Original photo courtesy of Helta Skelta Records. Handmade mixed-media art by B.
Cold Meat may have released THE punk record of 2020 with their new LP Hot & Flustered on Helta Skelta Records. Their sound resides somewhere in the realm of bands like !Action Pact!, Vice Squad, Crass and early Rubella Ballet. We interviewed them to find out more about one of our favourite Australian punk bands.
When did you first discover your passion for music?
ASH (vocals): My family listened to a lot of music growing up and we were all encouraged to play instruments. I played drums in school and always wanted to be in a band but couldn’t be arsed practicing. It wasn’t until getting into punk and Feminism that I actually developed any real passion for playing music I think.
What’s the best thing about making your own music?
ASH: Being creative with friends and getting to play with great bands!
KYLE (guitarist): For me, probably just the release. I need something to channel my anger and frustration which I can’t express through other forms. That and all the people you meet and make connections with along the way who share a common outlook.
Photo courtesy of Cold Meat.
Growing up, who were your musical influences?
KYLE: As a young teen Black Flag, Misfits, Pennywise. Anything that was on the Crusty Demons MX vids.
What brought Cold Meat together?
KYLE: We just got talking about it at parties. Me and Ash had been jamming with her playing bass I think and myself on drums but then we talked to Char and she was keen to play drums so I jumped on guitar and we got Tim in to play bass. We just wanted to do something new that was pretty primitive, raw and energetic, like the late ’70s and early ’80s DIY punk had been. Char had never played drums before and Tim hadn’t played bass. We just wanted to create some music with the raw energy which comes from not knowing how to play your instrument but just needing to get something out.
Can you tell us about the first time you performed?
KYLE: I can’t actually remember it. It was a gig at 208 though. House show. I think it went alright ha.
TIM (bass): It was actually the first time I’d ever played live so I was incredibly nervous! Thankfully it was just in a lounge room surrounded by friends.
Photo courtesy of Cold Meat.
Congratulations! You’re LP, Hot & Flustered, was released yesterday (March 20); what were some of the things inspiring it?
ASH: As far as lyrics go it’s a bit of a mix between silly, tongue-in-cheek songs about petty, personal grievances and more serious, sincere songs.
KYLE: After doing a few 7”s we just wanted to do a full length. So we spent a year or so working on that. It’s not a whole lot different from the 7”s I don’t think. Just the kinda usual inspiration – anger, and frustration with current political and social issues and the utterly inadequate ideas and frameworks poised to “solve” these issues, and bands like the Electric Eels, Gang of Four, The Bags. At least for my part.
In the spirit of your record’s title; what’s something that gets you hot and flustered?
ASH: Kyle when he wears his fishnet top and pleather pants.
Is your songwriting collaborative? Tell us about your process.
KYLE: Yeah. I usually just come into band practice with an idea for a song and then we all jam on it and add our parts.
What’s one of your favourite Cold Meat lyrics?
KYLE: “He’s sucking the cock of Cobain” is a pretty good one. Or, “I’m going to spew in your ZZ top hat, because I hate ZZ Top”.
TIM: “He wants to lick your walls and he wants you on all fours” from Crawlers. I must admit I did think Ashley was singing balls for a while. This is not the first time I’ve misheard the lyrics.
Were there any challenges creating the album?
KYLE: Not really. Cold Meat is a pretty easy band to work with. It was more of a struggle writing for an album rather than just a 7” though. Trying to write songs that would fit conceptually and flow.
TIM: The recording went pretty smooth this time. We did attempt to record some noise parts using a vacuum cleaner, metal, glass and a hammer but didn’t end up using it on the final mix. It was still really fun smashing stuff and a great way to wind down after the recording.
Cold Meat are from Perth; how does your environment influence your art and creativity?
KYLE: For me, it probably doesn’t too much. We’re so easily connected now with social media and online content that I’m probably more influenced by what’s going on in the US, UK or Melbourne and Sydney right now. Although of course we did have the Victims, Scientists, Cheap Nasties etc. and I’m a huge fan of that stuff.
The LP’s amazing art work is by Jen Calandra; how did you come to her work? What’s the story of the cover?
KYLE: I think we just came across her work online. I instantly loved it though. I initially came across her black and white illustrations and thought they were perfect for punk art. Although they reach far beyond it too. We just asked her if she’d want to do the artwork for the album and she’s was keen. So, given we were all familiar with her work and loved it, we said she could do whatever she wanted. She came back with an idea and we went with it. I suppose you’d have to ask her if you want some deeper analysis. There’s certainly a feminist bent though.
You’re feminists (everyone in the Gimmie office is too!); when did you first start to realise the importance of feminism?
ASH: I don’t remember a specific turning point but I think going to uni and being made aware of inequalities between men and women in a range of contexts shifted my worldview. I think I was extremely sheltered before leaving school and home. I became angrier and angrier the more I found out about the astonishing rates of domestic and sexual violence, widespread economic disparities, disproportionate representation of women in politics, art, music etc. This was around the same time I discovered Feminist punk, literature and art, and started making connections with super engaged and inspiring women like Charlotte [Cold Meat’s drummer]. I think Feminism is about being vigilant in recognising and confronting inequality but also trying to ensure that the hard work of the Feminists who came before us is not forgotten or worse, undone.
TIM: The Riot Grrrl bands of the ’90s were probably my first introduction to feminism. This was in high school when my friends and I were all discovering music and punk together. Someone lent me a Bikini Kill album and it all started from there!
Photo courtesy of Cold Meat.
What have you been listening to lately?
ASH: Special Interest, Soakie, Ubik and Fitness Womxn.
KYLE: Lately, the Annihilated demo, the Electric Chair 7”s, Sandford Clark resissue. A lot of Venom and Darkthrone too. I dunno, guess it’s a sign of the times.
TIM: Nylex, Paranoias, Ubik
What do you enjoy doing when not creating music?
ASH: I teach art at a high school full time which is pretty great and if I get any time outside of that I like to try and make my own.
KYLE: Mostly reading. Study takes up around 90% of my time, that and procrastination. Trying to finish my PhD. I guess I enjoy that sometimes.
We love mixtapes! Alien Nosejob’s music reminds us of one. Its genre-less and fun and we never know what the next song might sound like; it’s exciting to listen to their releases unfold, especially latest LP, Suddenly Everything Is Twice As Loud out on Anti Fade. Alien Nosejob started as a bedroom recording project by Jake Robertson, who is one of the most prolific Australian songwriters we know. Rather than us trying to describe his creations we highly recommend that you check out his work for yourself and care about what you think of it! We believe there’s a little something for everyone. We interviewed Jake to get more of an understanding about what he does, why he does it and how he does it.
I wanted to start by asking you; how did you get into music?
JAKE ROBERTSON: My dad is extremely into music, into British Invasion stuff, blues whether it be Prewar or all the way up to your white boy Eric Clapton kind of stuff. He constantly had The Kinks and The Who playing when I was younger. My brother showed me AC/DC and the Sex Pistols when I was six or seven and I got into that for a little while. I can’t really lie, nu-metal had a huge influence on me when I was eleven or twelve, that’s where it really kicked off [laughs].
What was it that you loved about nu-metal?
JR: I found something that mum and dad didn’t like [laughs]… that was probably a big part of it. That then led into Nofx and Rancid and that led me to Dead Kennedys and that got me back to where I started at AC/DC and The Kinks.
Nice! I think it’s cool you can say “I grew up liking new metal” …a lot of people would lie and play it cool and say they were first into whatever the coolest band/s are. Everyone’s got to start liking something somewhere, if you like it, it shouldn’t matter what anyone else thinks.
JR: Yeah, one hundred percent! The thing is, even though I don’t listen to nu-metal anymore, I could put it on and totally see why I like it. I understand why it appealed to me so much as a youngin.
Why do you enjoy writing songs?
JR: That is something I ask myself and something that I haven’t been able to answer [laughs]. I think I like spending time doing something. I have a lot of hours to spend in the day, I could be punching bongs or I could be watching TV or I could be at home recording songs. I generally choose the third one.
You’re definitely dedicated to doing it, I think since 2012 you’ve had at least twenty releases that I know of.
JR: Yeah, I do it pretty frequently [laughs]. I think it’s just how I like to pass my time. I generally finish work, say “hi” to my partner and then lock myself in the studio for a couple of hours, then I eat dinner and so to bed pretty much. It’s all I do outside of work.
I did an interview a while back with Omar Rodriguez Lopez from At The Drive-In/Mars Volta and he was saying how, other people go out and party and socialise but for a lot of creative people, our party is at home making stuff, that’s our fun!
JR: Yeah, I definitely do find it fun. I do find it frustrating sometimes though but, then again I find going out and socialising frustrating as well, even though I like doing it. I think Mr Rodriguez is probably right.
What kinds of things do you find frustrating about making music?
JR: Making things fit. The things that I find frustrating are the things that probably draw me towards it as well. I’m a big fan of finding things that shouldn’t really go together and trying to make them fit together, quite often it’s frustrating. Naturally they don’t’ always fit together and I’m constantly questioning myself; why am I doing this? Which often sinks into a repetitive question with no answer. You kind get into a bit of an existential crisis; why am I doing this? Who am I doing this for? Am I doing it for myself? Obviously I’m doing it for myself, because most of my stuff I just have on my computer and I haven’t even released it. I guess I’m doing it for myself. This is the kind of stuff Bianca that my brain goes over and over and over! I’m always asking; why am I releasing this? What’s the point?
If you’re always questioning stuff maybe you’re never comfortable therefore you won’t get complacent and you’ll keep going, keep trying new things.
JR: Maybe. It’s not a matter of looking to write the perfect song or anything like that, I think my problem is that I have quantity or quality. I just like to shit things out and move on to the next thing straight away. Once it’s done it’s done!
How do you approach making a song? From what I know the writing is quite fast for you.
