Ishka Edmeades

ITCHY AND THE NITS: “Fast, happy, silly, outrageous and contagious.”

| gimmiezine

Original photo courtesy of Itchy and the Nits / Handmade mixed media collage by B.

Garage punk weirdo trio from Gadigal Country/Sydney, Itchy And The Nits released their debut EP last week and we’re totally vibing on it! They’re super fun and super cool – read our interview with Beth, Cin and Eva, give their songs a listen, and find out for yourself.

Who or what first made you want to be in a band?

BETH (drums/vox): I think probably going to gigs and seeing all different kinds of bands I just thought it seemed like it would be fun! Cin and I always planned to be in a band together growing up.

CIN (bass/vox): I played bass in the school band and me and two of my friends who played baritone saxophone and trombone tried to form a band and obviously it was terrible. I guess it always seemed like fun! I thought the girl who played bass in school of rock was super cool.

EVA (guitar/vox): When I was 15 I saved up my dog walking money to buy my guitar and I guess from there it made sense to wanna jam with other people! My friend Charlotte and I were always into punk in school and used to jam together, and I guess I wanted to be like girls I thought were awesome like Kim Deal or Poly Styrene!

Growing up, how did you discover music?

BETH: Me and Cin’s Dad played in bands when we were kids and still does, he played a lot of 60s garage and punk records at home  so we always loved that stuff and got really into it as we got older

EVA: Mostly my Dad, when I was five he gave me a Madness CD that I was obsessed with and took to school for show and tell to play ‘One Step Beyond’ hahaha. From there I just grew up into all the same music as him, and then as a teenager kept looking for more.

CIN:: Family who liked cool music! Our parents were always playing punk tapes in the car and me and Beth would get hooked on particular songs and they’d have to spend the whole car ride rewinding the tape manually for us.

How’d you all meet?

BETH: I met Charlotte (who used to play in the band) at work and she introduced me to Eva, We all had similar taste in music and when Eva started working with us we starting jamming together at my house. Cin my sister started playing bass with us about a year later!

EVA: Me and Charlotte have been best friends since we started high school. Charlotte got a job working with Bethany at the ice cream shop, and then I got a job there where I met Bethany and the rest is history… I met Cin through Bethany as they’re sisters hehe.

CIN:: Yeah!

What influences the Itchy & The Nits sound?

At the moment probably Nikki and the Corvettes, The Donnas and The Gizmos!

What’s the story behind the band name?

We had our first gig coming up but we didn’t have a name yet so we had to come up with one quick. We had a song called Charlotte’s Got Nits, so we thought The Nits but then Charlotte and Beth came up with Itchy And The Nits and we thought that was just lovely.

In exciting news, you’re releasing music! Seven songs recorded with Ishka (Tee Vee Repairmann, RRC…) and mixed by Owen (Straight Arrows); what’s five words you’d use to describe it?

Yeah! They’re out now! Maybe fast, happy, silly, outrageous and contagious.

How long have you been working on this release?

We’ve had a lot of the songs for like a year or two and just recorded our favourites with Ishka last June, and we’ve been taking our sweet time putting them out cause we weren’t really sure what we were meant to do with it or how to do any of that kinda stuff! But it’s finally out!

What’s one of your fondest memories from recording with Ishka?

It was relaxed and fun! It wasn’t about getting everything perfect. We recorded on an 8 track and played our parts all at once so it was like doing a mini show. Hanging out with Jen, Ishka and their cat Egg McMuffin is always lovely!

What’s one of your favourites in this collection of songs? Tell us a little bit about it.

Maybe ‘Dreamboat’! We actually wrote it about our shared celebrity crush haha. Also when we play it live now we do a dance in unison during the verses which we accidentally spent almost three hours of band practice perfecting instead of rehearsing the songs.

What would we find each band member doing when you’re not making music?

Cin’s always off on adventures driving around and camping hehe. Eva’s usually going for a swim or bushwalk with her special bird binoculars and Beth is probably watching telly and playing tricks on people

Has anyone in the band got a secret talent or hobby?

BETH: Eva is good at identifying Australian Birds so whenever a bird flies past she can usually say what kind of bird it is and a few interesting facts about it. Cin makes her own ice cream at home and is always making delicious new flavours!

EVA: Beth does amazing paintings and drawings and comic strips. She did the drawings on the album cover, and has made a lyric/comic strip for ‘Crabs’!

What’s been the best and worst show you’ve played? What made it so?

