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Dallas Crane.
 Pat Bourke has just woken up, as is the wont of rock stars after a big night. How does he feel after his bender? "Fucking shithouse! I had a massive night last night... Just went out boozing with some friends," laughs the Dallas Crane bassist.
Despite his big night, Bourke manages to muster up the energy to be genuinely enthusiastic about the 'Tough Guys Don't Dance' tour. "I'm really looking forward to it because of all the other bands that are on this tour," he says. "The D4 - they're old friends of mine, and also Young Heart Attack. We met at the Meredith Music Festival in Victoria, and just hit it off. They're great bands, so the tour's just going to be awesome."
Having toured on the Big Days Out this year, the band are still touring their self-titled album quite strongly. When asked whether there's another record in the works, Bourke is hesitant.
"Whenever we're in Sydney, we quite often drop in at Albert Studios, and we record stuff," he explains. "We haven't got any definite plans to do a record; we're just going to keep working, keep touring this record, and probably go overseas after this tour."
Where to overseas? "Probably Europe, I think. There's no definite plans, but there's been a bit of interest from different places... If we get along well with Young Heart Attack on this tour, they did quite well in Europe, so maybe we'd go on tour with them," he muses.
Bourke also has his finger in another pie; The Wrights. "That's why I'm fucked up; because of them last night," he laughs. "I think everyone's going on tour, and Nic's going overseas and we're not going to see each other for a while, so we had a bit of a booze last night, just to say, you know, we've enjoyed each other's company."
Clearly the band are not only a good performance group but also good friends. "They're all good players and they're just good guys," he replies. "There's a good lack of ego in the band... It surprised me too! Everyone plays really well and it's great fun and I think everyone's respective bands are good or they're doing well, and I think that's why there's no ego," he continues. "The Wrights thing is there just purely for fun, to do the straight songs, to raise money for Stevie [Wright] and whatever charity, and everyone's in it for the right reasons; everyone feels privileged to be asked to do it."
Speaking of bands doing well, Dallas Crane have come up the ranks in the past couple of years to be seen as one of the best live rock acts on tour. Not only that, they're some of the nicest rockers you'll meet.
"It's been good; all the hard work has paid off. We're selling more of the record now than we were when it first came out; it's just a slow build up, which is good for us," Bourke says. "I don't want it to explode - the faster you go up, the quicker you come down but it's been slow, hard work for us, and we just feel like it's all paying off."
It certainly appears to be paying off; so much so that the Melburnians are playing their show at Heaven - an indication of faith by the group's management that pulling a big crowd won't be an overly difficult task. "It's just always going forwards," Bourke says of the increasing venue capacities. "In Melbourne we're doing two Hi-Fi's [shows]; in Sydney we're doing the Metro, so it's kind of the next step, I suppose. We're just sort of moving it forward; keeping it moving, with bigger venues."
So what are Bourke's necessities when touring? "I like staying anywhere that's got a toaster and a kettle," he says simply. "They're the best places to stay because you have your vegemite on toast in the morning and cup of tea. Bloody beautiful! And a washing machine, too. You always end up with a bag full of stinking clothes, and some places don't have washing machines. A washing machine's a bonus!"
Ann Marie Sosnowski
 | Dallas Crane play at Heaven on Fri 11 March with The D4 and Young Heart Attack. |
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