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Naarm Punks Split System’s ‘Demolition’: “Anxiety…Hope For Change And Clarity”

| gimmiezine
Original photo by courtesy of Legless Records. Handmade mixed-media collage by B.

Split System, featuring members of Jackson Reid Briggs & The Heaters, Stiff Richards, Doe St, Speed Week, The Black Heart Death Cult & No Zu, annihilate with ‘Demolition’ the first single from their forthcoming debut album. It harks back to raw, unbridled 70s Australian punk rock n roll and ploughs straight-ahead with melody and passion. Split System tell Gimme about their individual musical journeys, albums that shaped them, new music they’re loving, the new single and their album slated for an October release on Legless Records.

What kind of music were you obsessed with when you first discovered music?

JACKSON (vocals): I started by listening to my dad’s David Bowie and Beatles CDs etc. and making tape compilations using everything he had.

MAWSON (guitar): My dad played in bands my whole life, which surrounded me with rock n roll from an early age, but I think discovering Eddy Current Suppression Ring was a turning point for me. Growing up in Frankston and realising there was so much more outside of the bubble that I was immersed in—ECSR was the gateway drug.

RYAN (guitar): Nu nu-metal and pop-punk were my first loves. When I was 15 or so, I started getting into the classics like the Ramones, the Stooges and The Go-Betweens.

DEON (bass): The first album I owned was Silverchair’s Neon Ballroom on cassette, which I picked up from the local 7/11. From there I moved on to some metal and punk classics – Iron Maiden, Metallica, Misfits – that really got me into playing fast-paced, heavier music. 

MITCH (drums): My old man was into music, so naturally I became obsessed with our record player (which I’m still running). I raided his vinyl collection and the bands that stood out for me as a 6-year-old were Pink Floyd and Dire Straits. From that day Floyd has been the one obsession that hasn’t left, but Dire Straits have snuck back in in the last couple years, I think it brings me a nice level of comfort.

Can you tell us a little bit about an album that was/is a really big deal for you and why it made an impression on you?

JACKSON: When I was in year 10 my friend Ryan gave me Television’s Marquee Moon and Modern Lovers s/t and said let’s make a band and that really was a big turning point in my life musically.

MAWSON: ECSR – So Many Things, it blew my mind in my younger years and to this day remains one of my biggest influences.

RYAN: Pink Flag by Wire is a thumper. I like the way they sabotage the songs by ending a chorus where you’d usually repeat or repeating something else ad nauseam. Honourable mention to Fever by Kylie Minogue.

DEON: I’d have to say The Velvet Underground – Loaded. ‘Sweet Jane’ is the stand out track for me. Lyrically and musically this album hits the mark front to back.

MITCH: Jimi Hendrix – Band of Gypsys. How could you not love Buddy Miles and Billy Cox with Hendrix! Best grooves ever!!!

What’s a song, band or album that you’re loving right now? What do you appreciate about it/them?

JACKSON:  I just heard the s/t album by KPAX (krah) a band from Belgrade, Serbia. It was recently released on Doomtown Records. It’s raw and makes you feel that heat on the street of a big hectic city.

MAWSON: Future Suck & Cutters; what’s not to love about em’.

RYAN: The new Future Suck single ‘Hell for Leather’ goes hard – good people making good music. I’m digging a band from Hobart called Rabbit – catchy power-pop, can’t beat it.

DEON: Exek and their recent release Advertise Here. Experimental post-punk dub of the highest quality. Probably one of the most important bands.

MITCH: Clamm. Really digging their energy, I saw them live at NinchFest this year and they totally owned the stage

How did you end up on a musical/creative path? I know all members of Split System play/played in other bands: Jackson Reid Briggs & The Heaters, Stiff Richards, Doe St, Speed Week, The Black Heart Death Cult & No Zu.

JACKSON: I started properly playing in bands in probably grade 11/12 with some mates from high school. From that point on, I didn’t care much about anything else and spent my least favourite classes sitting in a storage room at school playing guitar. In grade 12, I got a job collecting glasses at a bar in Fortitude Valley and saw a lot of great Brisbane bands playing there. A few days before I turned 18, I quit and started spending most nights drinking and watching bands there.

MAWSON: Playing music was always my escape from some of the harsher things going on around me. Jamming heaps with friends just eventually lead to the right combination of people at the right time.

RYAN: I started playing in bands when I was in high school living in Launceston. I was playing in a couple of scrappy punk bands, who had to share bills with metalcore bands to get a gig. We eventually got some gigs in Hobart and connected with some great bands more aligned with us. After moving from Tassie to Melbourne, I didn’t start playing in bands again for almost a decade.

DEON: As a kid I remember my older brother always playing guitar, so I guess that kind of rubbed off on me, we had a few old guitars laying about the house, which I’d noodle on. As a teenager I went on to play in various garages/sheds with mates bashing around and making noise.

MITCH: I started learning the drums as an 11 year old and by 14 my cousins mates were after a drummer, i had a quick try out and made the cut. Our name was THC lol. We managed to a get a gig at Broadford Festival which was ran by the Hells Angles, as a 16 year old i thought was pretty rad. Someone was shot there, yikes!

You only had one jam together before lockdowns happened. What initially brought Split System together?

MAWSON: Well, initially it was Jackson’s idea to get a couple of us together to try and fill some space while we yo-yoed in and out of lockdowns. The first jam Jackson jumped on drums and Ryan, Deon and myself just mashed out a bunch tracks we had in the back pocket. Everyone gelled pretty well so we got Mitch to come jump on the kit and the 7” got written then and there.