JR: Most of the time, it really depends. I don’t really write with any band in mind or any instrument in mind, I don’t write with any genre in mind either. I’ll pick up a random instrument and I’ll see what happens. Sometimes I’ll record as I make it up and that’s what ends up on the record, other times I’ll sing something in the shower, and record something into my phone while I’m driving or riding my bike like “do, do, do, do, do” or I’ll hum it and try to recreate it later.
I really love listening to Alien Nosejob because you are genre-less and your releases remind me of listening to a mixtape, you can hear bits and pieces of everything in there, which makes it really cool.
JR: Yeah, the record that Billy [Anti Fade Records] did recently Suddenly Everything Is Twice As Loud my aim was to try and make it sound like a mixtape.
It came through, I get it!
JR: Yeah. I wanted to make it sound like a mixtape that you’d make and give to your friends as a teenager.
We still make mixtapes.
JR: I still do as well! It probably been eight or nine months. I will get back to it thought, isolation is the perfect time for it.
I love with the Alien Nosejob HC45 EP that it’s done in the spirit of hardcore punk EPs, they’re usually traditionally released on a 7”.
JR: Yeah. That’s my favourite format. Originally with Alien Nosejob it was going to be one or two EPs, self-released and it would be done. None of the press releases said “Jake from these bands…” I made it so it was completely anonymous. I’ve lied and said I lived in Clunes which is where they filmed Mad Max! I just wanted to self-release a 7” EP completely void of labels or anything like that because thy majority of my record collections is 7”s done like that. I got bored and continued doing stuff though [laughs].
I also love how you did Buffet Of Love on a 12” in that italo-disco style and that’s how they used to release that genres singles on 12”.
JR: Yeah. That’s another genre that I absolutely love. With this Nosejob stuff, it flows to whatever I’m listening to at the time. When I recorded that I was listening to specific records – that I listed on the sleeve with the tracks – that I was loving at the time. Trying to replicate it a little.
What do you do to keep challenging yourself with your writing?
JR: Probably just form too many bands [laughs], that’s one way. From 2012 to 2017 I was playing way too many gigs per week with different bands; that was another reason why I just needed to do something hat was recording. I was getting exhausted. Now I’ve made Nosejob into a band as well. We’ve only played one show, we’ll probably only do one or two a year.
As a songwriter what are the things you value?
JR: Even though I’m guilty of it… I do value people that search for originality in songwriting… I’m trying to tread really lightly so I don’t say something stupid. I don’t really like when a band from a certain scene has a song that sounds the same as another band in that scene. I will try to look for some originality and hopefully it comes through in what I’m doing, I think though maybe I’m pulling my leg if I’m saying I don’t do that myself sometimes.
I think as part of culture everything is inspired by everything else.
JR: Exactly. I guess I mean the difference is inspiration rather than ripping off. Even if I am heavily influenced by something else I’ll put my own spin on things.
And that part right there is what makes it become original, taking things in a different direction from where you got them.
JR: That’s the aim. I have listened back to a couple of things I’ve done and I’ve been like, I didn’t put enough time into putting my own spin on this one [laughs].
Whatever you’re listening to at the time I guess can naturally filter into what you’re doing, sometimes without you even knowing.
JR: Yeah, it definitely does.
You recorded Suddenly Everything… by yourself, right?
JR: Yeah, I recorded everything all by myself.
I remember reading you explain that you’d have a ten second delay after you’d press record so you could get to the drum kit to play the track; was that process frustrating?
JR: Oh yeah, big time! I had to make a computer drum beat, if I was making it for a band I would make it with a computer drumbeat but I wouldn’t put any time into it so whoever plays the drums for it would give their own stamp to it; I pretty much do that with any instrument. I’ll do a simple version of bass or guitar or whatever and sing, then the band would learn it. With recording Alien Nosejob I had to get to that stage and then basically start again and record it properly one by one. I’d have to give a ten second count in at the start so I’d have time to press record and run to my drum kit. I’d play it and every time I’d make a mistake I’d have to start again, go walk that ten seconds to the tape machine and rewind to the right spot, and make sure I’m not recording over something else and do the whole process over again. Its very time consuming and very, very frustrating and annoying. It constantly makes you question why you are doing it.
With that album did you have songs you’d just written over time?
JR: Wait a second let me just get a copy of it, I can’t even remember what’s on it… [reaches for a copy of Suddenly… as his cat walks by] …oh “hey” it’s my cat!
What’s your cat’s name?
JR: Lumpi. She’s a little cute thing, if you want to see a picture of her, on the front cover of a 7” that School Damage did, she’s on that.
All of the songs written on Suddenly… were recorded at home in Thornbury in 2018, I’m pretty sure I just did all of these straight off the bat. Just by reading the songs titles I was listening to a lot of The Saints and a lot of Ramones at this point [laughs]. For that record I had a little studio set up in the house where my partner Carolyn has all of her print making stuff on one side of the room and I have recording stuff on the other side of the room. We would just sit back-to-back for hours a night on end making our end product.
Carolyn and Jake.
Nice! That’s like my husband and I, we have the same kind of set up. He has his little studio set up and we both have art tables, we sit there for hours and hours too.
JR: That’s cool. We just moved house and now we sit beside each other.
What are your working on now?
JR: [Laughs] It’s funny that you ask that. I feel like before I explain what I’m working on I should say that I recorded this during the Australian bushfires time in December—January, so this is not a COVID-19 record. It is a concept album about the end of the world. There’s one song in particular called “Airborne Toxic Event” and it’s about a poisonous gas destroying the world. I feel very odd about it at the moment, I’m currently mixing it. I’ve got my laptop on my lap in bed right now mixing this record. Every time I listen to it it’s like, oh god, the whole meaning of this record is just turned upside down now with everything that’s happening in the world and I feel odd about releasing it. It’s going to be called Once Again The Present Becomes The Past, it’s basically about how something very shit can happen in the world and it’s kind of like a snake eating its own tail… it’ll just happen again and again and again and again. Depending on how you look at it, it can be seen as a very negative thing or it can be seen as a positive thing like, hey, this has happened before and we’ve dealt with it. The styling is somewhere between Suddenly Everything… and the HC45 record. Also, one of my friends showed me this band, Sacrilege, that was a crust-punk band influenced by the first Metallica record—that had a little effect on me as well. If we have to stay isolating from a while it should be ready pretty soon!
Where did you learn to mix? I know that you’ve been mixing songs as far back as The Snoozefests.
JR: Wow, that’s the first time I’ve heard that name in a while! [laughs]. I did a crappy TAFE course the year I finished school. It taught me what to do and what not to do. There’s some things that I got taught to do that I didn’t like how it sounded so it taught me not to do things that way. I’ve dabbled in doing it but the first time that it was all me doing it was the Alien Nosejob stuff. The piece of advice that I got that helped me the most was from this guy in Perth, Luke Marinovich, who runs a blog Wallaby Beat which is all Australian custom pressed records in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Generally when I get close to finishing a record I always send it to a handful of close friends who I respect their music taste and ask them if they think I’m going about it the right way. When I sent it to Luke his response was, “There’s no mix like a bad mix!”. I thought about it and all of my favourite Australian punk records are not mixed at all. The guitar will be so much louder than everything else and you can’t hear the kick drum whatsoever. It’s so unconventional but it gives off a vibe that you don’t get with your records on Polydor or whatever. It has its own unique feeling, you have to stop overthinking everything—at least I have to stop overthinking everything! As you can probably tell with certain mixes or songs, overthinking is something that I don’t really do that much. If it’s close enough, I think that’s good enough, that’s what it is and I move on to something else.
How about with the Hierophants stuff?
JR: I guess because it’s a band it’s everyone having their own opinions. We got that mixed by Mikey from Total Contol and Eddy Current.
THE Mikey that mixes everyone who’s awesome in Australian music!
JR: Yeah, Mix Master Mike! [laughs]. He recorded the second Hierophants album. We got this Canadian guy who used to have a studio downstairs from my old townhouse named, Lucas; we had a crazy studio operating downstairs from me, we had the same backyard. There were constantly bands there – Tame Impala or Pond recorded there – we had to put up with noise all the time, they gave us really, really cheap rates so we recorded our record there. As far as mixing and putting time into, it was a project that we collectively passed off to Mikey and he got to put time into it and we just moved on to the next thing.
You’re self-taught with the instruments that you play?
JR: My dad and my brother showed me guitar when I was younger. In the style that I play, it’s pretty self-taught. You pick up little bits from friends. My girlfriend who plays keyboard in School Damage, she showed me some keyboard stuff pretty early on. I’m teaching her guitar in isolation at the moment, I’m finally paying it back. For the most part I’m self-taught, that’s what D.I.Y. music is really.
Do you have any songwriters you admire?
JR: A hundred! Ray Davies of The Kinks was the first one that I was blown away by at a younger age. Ed Kuepper from The Saints. Even just locally, I think Julia from J. McFarlane’s Reality Guest is a pretty great songwriter. All the people I play in bands with too like, Paris [Richens], Zak [Olsen], Billy [Gardner] and Albert [Wolski]. I’ve just fallen into a circle of friends that are really creative, they all come at it from a different angle but their end point isn’t that skewed from my interests. Australian songwriting has been pretty great in the last ten years!
The Snakes are one of our editor’s favourite bands. When we recommended their self-titled debut LP (on Anti Fade) on our Albums We Loved in 2019 list we described their music as early ‘80s underground L.A-style new wave punk. The actual underground though… The black market kind. You know, the “under the counter” kind. We interviewed The Snakes and found out they’re working on new music! Stoked much?!
How did you get into music?
LEWIS (vocals): Who has a choice? At some point some cunt’s gonna play some shit and you’re either gonna love it or hate it, I guess I liked it.
What have you been listening to lately?
CHARLOTTE (bass/vocals/harmonica): Ummm… Butch Willis, GG Allin, Roy Orbison, The Byrds, Rupture, Napalm Death, Traffik Island, Plantasia, Anohni, Ariana, X (Aus).
