Q&A: (The Datsuns )

New Zealand rock quartet The Datsuns are what you would consider a good live band.

Formed in 1996, The Datsuns -- Dolf de Borst (vocals, bass), Phil Buscke (guitar), Christian Livingstone (guitar) and Mat Odment (drums) - released its major-label self-titled debut on V2 Records in 2002, long after the band had already established itself as a persistent and talented live act.

The boys, all of whom use the word "Datsun" as their last name, met at school in Cambridge and originally formed the group Trinket.

Prior to inking a deal with V2, The Datsuns had become well-versed in the art of the live performance, and became musicians addicted to the road with their constant touring. During this time, the band put out dozens of vinyl singles on its own label called Hell Squad Records.

Buzz about the band began to circulate in 2001 when The Datsuns toured Australia and then decided to bring its show to London.

During the first leg of their English tour, the boys crashed on friends' couches until major record labels caught wind via British music journalists, some of whom described them as "genius." By the end of the tour, numerous record labels showed a strong interest in signing the group with one company in the running footing their hotel bills and another label flying an executive overseas from New York City.

The Datsuns eventually signed to V2 in 2002, and since then de Borst, Buscke, Livingstone and Odment have continued to improve their stage presence and playing while everything around them has changed.

In mid-September, The Datsuns recorded and released its sophomore album "Outta Sight/ Outta Mind" with the help of one of their influences - the legendary John Paul Jones, bassist of the 1970s rock band Led Zeppelin.

The Beach Reporter recently talked with Livingstone about the touring life and his thoughts on being in a band a part of what journalists are now calling the new rock revival.

The Beach Reporter: From a technical standpoint, you seem to have the most knowledge in the band. How do you think you've maybe affected the band's overall style or the individual styles of your bandmates?

Christian Livingstone: When I joined I maybe knew a little more about music and technically was better but I think everyone has kind of grown up a lot since then. I think at the time I kind of took what the rest of the band had - a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm - and I kind of channeled that into a different direction. I gave it an outlet to what was previously a blasting wall of noise. I sort of harnessed it a little bit and pulled in the reins, but that was a long time ago. Since then, I think everybody has slipped into their own role in the band and everybody does their thing.

Some critics have said that The Datsuns are one of the new players in a new rock revival scene. What are your thoughts on the notion that music is experiencing a new rock revival?
I don't think there is any such thing as a rock revival and when they call it a revolution it's an even more stupid term since basically rock 'n' roll has never gone away. There's always been tons of rock 'n' roll bands playing everywhere - in garages, in clubs - and people listening to and enjoying rock 'n' roll music. If anything has changed it's that now magazines are starting to write about it but previously they were kind of ignoring it for other genres of music. I just think it's weird when people ask us about it all the time: 'What do you think about the rock revival?' What revival? Nothing is different. We've been playing rock 'n' roll and hanging out with other people who have been playing rock 'n' roll for years. It's just the same for us now, and it's just kind of a media perception that rock 'n' roll has changed.

Yeah, I don't get it.

No, neither do we.

In terms of lyrics, compared to rock 'n' roll groups like AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, The Datsuns' lyrical content is not as sexually assertive as some of the lyrics of those bands. Since the band's rise to fame, do you see that changing for the next batch of songs?

(Laughs.) Ah, well, that's kind of the classic story of a band, that making a record is all about the exploits on the road but I don't think we are that kind of band. We always consider ourselves the underdogs, people who get tread on as opposed to the people who tread on other people. I think with the first record, instead of being sexually assertive, we wrote songs from the perspective of the person who has been hurt by bad relationships. The second album, I think is more about being lonely on the road since we at one point had been on tour for a year and a half. Back then, we thought that instead of writing about women on the road we would write about our girlfriends we miss back home. We seem to have a slightly skewed view of what traditional rock 'n' roll is and I don't know why that is.

Music articles in the past have sort of dramatized your life as musicians but the band simply seems to be made up of four guys who like to play music. Is that a fair assessment?

Yeah, I think so, I think that's pretty much on the money - four guys who really like to play music and have done it for a long time. Nothing has really changed but everything around us has changed. It's just rock 'n' roll. We really love it and it gives us a great thrill to play it. We enjoy it when other people come to the show and have a good time. That's what it is about. We are not a band that uses music as a platform for political views, we are not out to change the world. We're just out to play some really good shows, write some really good songs - hopefully, songs people will find catchy enough to go out and buy the album to play at home and enjoy - and then come to the show and enjoy it as well. That's what we used to do and still do, and now we just want to do that for other people.

The band spent a lot of time playing live shows before its deal with V2, and so The Datsuns seem more like a live band than anything else.

Oh yeah, we like to pretend we are road warriors. We've been on the road for so long that's all we know. That's basically the best forum for rock 'n' roll, it's what it's all about. The album is just kind of this thing that came along because technology made it possible to capture that live sound that you can play in your home. We like making records but they are kind of secondary to the show. We wouldn't be out on the road as much as we are if we didn't like playing live.

Well, it's refreshing because sometimes a band can make a really good record but when it performs those songs live it can be disappointing.

Yeah, that's the weird thing because as good as your album should be, the live shows should be even better. I'm always disappointed if I buy a record and then see the band and it's not as good as the record. It should be better than the record - it should have more energy, more projection and the chemistry of that interaction among bandmates. It adds that extra thrill that the record doesn't have.