By Crimson Kitten

CK:  You're a Melbourne dance-music duo, creating music that's “unencumbered by genre or scene”, explain this a little more.
RR: It basically means we don’t want to pigeon-hole ourselves in terms of our sound (sh*t, off to a nice and original start… sorry!)  You could probably put us loosely in with what quite a few indie-dance acts are doing at the moment, although definitely with our own spin.  Plus, Hadley has stated emphatically that he won’t wear skinny leg jeans.  
More seriously though, I think our music is something that appeals to a broad cross-section of the wider music community - from club kids to country kids, young and old, people who do the 9-5 and work on their garden of a weekend, and the kids who cut the rug (i.e. shred/ dance) Thursday through Sunday – I think that’s what we’re about in a strange kind of way - Reality. Whatever that means to you…

CK:  Isn't it difficult to create something for popular culture that isn't part of an existing scene?
RR: I guess that’s what’s exciting about music and even popular culture more generally.  It’s an evolving and at times fickle creature.  There’s always the potential for it to embrace a fresh take.

CK:  You two played clarinet together when you were kids?  Cute!
RR: Yeah – there are still some heated late night “discussions” as to who had the lead soloist parts in the school band.  The school chess team on the other hand was never quite as blurry.
It’s kind of a nice story because we then went on to form a funk-rock band in high school before going our separate ways for a while.  We’re lucky to have had a sort of on-again-off-again musical relationship where we’ve developed a real understanding of each other musically.
 
CK:  Alasdair, you've been DJ-ing all over the place in the past, what made you come back to create what Running On Reality does?
RR:  While it was an amazing opportunity and experience at the time, it’s easy to get caught up in that world and get slightly distracted by it all in terms of the bigger picture.  Running On Reality for me became exactly that, taking a step back from the surreal nightclub/ festival world, getting a real job in Melbourne and sucking it all up, really.  It was difficult at first but it made me realise what I really wanted to do with my life.  So it was back to Uni (audio engineering), working 2 jobs part time but doing what I love at the same time – which is back to writing and playing music.  But a lot more of my own music than Djing, which is really exciting.
 
 CK:  And Hadley, same for you.  From live band acts to now part of Running On Reality, whats your side of the story?
RR:  I’ve wanted to be a part of something like Running on Reality for years, since bands like the Avalanches and the Resin Dogs got me excited about the potential for crossover between live bands and dance music.  Years have past and I’ve been lucky enough to play and tour with some great bands.  The opportunity to approach dance music finally surfaced when Al moved to Melbourne.  I think an emphasis on live performance is something that we both believe is at the core of Running on Reality.

CK:  The show is definitely dynamic, and every performance is unique.  Was this part of the original vision for your act?
RR:  We were talking about this the other day actually – I think a lot of what we’re about has become clearer in the last few months.  While always having faith in what we’ve been doing, the live shows are starting to take proper shape along with both song writing and sound, which is refreshing.  We hope to both expand and evolve as time goes by. We can say it here first that the planets are aligned for a special guest appearance at Red Bennies which should be fun.

CK:  Will we catch you buying drinks at the Red Bennies bar?  What's a favourite?
RR: Have heard some pretty special things about the cocktail menu they have going on in there and looking at the website The Campari Cosmopolitan looks quite delicious  - and it is Chapel St – would be rude not to.
I would like to see Hadley drink Baileys from a shoe at some point – but that may only happen if he truly finds the funk that night… We’ll see what happens.  
Thanks for your time CK, we hope to see you at the show, peace.
RoR Xx

Running On Reality will perform as part of Burlesque Rhythm and Reality at Red Bennies Friday 20th August