LEWIS: Death (from Florida), Extortion (aaaagain), The Kinks, Obituary.
JIMMY (drums): Jackhammers and my own inner dialogue.
STEPH (guitar/vocals): In the mornings we listen to ambient sounds such as the distant radio and twings and droplets from whatever James puts on the stereo. When we play cards we listen to hardcore and punk. And I like the start of the Exploding Hearts album so I listen to that in the shower. Same with The Loved Ones but that whole album is good. Could be in a musical rut… I like soul and country music a lot.
CHARLOTTE: You like Suzi Quatro, Steph.
STEPH: I like lots of things not mentioned. Loves Suzi but. Gets wild to Suzi!
When did you first know you wanted to make music yourself?
LEWIS: When I realised it was a piece of piss. It’s the socially acceptable way to be the loudest person in the room.
CHARLOTTE: I was in choirs my whole life but guitars were always for boys, I really just wanted the attention.
JIMMY: I didn’t, I was just jealous of my friend’s guitar when I was six.
STEPH: I got into music by being rejected from my family for not being as good a singer as my sister, and not being allowed guitar lessons like my brother cause I’m a girl. So I taught my damn self and now I rule the world!
Tell us the story of how you all got together. What inspired you to start The Snakes?
LEWIS: Three of us had on and off lived together for a while, two of us had planned to do a psychedelic proto-punk band called Giant Door (side note: Giant Door is one of the top three bands that never existed). We are two couples and at some point, Charlotte our bassist moved into a new house and we went over for a kind of house warming. We ended up jamming and writing about six songs that all pretty much ended up on the album. We had some shitty phone recordings and shared them with each other and realised we needed a drummer. It took us about two seconds to find him and that’s it.
STEPH: Jim completes us.
Photo by @sub_lation; courtesy of Snakes.
What do you feel are the key elements that make your sound?
CHARLOTTE: Jim’s drums swing, there’s no one like him.
LEWIS: Clearly the keys stands out, having James on them is a refreshing take. Flange plays a massive factor. It’s a mash of shit we listen to and shit we find fun. It’s an angular vortex of pain but you can dance to it.
How do you go about writing a song?
LEWIS: Charlotte generally comes up with the riffs with a few exceptions and we all just put our parts in from there. We’re natural, baby!
Photo by @sub_lation; courtesy of Snakes.
Last year you released your self-titled debut album on Anti Fade Records; can you tell us about recording it? Billy from Anti Fade recorded it, right?
CHARLOTTE: Yes, he did. We’d spent about a year playing together before our first show and he offered to record and put us out at that first show. Recording in Geelong was great but what was really fun was doing vocals and mixing with Billy. We had a lot of ideas, we had a vision, Bill helped us execute it.
JAMES (keys/vocals): Bully Gardner is our mentor and he wax trax layer to the max.
Cover art by Eve Dadd.
What’s your personal favourite track on the record?
LEWIS: We don’t play this one anymore but I really like singing “Drug Pig”. I came up with the lyrics on the fly and I love screaming “Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, smoke a gram of pure ice”. “Solid Income” too, it just kind of cruises.
CHARLOTTE: I hate “Drug Pig”, even though it makes me feel tough, there’s a part that makes me feel kind of sick. I love playing “Ugly Faces” it’s simple but it’s rude. I know Steph loves “Pop Song”.
When you finished the record; who was the first person you played the songs to?
CHARLOTTE: I think my friend Kieran, they frothed for it!
Eve Dadd did your album’s cover art; what’s the story behind it?
STEPH: Eve does art and is related to James. She is talented and a boisterous bitch that lives on the South Coast of NSW. We love and hate her at the same time.
CHARLOTE: She’s a Scorpio.
LEWIS: Me and Charlotte outright bought it, it’s on our wall.
Launch poster by Eve Dadd.
How do you feel when you’re performing?
LEWIS: Extremely confident and self-conscious at the same time. I just go for it, I don’t really give a shit.
CHARLOTTE: When I play, I’m singing my bass parts in my head. I like watching Steph solo and smiling at James.
What’s been the best and worst gig you’ve played? What made it so?
STEPH: Best show was one at One Year (in Collingwood). I had just discovered the beta blockers and dexie combo and I did not give a fuck and people could tell. Smiling is good when playing fun music. Worst show was that one with Bloodletter. Can’t remember why but I know it was bad.
LEWIS: Last Maggot Fest was great, it actually went off. Supporting The Stroppies was pretty dry, not The Stroppies, I love The Stroppies I just don’t think that that crowd was really down for us. I remember putting on a show and crawling on the floor and screaming but still there was a big gap between us and the crowd. Maybe we’re too high brow.
Photo by @sub_lation; courtest of Snakes.
Have you been working on new music?
LEWIS: Yes.
What would we find you doing when not making music?
LEWIS: Working like a dog.
CHARLOTTE: Watching telly. I just bought a keyboard too, been trying to figure out how to play “Everytime” by Britney [Spears]. Also pretty heavily into Tik Tok at the moment.
Original photo by Mark Cranitch. Handmade collage by B.
Brisbane’s The Double Happiness are comprised of two couples that play spooky-surf reverb-a-riffic dream-pop! Their music is joyous, fun and makes you want to dance. Every time we’ve seen them play we’ve had the most fun. They have a new record Surfgazing forthcoming on 4000 Records. We caught up with them to find out more about it, as well as their love of surf and shoegaze, their first concert and more.
I know that creativity, courage and connection are important to The Double Happiness (us too!); why?
MEG (bass/vocals): These are the values that we all hold dear. (Alongside with dancing like maniacs – also very important). Courage is backing yourself, putting yourself out there and not giving up, stretching yourself creatively by trying things that keep your energy up and your vibrancy levels elevated.
Keeping your connections strong is vital right now; we are nothing without other people. These are all good messages during these strange and unsettling times, and the music industry has already begun creatively connecting with audiences through online hangouts and events like Isol-Aid and Couch Choir. Life is short, have courage and be kind to each other – finding new ways to be creative is the upside of these weird times.
How did The Double Happiness come into being?
KRISTIN (guitar/vocals): We’ve been friends for over 20 years through mutual friends, and attended parties and gigs, always loving the same kinds of bands. We met up at the 40th birthday celebration of 4ZZZ at the Spiegeltent, as we were SO keen to see Ups and Downs. We got the set list, and Meg had the brilliant idea of suggesting we get together to have a jam. Meg and Simon were a ready-made rhythm section, and Pete and I were guitarists. We jammed some songs we knew and loved like ‘Candy’ (Iggy Pop and Kate Pierson) and ‘Doused’ (DIIV). Before you knew it we were writing our own songs. ‘City’ was born shortly afterwards, and the songs and the joy just kept coming.
Photo by Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie zine.
The Double Happiness have a “surf-gaze” sound; how did you first discover surf music?
PETE (guitar/vocals): I have always had a long love affair with surf guitar. We all love The Pixies and I was inspired by Pixies guitarist Joey Santiago, The Shadows and the killer Pulp Fiction soundtrack.
KRISTIN: I grew up listening to my Dad’s surf guitar records – he was a huge Cliff Richard and The Shadows fan.
PETE: We’ve never been fans of guitar chords played at lightning speed. The key to our kind of surf riff is minimum notes – maximum melody. The Pixies were always a surf band in my book.
How did you arrive at combining surf and shoegaze to make your sound?
KRISTIN: Our influences and inspirations are shared which has made song writing such an easy and fun process. We all loved shoegaze bands such as RIDE and My Bloody Valentine in the early ‘90s, yet we have a soft spot for 60s sounds as well.
SIMON (drums): There’s been a revival in recent times of shoe-gaze through bands like Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Froth, Beach Fossils and with Slowdive coming back with a new album which we dig. Locally we also love Relay Tapes, Ultra Material and Pleasure Symbols.
PETE: It was becoming apparent that some of our songs were very surf, and others had a dreamy shoe-gaze sound. It made perfect sense to combine the two!
The surf influence is very apparent in your music, is there any non-obvious influences that might surprise listeners?
KRISTIN: The jangly guitar sounds are reminiscent of bands like The Sundays and The Go- Betweens, but the indie-folk influence of Jose Gonzales is present in our theme tune – Double Happiness (I Want My). We can’t underestimate the impact table tennis has had on us either!
PETER: I’m the true table tennis tragic of the band. It’s a highly complex sport. The competition bats generate so much spin. Check out the high level stuff on YouTube kids! How good is Stereolab’s Ping Pong?
MEG: I hear elements of Stereolab in our songs which is surprising as we don’t have keyboards in the band, but sometimes we get into a heightened rhythmic groove that they capture in their songs.
In the beginning, who or what inspired you to first pick up your instrument?
KRISTIN: Sister Margaret playing Abba songs to us on guitar during wet lunches in Year 3.
MEG: Teachers are so influential! Mr Stanger in Year 5 introduced me to acoustic guitar. Finding an “Archie” comic-style bass guitar in the instrument cupboard in Year 8 sealed the switch to bass guitar.
SIMON: Friends at school gave me a window into the drumming world. Realising that I could imitate the music I loved listening to in my teens like Joy Division, The Cure, The Smiths, REM and The Clash was encouraging.
PETE: I fell into classical guitar lessons in Grade 6 but that only lasted a couple of months because I didn’t know what classical music was. I picked up the same guitar at age 20, learnt to play “Skip to My Lo” and “Venus” and the rest is history.
What was the first concert you ever went to? Can you describe it to us?
KRISTIN: U2 Festival Hall 1984. It was everything.
MEG: Midnight Oil and V Spy V Spy at Byron Bay Arts Factory (when it was known as “The Piggery”) I think it was 1985. I went with my Mum, sister and brother. My Dad sat in the car park reading the newspaper! It was so energising to be part of a big crowd and experience such a strong performer like Peter Garrett.
