My Pet Rhino is the brainchild of Sydney-based musician and songwriter, Jon Maratheftis. Labelled an alternative rock project “which commands attention like a wild rhino roaming the savanna in the summer sun.” Inspiration comes from bands like There Will Be Fireworks and We Were Promised Jetpacks, as well as bigger acts such as Queens Of The Stone Age, Radiohead and The Killers, expect a combo of progressive rock elements with simple, hard-nosed alternative rock grooves and pop-driven melodies.

Their debut album, Arrows, is a culmination of 20+ years of meticulous songwriting, gathering only the catchiest of melodies, punchiest of riffs, and most creative song arrangements. Add an unwavering dedication to a “No two songs sound the same” approach, Arrows is a catch all place for all kinds of rock and roll enthusiasts.

Jon joins us for a Why I Love on one of those inspirations; Glasgow’s ‘making music at a glacial pace since 2007’ There Will Be Fireworks.

From the very first moment I heard There Will Be Fireworks, I knew this was the band for me. I first came across them one night while listening to a few tunes by We Were Promised Jetpacks on YouTube, before the algorithm gods decided to throw me in a new direction and took me to a song called, River, from the second There Will Be Fireworks album titled, The Dark, Dark Bright.

ETHEREAL, LAID BACK

The ethereal guitars and laid-back bass drum pulse in the intro – ok, that’s nice, I thought. Good start; might keep listening. Vocals come in – sweet sounding vocals singing an interesting melody in a thick Scottish accent. Love it, go on… Double time on the bass drum – Ooh nice, this is going places! Full band explodes, the vocals go up a register, drums start pounding, and guitars are layered to perfection – Boom! Within 71 seconds I had a new favourite band, and the song hadn’t even made it to the chorus yet.

I have often found it a little difficult to find new music to listen to, weirdly enough, so for me to feel like this straight away was a bit out of character. I tend to be drawn to music that both showcases unique and skilful musicianship, as well as music that surprises and thinks outside the box in terms of its construction, all while continuing to be very hook-driven and catchy. Often, even when a band is pretty good, I am not necessarily captivated by their music long term because either their songs are a little bit predictable, or their catalogue is a bit monotonous.

CLEVER SONG CONSTRUCTION

What made There Will Be Fireworks stand out to me was their clever song construction and their undeniable skills as performers. I love how River uses dynamics to differentiate parts, and how the vocal melodies and the counter melodies on the guitar work so well together. The pounding drums playing a very unique rhythm is a hook in itself, and the vocal range displayed in the tune is absolute dynamite (I still get chills every time I hear, ‘in time’, belted out in the climax of the track). Full marks for maintaining a Scottish accent in the vocals, too – I absolutely love hearing people’s actual accents in songs, not just that fake American-style singing accent that seems to be everywhere!

The influence that There Will Be Fireworks has had on my work with My Pet Rhino could not be more emphatic. Upon listening to more of their discography, I discovered that there was such a huge range to their songs – from high energy, upbeat anthems to the most delicate acoustic tunes imaginable, and everything in between. Yet through it all, every song still sounds uniquely like a ‘There Will Be Fireworks’ song. When it came to putting together the album, Arrows, with My Pet Rhino, it was important to me that I was striving to achieve this level of diversity between songs too. Musically, I would say about half of the tracks on Arrows were written after I first heard There Will Be Fireworks and were therefore inspired by something in their catalogue.

CAPTIVATED

Additionally, I was also drawn to their commitment to essentially being a part-time, recording-only project. As far as I can tell, they have played very few live shows together (especially in recent years), and they are releasing music at a rate of roughly one album per decade. Yet they still have a loyal, dedicated fan base that hangs off their every move and is completely captivated by everything they do. This gave me hope that My Pet Rhino, which is essentially just my personal passion project and currently has no other permanent members other than me, can achieve a similar level of success with this approach. Without There Will Be Fireworks showing the way, there would be no My Pet Rhino!

Here’s Is This Really How It Ends:

Our thanks to Jon for the intro to a band previously unheard of at ATB HQ, but one which has been on the sound system ever since hearing Rivers!

My Pet Rhino online: Facebook / Instagram / Youtube

You can read more from our extensive archive of Why I Love pieces from a wide array of artists on an even wider array of subjects, here.

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