The worst was probably when we played on New Year’s Eve in 2021 I think it was, and the headliner band couldn’t make it and lockdown had just ended. There were about 10 people there including the seccies, the bartenders and the people playing pool up the back. It was probably also the best because we played better than ever since no one was there to see it.

Any pre-show or after-show rituals?

Right after every show just as we’re taking our things off stage we have someone off to the side who has a big hook that catches us and drags us away.

What have you been listening to lately? What’s something you recommend we listen to right now?

EVA: These aren’t so much new discoveries as albums that I am just obsessed with constantly, but I reckon for the last couple years I have listened to the albums Pinky Blue by Altered Images and True Love Stories by Jilted John at least twice a week.

BETH: There’s these YouTube channels- bolt24 hot sounds and Glendoras they upload heaps of different cool 60s stuff so I like checking what’s new on there. Also been listening to The Go Gos and the Delmonas heaps lately!

CIN:: I’ve been listening to the album ‘las canciones de conchita velasco’ a lot lately!

What’s the rest of the year look like for you?

Hopefully doing some more recordings with Ishka! Playing some more gigs and working on some new songs too!

Itchy And The Nits’ self-titled EP out now – get it HERE via Warttmann Inc. Find them on Facebook and Insta @itchyandthenits.

We’re Excited! New Music From Tee Vee Repairmann 

| gimmiezine

Original photo by Oisin Darmody / Handmade mixed-media collage by B

Tee Vee Repairmann, Ishka Edmeades, is one of Gimmie’s favourite creatives. Incredibly prolific, you can also find him in Satanic Togas, Set-Top Box, Research Reactor Corp, Gee Tee, Remote Control, Mainframe, 3D & The Holograms, etc. Tee Vee Repairmann is set to release LP What’s On TV? on Total Punk in February. The album is full of some of the best hooks you’ll hear all year—total earworms. Gimmie has a sneak peak of first single ‘Bus Stop’ and found out a little about it from Ishka. There’s a further in-depth conversation in the forthcoming print issue of Gimmie, out soon!

We’re premiering the first single ‘Bus Stop’ off of your up coming new album, What’s On TV?; when did you write the song? What’s it about?

TVR: I wrote and recorded the instrumental around December 2021 along with a couple of the other tracks on the album. The song is basically about waiting around, thinking things over and hoping the bus will come round that corner.

What can you tell us about recording it?

TVR: The album was recorded in my living room on a Tascam 488 I got from Spodee Boy, for the most part the instrumentals came together pretty fast. I can’t really remember too much about the recording of each song, but I do remember it being really hot when doing most of the drum takes.

Sound-wise what influenced the new album?

TVR: I was listening to a lot of late 70’s power pop, 80’s DIY and moody 60’s garage stuff at the time. Bands like Quality Drivel, Funboy 5, early Go-Betweens, The Gizmos and heaps of Garage comps.

Album art by Jennifer May.

Has your songwriting changed much between this LP and your last release?

TVR: I wouldn’t say the process changed too much, I just wanted to make some pop songs. I thought about song structures a bit more and demoed some stuff which I don’t usually do. 

Your album is coming out on Total Punk; what’s one of your favourite releases that Total Punk has put out lately? Why does it rule?

TVR: Total Punk are always releasing great stuff. Alien Nosejob, New Buck Biloxi, Cherry Cheeks all RULE, but the Sick Thoughts album [Heaven Is No Fun] was one of my favourite things to come out last year. The whole thing rocks—all hits. Was great to play with them in the States again, they’re tight as hell at the moment. 

What’s one song that you’ve had on repeat lately?

TVR: ‘People Say’ by The Go-Betweens. I love the lyrics and organ, it’s a perfect pop song. I hope it doesn’t get used in a car insurance ad.

One of your other bands Research Reactor Corp. recently toured the US; did anything that you saw in your travels inspire you creatively?

TVR: Yeh, the whole thing was great. We met some cool people and saw some cool bands. It was a trip going to New York after seeing it in so many movies and pictures. 

What are you focusing on musically next?

TVR: Finishing off a couple of things at the moment, the new RRC LP is gonna be out on Under The Gun this year. A few Togas releases coming too, a 7” on Sweet Time and a split 12” with Gee Tee on Goodbye Boozy. 

What are you looking forward to most in 2023?

TVR: Gee Tee and Satanic Togas are going to Europe in July and Tee Vee and 1-800-Mikey are gonna head back to the States at the end of the year. 

Tee Vee Repairmann’s What’s On TV? is out February 10 co-released by Total Punk Records (US) and Computer Human Records (Australia).