SIMON: Johnny Diesel & The Injectors on the back of a truck parked at the front of the Narrabri Golf Club. Slim pickings! Next was Rat Cat and the Violent Femmes at the Byron Bay Arts Factory.
PETER: I ordered my first pot of beer in the early 80’s at the Victory Hotel then went to see Howard Jones at Festival Hall. I wouldn’t rate his music these days but at the time the performance blew my teenage mind. There was this Jamaican guy with a wall of percussion instruments. Amazing!
Two couples make up The Double Happiness; what’s something important you’ve learnt from your significant other while making music together?
KRISTIN: That Pete has an incredible ear for recording and mixing. He’s completely self-taught, very focused and is doing such a fabulous job.
MEG: We have such respect for each of our multiple roles in the band and how they interweave. We do all our own recording, mixing, artwork, t-shirt design, networking, social media and more. I really enjoy everything that we all bring, but I do really get a buzz watching Simon drum on stage. He is a phenomenal drummer, laying down creative and complex beats that drive the songs.
SIMON: That Meg is a bad-*%$ bass player! She obviously loves the stage and playing to a crowd. She is also a social media power house.
PETER: That Kristin comes up with the coolest riffs. A lot of the lead writes itself. It’s always fun and exciting jamming. She’s great out front on stage and enjoys the spotlight. Kristin and Meg both create such a great vibe together with the crowd.
You have an album coming out, Surfgazing; what was inspiring you when you were writing for it?
MEG: Tides, crashing waves, soundwaves, sandy toes, great riffs and rolling beats.
KRISTIN: We have a strong connection with The Great South East and often include references to local landmarks and places that hold fond memories in our hearts. Bribie Island features on the new album in the song “Red Beach”, “Coochie” was written on a ferry to a resort on Moreton Bay, and “Snapper Rocks” is a nod to the thunderous surf down near Coolangatta. So surf and beach references are very prominent in this next batch of songs, but there are other themes – completionism vs perfectionism in “Finish”, and clear communication in “Not What You Said”.
The first single from it is Wild Bikini/Spooky Tiki; can you tell us about each song please?
MEG: “Wild Bikini” is a magic carpet ride spliced with a B-Grade beach movie from the 60s with a sprinkle of I Dream of Jeannie.
KRISTIN: “Spooky Tiki” takes me back to The Brady Bunch Hawaiian Vacation double episode from 1972. Peter and Bobby Brady found a Tiki in a dig that their Dad was working on, but they didn’t know it was cursed until Greg wore it surfing, and all hell broke loose.
Filmed and edited by: Simon Welchman
Can you give us a little insight to recording the record? You recorded at Kristin’s work the MusicIndustry College and at home, right?
KRISTIN: Yes. It’s been so good to have access to the studio at MIC as well as the assistance from the music dept at the school. The drums and vocals were recorded there, but the majority of guitar tracks and mixing has all taken place at our place, mostly in the walk-in wardrobe.
MEG: I have a lot more insight into Pete and Kristin’s relationship through recording vocals in their wardrobe. They have some very cool outfits in there!
We love seeing The Double Happiness live your shows are SO music fun! We love that Kristin andMeg wear super cool outfits on stage; who are your style icons? What’s your favourite outfit you’ve worn so far?
MEG: Audrey Hepburn, The B-52s and Nice Biscuit. The boys always look good too – Simon sports some killer paisley. Pete has a ripper ‘50s bowling shirt with a Tiki detail.
KRISTIN: My style icons are Serena from Bewitched, Agent ‘99’ from Get Smart. My favourite so far (and this is so tough) was what we wore at The Outpost in January to launch “Wild Bikini” – A-line dresses made by Grace from Nice Biscuit from vintage bed sheets, with a Flintstones bone in our beehives for good measure.
Gee Tee started out when its creator Kel began creating tunes solo in his bedroom on the Gold Coast. Gee Tee’s music is a touch unconventional, a little weird, humorous, lo-fi, buzzy, maxed out, wobbly and highly entertaining – think somewhere in the ballpark of Geza X, Dow Jones and the Industrials and Scientific Americans. Now residing in Sydney and having a full live band we’re excited to see what Gee Tee does next! We interviewed Kel and he told us of his beginnings, how he creates and lets us know what’s coming up.
How did you first get into music? Are there any albums that are really important to you?
KEL: My dad introduced me to music when I was a kid, he’s heaps into ‘70s and ’80s UK punk and Oi + a lot of late ‘80s and ’90s alternative, Dinosaur Jr, Flying Nun Records bands etc. Some of my favourite albums and bands though would be: Buzzcocks – Another Music In A Different Kitchen. D.L.I.M.C – Cassingles. Sickthoughts. King Khan & BBQ. Nikki and the Corvettes – Self-titled. The Spits – V. Set-top Box. Useless Eaters – Zulu. Ramones – Leave Home. Nancy – With Child. R.M.F.C. Jay Reatard. Satanic Togas – Chain Reaction. Muff Divers – Dreams of the Gentlest Texture. Research Reactor Corp. Devo. P.U.F.F – Living In The Partyzone. Ausmuteants – Order of Operation.
What was your first concert? Can you tell us a little bit about it?
KEL: Never went to concerts when I was younger hey, first big show I can remember going to would be Thee Oh Sees back in 2013.
You first started Gee Tee while living on the Gold Coast in 2016; what inspired you to start making your own music?
KEL: Yeah I guess I just wanted to make some less serious sorta music, makes it easier to record everything by yourself too. I was in Draggs at the time and that was sort of wrapping up. So thought it was a good time to start something new.
What’s the story behind your name Gee Tee?
KEL: It’s off these 1970’s trading cards/sticker series Odd Rods, its hell mongrels in blowout cars, real similar to “Ratfink” Ed Roth drawings. There’s a Gee-Tee-O card in the first series.
All the early Gee Tee stuff is written and recorded by yourself; can you tell us a bit about how you go about making a song?
KEL: It used to be mainly recording drums first with no idea on how the songs gonna be then hoping for the best keeping the original drum track/take. But I don’t have a kit set up in Sydney, so I use a drum machine to demo the songs on Ableton then re-record the finals on tape with a kit. Synth parts are just mucking around till something sounds right and vocal bits the same. Neanderthal stuff.
What kind of set-up do you use to record?
KEL: The drums are recorded on a Tascam Portastudio 2 then the rests recorded on a Yamaha MT1X or a MT4X. Using a mix of these AKG 190e mics and Shure 57/58’s. All the overdubs, backup vox/ synth etc. is done on Ableton.
What are the kinds of things that inspire you lyrically?
KEL: Just easy to remember choruses and lyrics + stuff I’m not gonna forget. Used to be full on car only themed tracks but that’s changed over the last year, only so many songs you can write about the same thing before you get burnt out on it.
What was the first song you wrote; what was it about?
KEL: “Flame Decals” was the first track I wrote and recorded for Gee Tee, pretty self-explanatory and pretty stupid haha!
What prompted the move to Sydney?
KEL: Just not a lot happening on the Gold Coast, in my opinion. It’s a chill place to grow up but there’s no weirdo music scene and barely any overseas bands that I like would come through on tours. I was friends already with a couple of people in Sydney too.
In October last year you released Chromo-Zone as a digital album and on cassette tape, it’s the first Gee Tee release featuring someone else, Ishka Edmeades (Set-top Box, Satanic Togas, Warttmann Inc); how did you come to working together?
KEL: I was living with Ishka for a couple of months when I moved to Sydney so it just kinda happened. He’s got a similar drumming style to me as well but better and can rip lead guitar. For the new Gee Tee tracks Ryan Ellem who plays drums in the live band and runs, Slime Street Records, is gonna be on ‘em mostly.
You also do the art for your releases, it has a real distinctive style; what influences it? Do you hand make it? Is it cut n paste?
KEL: Yeah, it’s mostly cut and pasting stuff outta old magazines then scanning it. Big fan of old punk posters, zines and the art/visual style of them. I still use a PC though to add extra bits etc. so it’s not all physical.
Were there any challenges in taking the Gee Tee songs you wrote by yourself to a full band live set?
KEL: Yeah, some of the songs just don’t work live, e.g. “Hot Rod Juice” and “Commando” don’t come off the same as they do in the recordings. Compared to songs like “FBI” and “I’m a Germ” which are smokers live!
What’s been the best and worst show you’ve played so far; what made them so?
KEL: I reckon the best show we’ve played recently was at the Lady Hampshire with Research Reactor Corp, R.M.F.C and Set-top Box. Heaps of people came out + playing a set on the floor is sweet! Also, playing The Tote for Maggot Fest was smokin’!
For the worst show I dunno, played a fair few stinkers when I was in Draggs. Wack greedy shit like bookers sending you an invoice for $50, when the venue was sold out! Getting set up playing with bands that are dickheads, etc.
Have you been working on any new music; what can you tell us about it?
KEL: Yeah for sure, I’ve been working on recording tracks for a couple of 7”s and a LP. Not sure when they’re gonna be out though. A new G.T.R.R.C covers EP has been recorded that’ll be out in a couple of weeks on cassette, maybe on a 7”. Possibly a few guest rocker cameos on this one too from Melbourne and USA.
Vid GEE TEE @ Buz’s birthday bash footage by video. ezy (converted by Gordo Blackers, 60% of footage recorded by Gio Alexander).
Sydney’s G2G sound somewhere between the Raincoats and Kleenex. They’re an inviting listen of freewheeling riotous music inspired by their “mums” and “Dolly Parton”. Despite currently living in different parts of Australia they’re still keeping in touch and working on new ideas which, if we’re lucky will materialize into their first LP.
How did G2G come together?
GEORGIA: Well it happened pretty quickly. I had lots of – I wouldn’t call them demos – but phone recordings of strange melodies, and Greta had lots of ideas too so we spent a couple of afternoons in her studio fleshing these parts out. It was obvious that we needed to get Australia’s’ best bass player (Gel) involved to make the songs truly work… We probably had one rehearsal together before our first show, which was Paradise Daily’s Fourth Birthday Party.
