Back in September, I wrote a review of a new up-and-coming Melbourne based band, Juke Kartel, and how they are taking the indie world by storm. Now, these lads are touring North America before they embark on an insane tour spanning two continents with Rockstar: Supernova (inclusive of Jason Newsted, Tommy Lee, Gilby Clark, and Toby’s mansion bestie, Lukas Rossi). The lucky lassie that I am, I had the opportunity to chat with Toby Rand, vocalist for Juke Kartel, just as the band is launching into superstardom. How cool is that? We chatted at length about various topics from Juke Kartel to fellow Rockstar: Supernova contestant, Dilana’s, demise and resurrection, and from Mike Patton to (my personal fave) "spooning", all of which made for great conversation, however admittedly, I am way too lazy to indulge my fellow Hot Indie News readers with all of the juicy details (that’s just too much typing and, well, his Aussie accent is pretty thick at times) so I’ll just provide you with some highlights that I found rather amusing. Oh, how I love my job...

Haleemon: You’ve been on quite a whirlwind adventure! How have the past 6 months affected both you personally and the band as a whole?

Toby Rand: At the moment we’re just taking advantage of all of the benefits that have happened in the last 6 months. It isn’t everyday that you get exposure like we have, and as far as the band goes, we’re just so excited! We’re driving around here in a little van at the moment. We’ve got our tour manager driving...and our surrogate mother. It’s just a lot of fun and we want to do it this way, like rather than doing some shopping malls and playing cover songs. We wanted to get the band and just do the hard jobs, you know, and hittin’ all the places we can and do small venues and just meet people.

H: How do you think the editing of [CBS show] Rockstar: Supernova played into the decision of the winner?

TR: TV is the entertainment industry and it’s a reality TV show not designed to be pretty. The whole time there’s gonna be drama and if your gonna act like a cockhead on TV, they’re gonna film it and they’re gonna show it. That’s the way I see it. I don’t remember smashing a glass into someone’s head and splitting their head open. I don’t remember crying and screaming on camera. I don’t remember anything that I did like that. The ones that did do it they got to understand that when they signed that paper they are liable to be seen on TV. I’ve spoken to Dilana about this and she’s... we’re talking about Dilana now I guess?

H: Well, I guess it sort of turned that way and that’s fine.

TR: I’ve spoken to her about it and instantly she’s like ‘it sucks and I can’t believe they’re portraying me like this and stuff’ and I did say to her, ‘listen, you did it and so they’re gonna show it’ and she’s like, ‘yeah I understand, but it seems like it’s been the main focus of the whole show’ and it did become a main focus and for that I think she did get some rough editing but as far as how she feels now, from what I’ve spoken to her, she feels good. She came out smelling great in the end. She came in second, she’s got a band together now, and she’s got that bad girl image which is not a bad thing sometimes.

H: No, not at all, especially for rock and roll.

H: As a fickle music lover, with your typical A.D.D when it comes to entertainment, I can honestly say that my attention span for an artist is relatively short if they are not constantly in the forefront. What is Juke Kartel’s prime objective now to prevent being forgotten in a year?

TR: Just keep on touring and the album will be coming out at the end of January/February and I don’t think it’s gonna be an album that people are gonna go ‘uh, a reality TV album,’ it’s gonna be these are songs that have been crafted and works well. They’re gonna see it’s gonna be seen on MTV. You know my band, we’ve got great players, we’ve got tight acts, we’re energetic, [and] my boys are very good looking, that helps also (laughs).

H: And you have the accent and Lord knows all the American girls love the accent, so you have that going for you too.

TR: (Laughs) From what we’ve been told so far, yeah. I don’t know, if you got any marketing ploys just feel free to send them to me and I’ll review them.

H: Done.

TR: We’re gonna stay up there and we’re gonna flood the market with hopefully songs that people are gonna love, and we believe them so you know as long as we’re doing that, I’m happy.

H: What sort of bands, in an ideal world or a sort of grand utopia, would you be touring with?

TR: In an ideal world, it would be the Foo Fighters... and Velvet Revolver because I love Scott Weiland.

