Do you remember your first live concert? The overwhelming anticipation as you awaited entry? Or the nerves that overtook your stomach as you queued up outside in the cold among friends? The realisation that an artist was coming to life, outside of a realm of television screens, radio speakers, or posters hung in admiration throughout your bedroom was practically electric. These people were real, living, breathing and you were about to witness them perform the songs which you devotedly recited in the lead up to this very moment.

This week on We Are The Music Makers, we delved into the mind of Patty Walters from UK based pop-rock collective As It Is. Set to take Australian stages by storm late September with their national headlining tour, following what has so far been a massive year for the ensemble playing the likes of Warped Tour, Reading and Leeds Festivals on top of an extensive run of dates globally.

Are there any inspirations that have affected your live performance?
It’s difficult to only name a few! Foremost, bands such as Story of the Year, Taking Back Sunday, The Chariot and Letlive. They perform with a raw and intense energy have greatly influenced my stage presence. I try to give the short amount of time we have onstage everything ounce of energy I have; if I leave the stage too exhausted to stand or speak for a while, I’ll generally feel good about how it went.

If you could see any album played live in its entirety what album would it be?
I’d love to watch Green Day play American Idiot in its entirety. It’s such a well-executed album and story, it would be amazing to hear it all play out live.

If you could sit down with any artists living or dead who would it be and why?
Paul Simon is one of my all-time favourite musicians and songwriters, so to sit down and chat with him would be pretty special.

If you could sub yourself into any band, who would it be and why?
I’d like to sub myself into Metallica just so I could play to a crowd of 1.6 million people in Moscow.

Best memory surrounding a live performance?
Playing Reading & Leeds Festival was an enormously surreal experience for all of us. Throughout our set, we each kept remembering that this huge and crazy crowd was there for us. We all had the time of our lives on that stage and were reduced to emotional wrecks by the end.

Describe your Warped Tour experience in once sentence?
We met countless amazing people and barely survived.

Best live concert you have attended?
I went to see Beck and Girl Talk with my Dad and it was one of the greatest gigs I’ve ever been to.

Who was the first artist you saw live, and what do you remember most about that experience?
One of the first shows I remember going to was Brian Setzer with my family. We went to a restaurant before the show and coincidentally sat next to Brian’s sound engineer and spoke to him. He was kind enough to let us watch the entire show from the sound desk and I was elated and mesmerized by the performance. According to him, I turned to my dad, pointed to the band and said, “I want to do that”, so I suppose that’s where it all started.

If you could construct an ultimate lineup for a gig who would be in it and why?
In no particular order, I’d have Death Cab For Cutie, Jimmy Eat World, The Wonder Years, Motion City Soundtrack, and Dashboard Confessional. These are some of the bands that influence me the most lyrically, it’d be a pretty cool evening to watch them all perform on one stage.

Don’t miss your chance to see the explosive Pop-Rock powerhouse As It Is, grace Australian stages this September and October, with a series of dates set to convert legions of Australian Pop-Rock fans, as they further reiterate why they are a band to watched.

The Virtue Agency Presents: As It Is
W/Special Guests With Confidence

Tuesday 22nd September
YMCA HQ Perth AA

Thursday 24th September
The Brightside Brisbane 18+

Friday 25th September
Trinity Hall Brisbane AA

Saturday 26th September
The Lair Sydney 18+

Sunday 27th September
The Lair Sydney AA

Tuesday 29th September
Hombre Records Newcastle AA

Thursday 1st October
The Evelyn Hotel Melbourne 18+

Friday 2nd October
The Evelyn Hotel Melbourne AA

Saturday 3rd October
Fowlers Live Adelaide AA