GRETA: Georgia and I met at a Body Type show and Gel and I met randomly through a mutual friend. Neither were particularly memorable occasions, I think only brief introductions, but we all slowly grew on each other. That’s the way I think real best friendships happen.
GEL: Greta showed me some demos in the car once of two songs that her and Georgia had written and I loved them so much! Our first show we played for about 10 minutes and it was a very fun 10 minutes- we all got together lots after that and kept writing. And yeah I think so too Greta!
What is the band’s biggest inspiration?
GEL: Dolly Parton, Nicholas Cage, our mums!
GEORGIA: I think we all have a similar sense of humor, and I think we are a curious group… We have an A3 sheet that lives above Greta’s bed with all of the things we love. Dolly, Nicholas and “our mums” are definitely on that, also on that list: Dixie Chicks, Brian Eno, Leah Sales, Terry…
GEL: Yeah I think curious is a good word for us! Curiosity is a big driver I think for us all.
GRETA: I’m currently in isolation in Melbourne but if I had a photo of that piece of paper it would show you… our kindergarten teachers are on there too. Our pets. I think our biggest inspirations are the people (and animals) that made the biggest positive marks on our lives. G2G is a happy band! We are celebratory humans and we like to sing about that.
We found it!
FIG A: THE G2G BIBLE WITH A TOUCH OF GRETA NOW WIG.
Growing up, how did you discover music?
GEORGIA: Family. Perth’s’ 1080 radio station had a fair bit to do with what I discovered.
GEL: Also family. In primary school I played in a two person Delta “Goodrum” cover band with my friend Claudia. We played exclusively Delta [Goodrem]. I think maybe being given a Destiny’s Child CD for my birthday one year provided a gentle push toward discovering other music!
GRETA: The first CD I ever owned myself was Ali G’s single “Julie” which I used to spin the shit out of on my walkman. I think my godparents gave it to me. The first way I liked to discover music was by going to HMV in Hurstville and picking a random CD from the top 10 section. I was pretty gutted when it shut down.
When did you first realise you wanted to play music?
GEORGIA: I won a guitar from the local video shop at the age of eight after writing a paragraph on why I loved Josie and the Pussycats. That was the instigating event but I didn’t realise I wanted to make music until I was in my twenties.
GRETA: I always wanted to play music, I can’t really remember when I realised! I used to love playing my dad’s bass when I was small and then he bought me a little Casio keyboard and I would just press play on the demo songs and make my own words and dances up to them so probably then.
GEL: My Mum played in a few bands when I was young. I liked that there were often people over playing and it was normal for it to be noisy and lots of kids running around and it felt fun! I think I have always liked the idea of having music as a part of day to day life in a similar way.
G2G are from Sydney; what’s it like where you live?
GEORGIA: G2G was born in Sydney but at the moment I’m in Perth, Gel is in Wombarra and Greta is in Melbourne. So we are living all over. The sun sets over the ocean where I live.
GEL: Where I am it’s nice, extra isolated during this shutdown but there’s a very empty beach and lots of nice places to walk.
GRETA: I am from Hurstville, St George. It’s a quiet, suburban place. I live there with my mum, dad and my grandmother. We are a super close family and St George has many things to offer us. Paul’s has the best burgers, Tom Ugly’s bridge is the best fishing spot and Mr Chow’s is the best BBQ Pork.
You released your first song “No Kid No Angel” in June last year; what’s the song about? Was it the first song you wrote?
GEORGIA: Um, the anxiety and repetition of loss. How about that.
GRETA: Yeah, that sounds about right G.
In January this year you released your first EP as a 7”; what’s your favourite song on it?
GEL: I think my favourite song on the EP is “Animated Satisfaction”. I like that it’s freewheeling and frantic but also kind of condensed.
GRETA: That’s so hard… Obviously I love all of the songs but I really love playing and listening to “Animated Satisfaction” too Gel. We sound tuff in the recording and it brings back really funny memories.
Are you currently working on anything?
GEORGIA: We are working on making a movie together, which is proving a little difficult as we are all in different states and self-isolating, but we are figuring it out. We also have a few songs we want to record so hopefully an album will happen when we are next together.
GEL: Sending each other phone recordings and lyrics and song ideas is something we’ve always done, so even though we’re in different places we’ve kept this up. There’s definitely an album there in our combined voice memos.
GRETA: In conclusion, we’re working on staying in touch with each other, making sure we call, check in, Facetime where we can. We miss each other A LOT!
What’s the most interesting thing someone’s said to you about your music?
GEL: Someone once described G2G as “like a chainsaw to the face, if that chainsaw was made of nails and sharks.” I definitely appreciated the creativity of this depiction of us… haha!
What do you love most about making music?
GEORGIA: I love making music with Greta and Gel because it’s quite chaotic and intuitive and filled with feelings that I like being inside of and communicating.
GEL: Yeah, me too. Georgia and Greta are the best to make music with. I like the way we build on and run with each other’s ideas. Writing songs together is supportive and fun and honest, and that feels good.
GRETA: I love making music with Gel and Georgia because we laugh SO MUCH. And there’s an amazing sense of freedom that comes with writing with these two. Ideas are never shunned because nothing is lame or repetitive or shit. We embrace all of each other’s ideas and we just work really well together.
What are the bands, songs or albums you’re listening to right now?
GEORGIA: Solo Career and Greta now. The song “This Kiss” by Faith Hill and the song “This Is Not A Dream” by Dadamah. The Lydia Lunch podcast.
GRETA: Creedence Clearwater Revival, Burial, Brian Eno, The soundtrack to Animal Crossing.
GEL: I’ve been listening to More Fun In The New World by X heaps, somehow it sets the right kind of mood during this weird time of shutdown/ isolation! Also the song “No Romance” by The Fates, the new Primo! song “Machine”. And band Girls at Our Best! and my friend Mardi’s Country Christmas album.
Where are you happiest?
GEL: In the bath.
GEORGIA: In the bath with Gel and Greta.
GRETA: In the bath with Gel and Greta and Georgia.
Keith Levene is one of the most interesting people we’ve had the pleasure to chat with, he’s experienced a lot, created a lot and still is. We love people that are constantly moving forward and evolving; to live a life that’s stagnant would be hell on earth for me. At fifteen Keith roadie for English rock band Yes, went on to be a founding member of The Clash and PiL, had a hand in the early days of The Slits, was in The Flowers of Romance with Sid Vicious and contributed many things in the early days of UK punk he didn’t get recognition for. Today Keith is still as passionate, maybe more so now than ever, about all that he’s doing now: released three limited edition handmade books, I WaS a Teenage Guitarist 4 the ClasH, Meeting Joe Strummer and The Post Punk Years (covering the years 1976-1982); versions of his album Commercial Zone and more. He spoke to us from Prague while he was working on CZ2014 a semi-official release of music he’d made for what would eventually become PiL’s This Is What You Want… This Is What You Get.
KEITH LEVENE: I’m OK now. It was either pick my Mac up and throw it over the balcony or get away from it for a moment. I was really fucked off! Sometimes you’ll be doing stuff in this day and age, with digital stuff, on Macs or what have you, you want to do something simple but they work in annoying ways; everybody’s doing it and it’s not new anymore by the way. When things go wrong, it’s like buses coming at once, you wait for a bus and it comes and when things have gone wrong, one thing goes wrong, it can then click and everything can be OK, stuff happens and it’s fantastic; other times you go on to do simple things and it takes a long time. You think I’m gonna do this and this and this and this, and things start going wrong and you forget what you’re going to do, you get frustrated. You think, the reason I’m doing this myself is because the people that were doing it for you took longer and were a pain, all that kind of thing—I was in that space when you first called. As you can tell I still am a little bit. I’m OK though, I’ve just had some good stuff lined up for today. It’s taken me a long time to be in the position to have this shit lined up; one of the big frustrations is we had to create this stuff ourselves. No directors, no anything, we just do it all ourselves. I’m sorry, I just needed to vent.
That’s OK. I understand yourself frustration Keith, I do everything I do myself and I’m self-taught too.
KL: Fantastic. Do you live in Sydney?
No, further north, closer to Brisbane.
KL: Someone from Sydney wanted to bring me out a while back. I thought I could just come and use local people as my band. I thought maybe I could just turn up but I don’t want to bring a band, I don’t want to fucking tour. I got busy though, he got busy, and everyone got busy. Tommy Emmanuel is a favourite of mine. Do you know who that is?
Yes. He’s an Australian guitarist.
KL: He is one of the most famous guitarists in the world, definitely, at least in Australia. What questions do you have for me? Ask me anything you want.
You’re in Prague at the moment; what inspired you to move there?
KL: It was a mistake! I did a project here last year. I knew about Faust Studios, I knew one of the drummers that worked in the studio here; it’s a big space just to drum. Faust was the only game in town, I know because like I said, I was working here last year. I didn’t even know that I was going to be doing Commercial Zone 2014 or whatever it was going to be at the time, it’s done now, it’s ready. I needed an old school studio, obviously it had to be with people I knew; I started working with people I knew but it didn’t work out. To answer the question, I didn’t choose Prague, Prague chose me.
With Commercial Zone 2014, I know you wanted to embrace the original PiL ethos; can you tell me what that is?
KL: The things is, I knew it inside but I’ve recently rediscovered it, that ethos is automatic to me. I don’t even know what ethos really means. It’s a general process and way of working I guess. When I say PiL, I mean me, obviously it worked really well for the first three or four PiL albums… I came in and thought that I’d bang it out in ten to twenty days, then I realised it’s not ready. I could have released something, I have loads of stuff but I wanted to let the whole thing develop in its own time. I wanted to capture the best part of the past. I kept coming to this block, CZ ’83. I’ve now been using CZ 2014 and I now know what it is. I’ve basically refined everything I’ve been doing for the last few years. It’s been a big, big effort to be back in music specifically and expanding it. I’m into things beginning not ending. When I was in PiL, it was rock n roll. Like John Lydon said recently “the big full stop”. We wanted to put a full stop on rock n roll. I like rock n roll, I like The Beatles and the shit before but that was all a past thing. Now here we are thirty years later and all I’m seeing is shit from the past, there’s nothing there.
