The Beards are one of the most-anticipated Australian bands playing at the One Movement Showcase Music Festival. Need proof? Both Sarah Blasko and The John Steel Singers named them as the band they’re most looking forward to seeing. Nathaniel Beard, bassist/vocalist for the Adelaide-based folk-rock quartet, answers four questions for One Movement Word.

Nathaniel, what’s your favourite song this week?

The problem with songs is that they’re too often about mundane subjects like love and politics and feelings. My bandmates and I are really only interested in songs about beards, because to us, beards are everything. I also I only really enjoy movies, art and conversations if they are about beards.

Having said that, I think my favourite song this week is a song written by us called ‘Beards Don’t Kill People, People With Beards Kill People’.

What do you hope to gain from the One Movement festival and conference?

Our main aim is to spread our bearded message to the west coast and the music industry. The bearded man is an oppressed man. He finds it harder to find a job and harder to find a partner. Our band exists to provide a voice for that bearded man who will not shave just because his boss or his wife or the Gillette razor company tells him to.

The music industry is as much a part of the problem the rest of the western world – just look at Kings Of Leon – they shaved off their beards and suddenly, the music industry started taking them seriously, paying a lot of attention to them and they became massive. But their earlier songs were better- the ones written when they had beards.

Music should not be allowed to prosper on the proviso that the artist responsible for the music shaves hair that naturally grows on his (or her) face.

Which artists’ showcase sets are you most looking forward to watching?

Passenger (from the UK) and Jackson Firebird (from Victoria). Artists who really know what having a beard is all about.

One Movement’s tagline is ‘Artist, Industry, Fan United.’ What do you think needs to change in order to unite the music industry with its artists and fans?

We won’t be happy so long as the bearded find themselves in a minority group. It really is about artists, the industry and fans uniting. The fans need beards, the artists need beards, the record company executives need beards, and you need a beard. This shaving business is nothing but a ridiculous, offensive fad. You don’t see lions shaving off their manes, so let’s all stop shaving off our beards and accept the beard as the beautiful, naturally-occurring adornment that it is.

We’re really looking forward to playing the festival. We hope to instill a sense of pride in the bearded and a sense of shame in the shaven. We also want the shaven to know that it’s not too late to change their wicked ways. Every beardless face is a potential beard, and the only time you’re not growing a beard, is when you’re shaving.

The Beards play the One Movement Showcase Music Festival, Octover 17-18 2009. Check closer to the date for an exact playing time and location; click here for the current timetable.