H: Who doesn’t?

TR: Audioslave, all these young bands as well. We don’t really fall into the Panic At The Disco or Fall Out Boys- we don’t fall into that category.

H: That’s a good thing actually.

TR: I think it’s a good thing for me because I think it’s a fad. BUT that being said, those bands do reinvent themselves every year and it would be interesting to see what happens to them like the My Chemical Romances... It’s interesting to see what young bands do these days to try and get themselves out there and I think it’s cool.

H: If I could make a suggestion, if you could tour with Peeping Tom, that would be amazing!

TR: Mike Patton, mmmm...

H: Love him.

TR: If I could just stand in the same room as Mike Patton I’d be happy. I’d probably try to make out with him as well (Laughs).

H: I may beat you to it but that’s ok.

H: Some people want to know how you came up with "evs". I know you said it was an Australian saying and it’s funny because you say "evs" and I actually say "whatevs."

TR: That was editing at its best. What I did say on the show was that it was an Australian thing that I made up... I was in a bar and someone was going "whatevs whatevs" And I said, "yeah, evs". And then that was it, that was just that. It was as simple as a stupid word can get and I was telling everyone in the house about it like Lukas and all those guys and we all started using it amongst ourselves in the house and that was it. It just kinda happened that way and I was just getting pissed off with all the behind the scenes bullshit because people were like oh you know, "Toby you need to be more edgy" or some shit like that and I just like wrote "EVS" across my chest to say get fucked.

H: You’re like go screw yourself. I’m edgy and here’s a news flash, I came in third, so learn about it.

TR: What’s this?

H: I was saying, you’re like all the drama, all the bullshit that’s going on, and in the end and you came out on top.

TR: I know, it’s hilarious right?

H; The only thing you can hold against you is that you ran around a pool naked and well I don’t think anyone’s complaining, so good lookin’ out

TR: If any guys give me shit about that I’ll just go ‘Are you getting laid because of that? (laughs)

H: Exactly, exactly!

TR: That’s fuckin’ funny. I’m getting carried away now.

H: No, good times good times.

TR: Is there any gossip you want to know?

H: Any gossip?

TR: That had you rackin’ your brains on the show?

H: Ummm.... What kind of debauchery was going on behind the scenes that was never shown? Did anyone hook up?

TR: Yeah some people did hook up on the show.

H: Contestants with contestants?

TR: (Laughs) Yeah, contestants with contestants. Contestants with catering staff. contestant with random girl at the bar/clubs, contestants with production, maybe. Yeah there was a lot of stuff. I was the only single guy on the show and there was only one other single girl and we didn’t hook up.

H: The two of you didn’t hook up?

TR: No.

H: Ah, that’s lame.

TR: No that means that people were cheating on their partner.

H: Oh! Fair enough.

TR: Yeah, so... I’m not gonna give any names away, it’s just all speculation anyway.

H: And that’s fine, and I wont ask.

TR: I’ve got some good footage anyway.

H: If you could submit it to Hot Indie News, that’d be great.

TR: Off the record, I’ll tell you all about it if you’re really interested.

H: Ok, I’ll ask you tomorrow.

TR: Me and Lukas hooked up...

H: You and Lukas hooked up?

TR: (Laughs) Yeah.

H: That would be an interesting couple I think, and that would make for great gossip.

TR: We have to discuss who’s gonna wear the most makeup.

H: And who was the aggressor, and that sort of thing and if you guys spooned and who was the big spoon. There are a lot of details that you’d need to explain.

TR: You seem to know a lot about spooning, I like that.

And so the conversation digressed. Loves it, that’s h. Stay tuned, as these gents are hot like fi-re! My girls and I hung out with them, drank, and did shots (of what? Who remembers?) after their show in Hoboken, NJ and all of the Juke Kartel bandmates were amazingly humble and down to earth (could it be because I’m part of the media??? I’d like to think it's because we’re uber rad to be around, ha!) So you better see them NOW before they get sooo big (which they will!) that they will be forced to be untouchable.