Handmade CZ2014‘s by Keith.
With this project we crowd-funded it, since then I’ve expanded it times ten. I intended to do that, to deliver what I promised to these CZ 2014 crowd-fund people but more, like there’s the book. That’s the PiL ethos: it’s not enough to be just a musician. We weren’t trying to be pop stars. I like pop records, I like the hits, but I’m not trying to be a fucking pop star. I don’t want to be a John Lennon or a Paul McCartney, I want to be something else; I want to be the guy you can’t copy on guitar—I want colour, I want touch.
When the internet was coming in all you’d hear about was, oh you can see me do this or do that, or you can do this… now it’s a pain in the fucking arse. Tell me a time when your phone is really turned off. These phones are just mobile fucking computers. It went from being really exciting to being really fucked, they’ve turned it all off now. With me, I’m trying to use elements of it and deliver a product. Ever since CDs came out there’s been a debate of are CDs better or is viny better; vinyl was better but digital can take care of anything now days. It’s nice having a record but it wasn’t working. Everyone was like, we want vinyl! But then only 1 in 100 goes out and buys it and plays it on a record player. Some people just get it and never play it, they just want an album because they want a thing, they want an experience—they want the memory! Oh, I’ve got the memory. I remember what it was like in record shops and you remember too, holding the covers and talking about it, this PiL ethos was about that. Where we are now, that ethos really fits.
The fact that I chose that little period 1983-1984 CZ, Commercial Zone period, moved to the CZ here in the Czech Republic… the whole idea of the project was to get in the fucking Commercial Zone and see what the fuck happens in the Commercial Zone. Teen Guitarist [the book] has got a life. I’ve only just discovered this in the last few days as I’m printing off the book. There’s a lot of good stuff, I’m not looking to tour but I am looking for a teen guitarist; I’m looking for a kid that’s fucking great that wants to do this.
I’m overwhelmed by your passion Keith. You’ve been doing what you do for so long, it’s great that you still have so much energy and focus.
KL: Bianca, everyone says that! I remember this guy from when I started getting back on the scene, a geeky kid, great kid—the kid loved Keith Levene. You get these people that like punk or this or that, then you get people that like a certain kind of music AND Keith Levene, hence they like PiL. He loved me and we were hanging out for a bit. We were doing a geeky thing, I had just got some new Macs. I hang out with 20 year olds and the energy that I’ve got compared to them, is probably a hundred times more focused. This kid is 21, I’m 54 and hanging out and feel a bit weird doing that but, yes, I am passionate. This guy that interviewed me yesterday said, ‘Keith, you’re still angry, aren’t you?’ It made me laugh because I’m not angry, I still react in the same way—I don’t give a fuck. A lot of people don’t give a fuck anymore but in a different way, it’s them just not being arsed. Now is the fucking time for punk rock! 1976 was a fucking warm up, now is the time. If you want to get serious, now is the time! I’ve sensed that since 2011… here we are. Things are looking good in terms of cool things and there’s more to come. Have you seen or heard anything of the stuff on my YouTube?
Yes. I’ve looked at it all and I’ve been following your posts. I find it fascinating and I’m really digging what you’re doing. I was listening earlier to the one you recently put up, “What’s My Name”. I played it and then played the original and the new one is miles ahead for me.
KL: Bianca, I never recorded that, then I thought I’m going to record it. I’d been toying with it for years. When I did the draft version you heard on YouTube (I’ll do a better one for the album)… here I’ll send you a version I made of it now. The file will appear in front of you and you can accept it and give it a listen. It may take a minute to download…
OK great. Thanks.
KL: Oh it actually just says it’s going to take 21 hours [laughs]. I want you to hear it. What I did, I did “What’s My Name” then this kid, this Rotten Johnny kid, did a vocal for it like the original. I asked him to do something madder. He asked me, “what do you mean?” I told him to just do a vocal on it; he said, “yeah, yeah, Keith, I will.” It’s just an upgrade, it’s just a vocal, it’s just a fucking guy talking. Anyway, you’ll see it, get it and see the focus. Everyone’s thinking this shit! Don’t tell me you’re not going into Starbucks or wherever you’re getting your fucking coffee from, or you’re in some awful pub and this fucking music that they’ve been playing since the late 80s comes on… it’s got worse and worse. When Cher brought out that awful fucking tune with that autotune it was the end, it was over; she tripped over her knob, found the special effect, the special effect went wrong and she was like ‘oh I like the sound of that’ and now we’re had twenty fucking years of robots singing through computers. My computer does more in its sleep than this fucking music. Listen to me crying here! I listened to this music in the restaurant last night and it was fucking awful. They had this flatscreen telly playing this corporate fucking shit! We’re immersed in this shit. Now is the time for punk rock! Maybe I am pissed off and angry? [laughs]. No, I’m not. I’m too old to be angry; the anger just turns into passion. Like, what the fuck can I do about it? What can I contribute to this planet? I can look at myself in the fucking mirror.
Tell me about the book, I WaS a Teenage Guitarist 4 the ClasH. It looks amazing. It reminds me of a zine. It’s very handmade and personal.
KL: Yeah. I only realised a couple of nights ago, people say, “Have you put any words on, Commercial Zone, the new one?” It’s taken me ages to get it… It’s not a remake, I’m not even going to be doing any of the tracks in the end. The words to Commercial Zone is: I WaS a Teenage Guitarist 4 the ClasH. That’s spawned a certain record, this Teen Guitarist record. I don’t know how I’m going to do it yet. It’s going to make me make an album that has a focus of words which, I’ve never done that. The best guy I ever had for that was John Lydon when he was good, he was fucking good in the beginning, to be Johnny Rotten in those days… He knew me, he knew Keith, which helped and to have the Sex Pistols happen to him and I’m on that scene anyway; I’ve done The Clash, I’m doing the Slits… I actually elected to not be in the Sex Pistols. It came up when they drafted Sid [Vicious] in. I was in The Flowers of Romance with Sid. Sid was cool, it wasn’t because he was the greatest musician on the planet, it was because he had ‘it’, that indefinable thing.
For John to turn around and say “Good idea Keith, I like it” and come to me and say “I call myself John Lydon” to be… obviously he changed his mind somewhere along the line. He changed his mind at the wrong time, he should have gone off and called himself Johnny Rotten, not PiL. I guess that’s for John to figure out.
What I’m doing is finishing business, I did Metal Box In Dub, some unfinished business with [Jah] Wobble, we kind of tested our own material; we needed that going through the PiL shit. The music stood up. People were turning up. A guy came from Australia to Wales, Bianca, this guy landed, came to the gig, was amazed and went back to the airport and got back on a plane—that amazed me. A guy came from California to see us play in London too. He said that ‘last time I saw you play was the L.A. Olympic Auditorium and I was upset but now I forgive you for everything, you’ve completed a circle’ so, I’ve completed a circle in someone else’s life in some deep thing, some unfinished business they had with PiL.
What is going on with this Bianca is that CZ 2014 is the entire PiL album that never got to come out. I thought we were going to put the record out, go to Japan and get a break. There was pressure to record, I was waiting for an advance from Richard [Branson] which he held on to ‘cause we were in a different territory. I got these guys going, where’s the fucking money going? I’m like, what fucking money? There was a lot of intense feelings about the original project. To actually be here now and finally getting it out there without the bollocks is just what I needed. The way I feel now, even with just the results I have now, is that I’ve really, really got it! I still have a lot of work to do over the next month but I feel I’m going to unveil this PiL album.
Keith’s handmade I WaS a Teenage Guitarist 4 the ClasH book.
The first fucking thing that I recorded in the new zone, in the key zone, where you go in and you do it, you don’t even write it, you just let it happen… I felt really good about it. There’s a massive PiL element and a little bit from the Flowers of Romance thing, it’s finishing unfinished business—I have to do this. I’m using the book, because I have to; I’m using the YouTube channel like tools, like band members. There’s no rule you have to be in a band. PiL’s not a band, we’re a company; there’s the PiL ethos again. I’ve elected to work on my own because it’s simpler. I don’t have enough life left to be waiting around or dicking around or to work with annoying drummers or people—I’m difficult enough to work with!
[Laughs].
KL: I am! I’m so difficult to work with I can only be with me at the moment. Thank god I’m getting fucking results!
Where do you find you get your best ideas?
KL: You never know what’s going to happen. It’s never like, oh everything is so wonderful, oh man I’m so enthused. It’s like I’m sitting around sweating. I have really bad ideas but then somehow that could change at any second, next thing you know, you can’t fucking stop. You start telling yourself, I’ve got to stop so I can walk away for five minutes and come back… There’s no time and place. I had a really good idea recently at 3:44 in the morning. I wanted to get up and do it but I told myself to turn your fucking mind of and get sleep. If I sleep on an idea and wake up and still want to do it, then I know it’s a great idea. I’m out of the experimental PiL mode and I’m just trying to get things out, bang! Bang! Bang! That’s only happened in the last week.
That’s exciting.
KL: Good. I’ve felt pressure since this [funding] campaign. It’s a weird pressure. I never hear from people too much that have contributed. The pressure though really has been that I have to face this fucking thing, I have to get this 1984 business out of the way and get upgraded. People won’t upgrade to where we are now, they’re so busy. I want to create new memories for people now, it’s sort of like Blade Runner. That What’s My Name thing took two hours. I can do things but I might have had it in my head for two years. Sometimes I can get the essence in a few minutes then just refine the track. I was lucky being in PiL and getting that experience going into multi-tracks, just before it changed to digital, when 24 tracks were optimal. The thing is, now you can do anything; you’re not restricted by tape, you can create any physical thing you want to. To put it all down now into simple ideas, to powerful, useable ideas, it’s taken so long to get there.
