it with both hands and play anywhere we can.

Your last gig was at the Phoenix Bar, how was it playing there for the first time?

Phoenix is a really good venue. We’ve all watched bands there for the past couple of years and we all really enjoy it so it was really good to finally be able to play there.