A car park in an industrial estate on the outskirts of Byron Bay seems an odd place for a jam session, but indie rock band MT Warning insists the makeshift rehearsal space is ideal.
“It’s just the easiest place to lug in and lug out of,” says laid-back frontman Mikey Bee.
Bee grew up in Shepparton in country Victoria but moved north to the beachside town to develop his music.
MT Warning was formed in 2012 when he was hit up by cult surf filmmaker Taylor Steele after a solo gig.
Bee recalls how Steele offered pointers on enhancing his music experiences. “We just started talking and had a few beers,” Bee recalls. “It was a great start to a long friendship.”
The band’s name comes from a signpost that reads Mount Warning, a spot near Cape Byron that is Australia’s easternmost point and the first place to see the sunrise.
“We wanted it [the name] to be ominous and bold, but beautiful,” Bee says. “We liked its size and its boldness … a lot of the music we make is based around messages and life stories.”
Bee says the band’s point of difference is its use of film and storytelling when creating ‘‘cinematic rock ’n’ roll’’. The band supported The Rubens at an early gig in 2012 and wrote the song
Sinking Sun for Corona’s From Where You’d Rather Be advertising campaign.
Last year, MT Warning toured the US and Europe, and it’s been booked to perform at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, in March.
The band scored a spot on this year’s Laneway Festival bill in Footscray after opening for the Temper Trap last year and catching the eye of that outfit’s manager and festival organiser, Danny Rogers.
MT Warning is playing one of the opening slots on the program, but that doesn’t faze Bee.
For Laneway, the band will strip back to a three-piece: Bee on guitar and vocals, Jackson Briggs on bass, and Colin O’Reilly on drums.
“It becomes a bit more rough and ready and intimate,” Bee says.
“I get excited about being on earlier because you work harder to get people excited.
“It’s going to be amazing to be able to watch some of my favourite bands across five different venues and spaces.”
Bee is unsure where the band will end up but says the journey is part of the fun.
“The vision’s still the same … to make powerful music and play it to as many people as possible,” he said.
“The places it’s taken us already have been incredible.”
MT Warning plays at St Jerome’s Laneway Festival at the Footscray Community Arts Centre this Saturday.