Why is music important to you?
KL: Music is important to me because I’m a composer. It turns out that I really am a good musician and composer. I can’t read music, I’m self-taught. I don’t listen to a lot of music, I don’t like bands. I love the bands in the 60s, all of that shit, the ‘Stones and The Beatles. When I was in The Clash I didn’t give a fuck about any of the other bands that were around and I thought they were all crap and I had no time for them anyway. Music is really important to people but I haven’t got time to listen to it. I haven’t heard a good fucking thing for years apart from a few weird sources. I was never really enamoured with punk, it just came at the right time. I was into jazz and all this shit. I had only started playing and I was a roadie for Yes when I was fifteen.
When I came of tour with Yes I realised I wanted to be in a band. Having a band was a big fucking thing for a fifteen year old. I’m looking at this cherry red guitar in my little bedroom, I remember like it was yesterday, I’m looking at this thing and thought I had to get a real Gibson. I knew me well enough by then to know that I wasn’t going to allow myself to have a Gibson unless I could play really, really well, proper. I could play a few chords and tunes but that was it. I was lucky that everyone I knew in my local area wanted to be a guitarists; the two best guitarists in my neighbourhood was me and the guy that took me under his wing. He wasn’t better than me though, he was a good guy, an American. He was the one who got me into the whole, the more you play the better you are thing, as well as all this crap American music.
I had two sisters, one three years older than me and the other six years older, they got me into The Beatles when I was three. I got taken to the doctor because I’d just stare at the record player all day and my mum freaked out. By the time I was 15, in terms of music, it was like being 25 with the scenes I was exposed to. It’s not just music that’s important, Stevie Wonder said this in an interview once ‘it puts an emotional stamp on things’ a time and date, a kind of JFK kind of moment. People say that when they heard that guitar solo on Public Image’s first single that it changed their life. I don’t get that for me but I do get how people can feel that. It’s important because it gives people that emotional stamp. Music can be soothing or it can be painful depending on what you are going through. If you have an argument with your partner and you listen to all of these tunes you love, you find yourself not being able to listen to them because you associate them with them.
When we started bands, when we started punk – I never liked that expression but we needed something – I wanted more! I wanted something better than The Beatles, better than Yes, because all that had been done. Everything got smaller but the options to me, got greater.
When the magic of PiL ran out, I knew it would happen… I thought, oh you’ve got to get out of this, like with The Clash when that ended. The way I had it worked out in my head was, if The Clash are going to work, get the fuck out because you’re just going to be difficult and are going to make it difficult for them; they don’t get it, they’re never gonna get it so don’t worry about it, fucking great! I thought I was young enough and could do it again; I was a teen guitarist. I knew I could do it and it would be way better. I knew The Clash were going to make it but I couldn’t believe how they made it. I’ve never listened to the first Clash album the whole way through.
Since I was a kid I have constantly known what I don’t want. We’re so told by everything around us what we should want, where we can get it, why we should get it, get it quicker here, get this medication. I came from the 60s where it was take this pill to stay up longer, take this pill and you can have sex, take this pill and you can grow another set of teeth, yeah, whatever—take this and you’ll go to another universe! AND we believed it! It’s bad living and we’re all so affected by it. There’s too much recreation, there’s too much nostalgia, it’s got to stop. I guess things like social media has really put this in our face, everything is everywhere and it’s globalised. Wherever I am in the world I could be fucking anywhere, with technology it’s all the same. This is the future I saw coming. I’m doing what I’m meant to do. When I say there’s nothing new under the sun, I mean, good is always good, simple is always simple; you don’t have to know about it to like it but if you do know about it you’ll probably like it more—that’s what I want.
I got really sick of lots of stuff in rock n roll, like a load city girls asking me to sign their underpants. I was always slagging off people like Lou Reed and Keith Richards… the emerging of a respectable, proper pop star would be John Lennon, who if he made mistakes he made them big and in public, he tried to do the right thing; people like Keith Richards just used and abused everything and sent the wrong fucking message. The guy who started sending the right message was Buddy Holly. This is all by and by though. This is just what Keith thinks.
I’ve read about the time you walked into a pub in London and saw your first Sex Pistols gig, you said it was the maddest thing you’d ever seen, a high point of your life; what else has been a high point in your life?
KL: I can’t be asked to think about it. If it doesn’t come straight to me I don’t have time to think about it and let it come through. I don’t even want to talk about the high points in my life right now.
I think it’s nice to keep some things to yourself, to keep things private and for you, there’s something special in that. I think in general most people overshare, especially online.
KL: Yeah. I find it hard to answer, what has been other high points in my life… like if I say I vividly remember JFK being shot, I didn’t even know what it meant to be shot, I think I was five or six (you never really know what age you are when you’re around that age). I know I was at the first place I lived, I can vividly remember the blue door and the atmosphere. I’ll score that as a ‘high point’ because it was so interesting and you could really feel it. To me he seemed he looked like a pretty old school guy, I like old school. Another example, bad old school would be Ed Sullivan or Eisenhower, that kind of guy. I didn’t realise how much charm and panache JFK had. The whole thing that happened with the Kennedy thing, before I started getting older and could understand what they were talking about on the TV… there’s another thing, sorry I’m jumping off track…
Another high point, something I haven’t done for years because I can’t stand it, is watch TV. I’m sacred of it. It makes me feel sick when it’s on and I’m in the room, I have to just leave. I used to just sit there and watch it to be polite but if I’m somewhere now and they have TV on, I’m like, I’m here interact with me, if they don’t then I’ll fuck off. TV is fucked. TV now is just a communication medium, it’s horrible. It’s so unrewarding. Why I thought TV was great growing up was because it was new. In punk rock times TV only just went colour. Everyone has everything now. We’re so busy with dealing with this useless stuff, all this stuff that we’re told to check out, we get pulled into it. It’s all so run of the mill. Society wants you to consume. The whole punk thing came at the end of the 60s, we wanted something new, to keep it simple.
I opened the door of the Nashville, as I opened the door the ‘Pistols started. It’s like they were like, oh Keith’s here, bang! It was so bizarre. I wasn’t impressed musically but that feeling I got was such a good feeling. You could see everyone look at John and the noise he was making, it was a relief. There were people on the scene like Bernard Rhodes and Malcom McLaren; Bernie was very esoteric and an artistic guy and had a lot of experience, had experience in places English people don’t end up in very often, that made him an interesting guy. They were at the same gig. I was sitting with him and watching the ‘Pistols, later me and him would put The Clash together. Me and him were pretty OK, but him and the rest of the punk rock scene, let alone The Clash, weren’t communicating, we were not on the same page.
When you were making your handmade book, I WaS a Teenage Guitarist 4 the ClasH; was it fun for you?
KL: I have three more to make today. I’ve spent last three weeks making about 12 of them. I can’t do it unless I’m feeling right. When I’m making the covers, I go into this mode. They take a really long time to make. I have t-shirts too. It’s so punk, when I say that something is punk, what I mean is, it’s fresh and exciting.
Original photo by Reece Lyne. Handmade collage by B.
Slag Queens play passionate post-punk with serious groove at times veering into alt-pop, dance-punk territory with an evident ‘90s grunge influence. Their debut LP You Can’t Go Out Like That was on our favourite records of 2019 list and is a well-crafted collection of catchy songs—addictive even. We’re excited for the new LP they’ve currently been in the studio making. We caught up with them to get the lowdown.
What albums put you on a musical path?
LUCY: In my house growing up Mum and Dad really only listened to classical music and a certain kind of folk music (i.e. it DID NOT include Bob Dylan). Hearing the White Stripes and the Pixies when I was in my early 20s was huge. Especially Kim Deal and her bass lines/vocals have been a huge influence. I fucking love the Doolittle album and still listen today.
CLAIRE: In terms of sending me down this musical path, when I picked up the drums for Slags I was binging hard on the first self-titled album by Memphis band Nots. But also Lucy made me a mixtape and that introduced me to Sneaks and I smashed her album Gymnastics too.
AMBER: Some of my parent’s tapes that I listened to constantly as a kid are still my favourites. Neil Young’s Harvest Moon, Bjork’s Debut, Nick Cave’s The Boatman’s Call and Joan Baez are still very strong for me.
CLAIRE: Oh when Wesley joined the band he got me into listening to lots of Malaria! (Self-titled album) and The Smiths The Queens Is Dead. Wesley has excellent taste.
How did Slag Queens first get together?
LUCY: I was drunk at this venue in Launceston. Strange place; doesn’t exist anymore, like a lot of venues in Launceston. And the smoker’s area is like bitumen with a sort of indoor cricket cage thing around it. The lighting is bad. And I’m there, and Claire is there, and Gracie (our first guitarist and epic legend) is there. Oh man. I had spoken to Gracie previously about being in a band and we were talking about it and Claire was like, “I’ll learn drums”. Our first practice was in my sister’s house in West Launceston. She got me into playing bass in Bansheeland and now Mary is doing her solo thing with Meres. The start of Slag Queens was really all about trying to play our instruments and eating pizza and commiserating about work and patriarchy.
Amber and Claire Hobart Pride 2020. photo by Allysha Fry.
Why the name Slag Queens?
CLAIRE: We came up with the name pretty early on when we were meeting as a weekly jam/hangout. It came about in a bit of a giggle storm fuelled by Boags Reds (the beer you drink in Northern Tasmania). And it really felt right for a number of different reasons. Firstly, we thought it was funny. On a deeper level it references queer and feminist traditions of drag queens and reclaiming derogatory slurs. But also, just as ‘slag’ is the discarded by-product of processing coal, Slag Queens could be considered the sloppy by-product of the clean, hyper-serious musical ambitions of male-dominated rock bands in regional Tasmania.
