Tin Alley are breaking the ice with new fans

ON their last national tour, the stages and venues Tin Alley were set to grace were left empty.

Fans eager to see them live sat at home twiddling their thumbs.

And the Melbourne rock trio sat at home wondering what to do next.

Just days before they were set to leave on their first major tour, drummer Pete Hofbauer was involved in a motorcycle accident.

Frontman and guitarist Jim Siourthas thought that could have been the end of Tin Alley.

“Pete was out of action for a few months and we had to cancel all our shows,” Siourthas said.

With Jim’s brother Paul on bass, all is well in Tin Alley, and the band can’t wait to hit the road.

“It is really good to finally get out there now with Pete in one piece,” Siourthas revealed.

As with most bands, touring is what it’s all about for Tin Alley who thrive on sharing their music with as many people as possible.

“My favourite thing about touring is meeting different people everywhere and having the opportunity to travel around,” says Siourthas.

“We went to Hobart and played a show and we had a great time doing sightseeing and being tourists.
“We wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do that if we weren’t touring.”

Releasing their debut album Every Turn in October 2007, Tin Alley have enjoyed regular airplay on stations like Triple J and 3RRR and have acquired a dedicated fan base around the country.

In June this year, Tin Alley released their new single ‘Polar Bear’.

When asked why they chose ‘Polar Bear’ as their second single and third release in nine months, Siourthas’ response was simple.

“It’s a great song. It is funky and it gets people moving,” he says.

It also has a strange name and an interesting story behind it, which it seems the band love to talk about.

“My brother Paul was out one night at a Melbourne club and a hot looking girl came up next to him,” Siourthas said. “He turned to his friends and asked them what a good icebreaker was.”

“She heard the question and turned around to him and said, ‘Polar bears. Polar bears break ice’. She walked off and Paul went home and wrote ‘Polar Bear’.”

Tin Alley’s sound is as diverse as their song titles and their influences have been plucked from a range of genres, in particular rock.
“I’d say the biggest influences would be Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, The Doors and Smashing Pumpkins. There’s so many bands I listen to the list could go on forever,” says Siourthas.

Like so many other successful musicians, Siourthas knew he wanted to play in a band from the moment he picked up a guitar at the age of seven.

“I was in my first band when I was about 14 and have been in and out of bands since then,” he says.

According to Siourthas, when Tin Alley were still playing in each others garage, they had not yet found their own style.

“I think in the early days we were struggling to have our own individual sound. Instead of writing our own songs, we were subconsciously copying other bands sounds and styles,” he said.

As time goes on, Tin Alley have thankfully developed their own signature sound according to Siourthas.

“Music is like wine,” he explains. “The more you work at it the more it matures. Our music is reaching a much higher standard as time goes on and has definitely changed since we started out.”