For me, the name was part of this defence wall I felt like we were constructing around us to preserve the kind of raw and exciting energy of being fresh to playing our instruments and making music together. Well before some rock bro in Launceston anointed us the town’s “Shittest Band”, we had already crowned ourselves with trash tiaras. By doing so I had given myself permission not to worry about being held to particular musical standards by stupid, made-up cultural norms and to just create music with my friends. At the time I revelled in this new-found, self-deprecating freedom. However, I would say that now some time has passed and I’ve significantly improved as a drummer (and as a whole band!) my feelings about my trash tiara have definitely changed and it feels less relevant. Still in love with the name though.
Can you tell us something about each band member?
Lucy: I have a chronic inflammatory bowel condition, and it was really horrible finding that out because it feels really unsexy.
CLAIRE: I have a fake, removable front tooth. Sometimes it goes missing.
WESLEY: I also smashed my front teeth out, on a tow bar.
Amber: I almost rolled a d20 to make up a random backstory to answer this question because it’s so difficult to think of one single fact about myself. I have spent an ungodly amount of time today playing Stardew Valley.
Amber and Jordy Marson recording guitars for new songs. Photo by Claire.
You’re from lutruwita (Tasmania); how does living there influence your music?
LUCY: Keen to hear Amber’s take on this as someone who’s done a lot in Hobart’s music scene and grew up in the far south. For me, starting out in the North, in Launceston there was definitely always this feeling of being expected to be a certain standard/do certain things with the music and Slags was very much a reaction to that. I think other things are about being in a regional place established through violent colonisation and the labour of prisoners. To put it mildly, that kind of stuff leaves a lot behind.
AMBER: I really like the small music scene vibes. For all the problems we have with people leaving the state/very few music venues, it’s really nice growing up and watching local bands and then becoming friends with them and making new bands together. It’s a very close knit community and I think that encourages more people to try things and be adventurous with their music.
You’re in the middle of making a follow up record to last year’s LP You Can’t Go Out Like That; what can you tell me about it at this point? What direction are the songs headed in?
CLAIRE: Perhaps what’s been both the most exciting and most challenging thing about Slag Queens has been that we’ve had changes to our line-up. Each line-up has understandably brought different flavours to the sound, especially because we do our songwriting quite collaboratively with everyone in the same room (currently the shed out the back of mine and Amber’s house).
AMBER: A lot of the new songs have moved further away from the punk-leaning sensibilities of the previous album and into a space that I can’t really put a genre to. I like it. It’s weird.
WESLEY: Because Amber and I are definitely chaotic in alignment, It’s become much more hard to steer the reigns, I’ve got no idea where it’s going, but it’s a fun ride.
What’s been lyrically inspiring the new songs?
LUCY: New songs are mostly about what’s been happening down south in Tassie. The housing crisis in particular. But also, I’ve been writing a bit about fashion – because I love fashion but it’s also really gross for so many reasons that I won’t go into here – you already know how fucked the fashion industry can be.
One of the new songs is based on Donna Tartt’s The Little Friend. I enjoyed that book despite some mixed reviews but I was totally in support of the main character – this little loner girl, angry, righteous, hard to like, focused. I don’t know if Donna Tartt is really a revolutionary writer and she’s coped criticism for the way she writes her female characters but I liked Harriet.
Apart from that, I don’t know. It’s weird times. A lot of lyrics I write by making up sounds that later become words or by automatic writing. So sometimes I don’t really feel like I choose an idea and then develop it, it’s more that I write stuff and then we try to work out what it means.
Wesley, Claire and Lucy recording new album. Photo by Jordan Marson.
You recently helped The Native Cats make a video clip for “Sanremo” the B-side t their Two Creation Myths 7”, I know that they’re good friends and have helped mentor you; in what way?
CLAIRE: I can’t actually remember the first time I met Julian and Chloe, but I think I might have met Julian at our EP launch in the front bar of The Brisbane Hotel in 2016. I learned about Rough Skies Records (Julian’s label) earlier that year when I went to see Powernap at Launceston’s The Royal Oak. The room was pretty-well empty but I loved it nonetheless. When I saw the 7inch they had on them I was just amazed that some guy in Hobart was doing short vinyl runs for bands like Powernap. I probably would have fallen over either from laughter or just straight-up shock if someone told me that I would end-up running Rough Skies with Julian.
What Julian has done for me beyond simply sharing his wisdom of having been around the scene for a long time, is he’s believed in me and consistently made me feel like I can do stuff. I’m not sure if other women in music have had this experience, but since taking on Rough Skies with Julian, I’ve been confronted by comments that I’m bossy or rumours/comments circulating the scene that I hadn’t “earned” that position (I don’t know if these are true sentiments that people hold but hearing them has had an impact on me). Julian – and Chloe for that matter – have always made me feel like my organisational skills and musical taste are valid and valued. And also having them believe in the music we’re making with Slags – not just appreciating our songs but really understanding our context – that’s a massive compliment.
Slag Queens and Native Cats at Gasometer Feb 2019. Photo by Gus Romer.
Speaking of video clips we really love your “Real 1” clip; can you tell us a bit about making it?
WESLEY: We really wanted to do something collaborative and work with some people we knew. We thought that it would be really nice to work with local fashion designer Lychandra Gieseman who makes size- and gender-less wearable pieces, and film maker Caitlin Fargher. Caitlin and I went on a bit of a scout and we found this (semi) abandoned quarry, and agreed it was perfect. After working with Lych to pick and match some of their pieces, we went to the quarry and danced and had some fun. It was a really nice and simple way of getting all the shots and then Caitlin came back super-fast with the edited version.
AMBER: I was suuuuper hungover and I had in my mind that if we borrowed a BMX I could do cool tricks on it. Turns out it’s actually really hard. I have a newfound respect for BMX riders.
We really love your debut LP You Can’t Go Out Like That; can you tell us the story behind the album cover please? It’s so fucking cool! We had it on our Fav Album Covers Of 2019 list.
LUCY: We were very, very honoured because Launceston artist, Andrew Leigh Green, agreed to do some photography for us. I’d never met him but had some friends model for him. Andrew is one of those incredible artists who no-one’s heard of (probably contributed to by the fact that his insta/fb is constantly being censored).
Anywho, the shoot. We rocked up to Andrew’s house and he came out wearing pyjama pants and carrying a plastic shopping bag and was just like, “I’ve got a great location scoped out!” So we headed up to this place that turns out to be the old rollerskating rink where, as a 13 year old, I would blade around to M People. Now it’s covered in possum shit and there was this bath in the middle of the rink, which Andrew threw this pink shawl over. And then hey presto, it’s not a bath, it’s a vortex, an opening, an arsehole, a vagina, a mouth.
Inside Roller World album art shoot. Photo by Claire Johnston.
I loved working with Andrew. I felt very connected to his experiences of growing up in Tassie and going to outer suburbs schools and being a bit of a weirdo and copping shit for that. I loved how excited Andrew was about the shoot. He was just constantly saying “beautiful” and talking about how “magic” shoots could be. And there was definitely that energy. Like something cool and special and accidental//preordained was happening.
Lucy and Wesley Real 1 shoot. Photo by Claire Johnston.
Slag Queens are on the brilliant compilation series Typical Girls’ 5th edition with the song “Waterfall”; what’s some cool bands you’ve found through that series? We have all volumes, they’re such killer compilations.
CLAIRE: Ah you’re so ahead of me, Bianca. I only discovered this series when we were asked to contribute and they really are excellent! The band I’ve been most excited about finding through this volume is Vital Idles. They remind me of The Raincoats and Pylon, but also sound like they could be a Melbourne jangle band – turns out they’re actually from Glasgow. I also really enjoyed the tracks from Snob, Helene Barbier and Mr. Wrong.
What’s been the best and worst show you played; what made it so?
AMBER: I think everyone has different best and worst shows. Best is always when everyone is in a good mood, the crowd dances, and we all look hot. Worst is when someone is in a mood or we’re all tired and hungover, we can’t hear each other, and there are no vibes on stage. My favourite ever show we’ve played was at a festival called Panama in March. Transcendent.
CLAIRE: The worst gig was definitely in Melbourne a couple of years back. We had driven all the way from Adelaide very hungover. Instead of being able to get a nap in our accommodation, I had to use our hire car to drive around Melbourne to pick up gear. Lucy’s sister had come over from Tas with her band for their first mainland show and they were due to open around 8.30pm. But the guy bringing a guitar amp was super late and I felt like he was never going to show up. From memory I think he turned up around 8.45/9pm. After a bunch of line-up changes we had unknowingly booked a band that had pissed a lot of people off recently. This, along with there being a couple of big shows on that night in Melbourne, meant very, very few people came. At the end of the night I collected the money from the venue and paid all the bands only to find out after that we needed to pay the sound tech. I had to send my bandmate to the bar to get money out to pay him. I still get anxious thinking about that gig.
What other things do you do outside of the band?
WESLEY: Doldrums, which is Lucy and I. Doldrums has played half a gig and hasn’t rehearsed in 12 months, but we should because I try to recite poems in German which and sing over Lucy’s porridge-like synth. I also do a solo radio noise project and a multi-media art practice. I also tell people not to touch things at MONA.
AMBER: I have a solo electronic project called, Slumber, and an emo-country band called, Dolphin. I like to garden and plot the downfall of capitalism.
WESLEY: Me too, we also play chess together.
LUCY: I’m doing solo stuff too which feels weird. Slag Queens is also about to start an online Dungeons and Dragons game.
CLAIRE: I’m a social worker and work in the area of sexual and reproductive health. I also run Rough Skies Records with Julian Teakle (The Native Cats) and have started doing Jonathon Van Ness’s yoga sessions in my living room with my housemate, Louis.
Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie Zine 