RYAN: I think another bloke was lined up to drum, but didn’t show up to the first jam. Thankfully we’ve got the salami making, hog smokin’, bongo playing, shagadelic bad boy that is Mitch McGregor.

Single art by Deon Slaviero.

Gimmie are premiering Split System’s new single ’Demolition’ from your forthcoming debut album that will be released in late 2022; what’s it about? What was the process when writing it?

JACKSON: Ryan sent a few early versions of the chords through and at the time I was working securing a building that was about to have its neighbouring building demolished. So, naturally the lyrics began to take shape while I was up on the side of the building doing all sorts of shit and thinking about the building beside it getting knocked down. Around the same time my partner had just given birth to our daughter and it all sort of just fell into place lyrically through those two situations.

Split System released a self-titled 7” earlier this year on Legless that was recorded remotely with everyone recording their parts at home and sending them to each other via email; how is your debut album different from the EP? Was it recorded with everyone in the same room?

MAWSON: That first 7” probably reflects the lack of time spent writing in the simplicity of the tracks, but we felt like it had good energy and it was a great excuse to make something out of the down time. The LP is definitely a more complete package, even though we still had limited time to get everything finished we’re pretty happy with the direction its taken.

RYAN: I dig the rawness of the 7”, however the LP is a lot more hi-fi.

What kind of headspace were you in recording the new album?

MAWSON: We recorded live at Rolling Stock Studios with Andy Robinson over a weekend. Working with him just felt like any old jam, a few takes of each song… was super chill and easy.

MITCH: When you have Andy ‘Rowdy Robo’ Robinson at the helm ya know its gonna be a ripper of a sesh, plus he’s easy on the eyes too!

What themes does the new album explore?

JACKSON: Half of the lyrics were written when I was sober and half when I’d started drinking again. There’s probably a bit of that is in there. I stopped drinking when my partner became pregnant with my daughter, so I could clear my head a bit and prepare myself for another kid. I’d say there’s a lot of subconscious anxiety littered throughout the album as well as a bit of hope for change and clarity. I usually just listen to the instrumental versions of the songs until a line or something pops into my head and then go from there.

Do you prefer writing, recording or playing live most? Why do you enjoy it best?

RYAN: I love all elements of playing music, but you can’t beat mucking around and having a jam.

MITCH: The rush playing a live show to a whole bunch of folks! I love it.

What do you do when not playing music?

JACKSON: Labour for a construction company, play with my kids, and try to keep healthy so I can keep up with them.

MAWSON: I clean windows.

RYAN: I do social work for a crust. Apart from that, bugger all.

DEON: Watch other people play music and graphic design.

MITCH: I love cooking in my spare time, when I’m not doing that I’m listening to music while knocking cabinets and furniture up.

What does the rest of the year look like for you?

MAWSON: Stiff Richards and Jackson Reid Briggs both have Europe tours over July followed by some well needed holidays for everyone. After some time off we will be coming into September/October ready to go. The LP will be coming out some time in October with a stack of gigs to follow.

MITCH: I really can’t wait for the LP to come out and play some shows, the record is something I’m really proud of. The gang that is Split System are a bunch of legends and I’m stoked to be playing with them, bring on the tours!!

What’s making you happy right now?

JACKSON: Family and having some drinks!

RYAN: The Carlton Football Club not being complete shite.

MAWSON: Not working!

DEON:A long black with a dash of milk.

MITCH: Watching the salami I made cure. Yum!

Split System bandcamp. Legless Records bandcamp. Follow @splitsystem666 & @leglessrecords.

Post-Punk Rave-Up Wild Man Cong Josie: “I have always had the belief that anyone is an artist”

| gimmiezine
Original photo by Nadeemy Betros. Handmade mixed media art by B.

At Gimmie HQ we’ve been bumping the new Cong Josie album Cong! hard since it arrived in our inbox. We loved it so much that we ordered the hot pink limited edition vinyl version. The album is officially out Oct 22 on It Records (home of our favs – New War and Atom). It’s a fabulous high energy clash of minimal synth, EBM (Electronic Body Music), rockabilly-ish vocals, punk attitude with a whole lotta throb and thrust, along with some heart tugging surprises.

Today we’re debuting the electrifying song ‘Cong The Singer’ along with its video, a guerrilla D.I.Y. ode to the Naarm/Melbourne suburbs that spawned Cong! We chatted with the man, the myth, the legend himself, Cong Josie alter-ego of musician Nic Oogjes.

In your heat beat ensemble NO ZU you play instruments; now as Cong Josie you’re just singing?

CONG JOSIE: Yeah. It was a really deliberate choice, a really arrogant choice [laughs], that’s kind of what the song ‘Cong The Singer’ is about. Arrogant in that I’ve never been a singer. I love singing; I love singing in the shower. I’ve always loved singing along to Roy Orbison, trying to sing ‘Crying’. Very ambitious targets! All of the “Bobby Movement” like Bobby Darrin; there was a lot of guys called Bobby in the 50’s that did rock n roll ballads. Elvis. All that kind of stuff. It was a deliberate decision not to carry around instruments anymore.

I keep going through these things with each new project. After my first when-I-was-becoming-an-adult-and-start-taking-things-seriously band, I was like, ‘I don’t ever want to have to carry around a drumkit anymore!’ I would be up front playing some rototoms so that I could stand up, and that led into NO ZU. I was only going to carry standup percussion, but then it expanded. It grew to a point where I didn’t want to carry all this stuff around; trumpets, all sorts of stuff. There was lots of clothes for each band member too, I’d carry around to each gig. Our baggage loads on planes were crazy!

I was like, ‘I just want to be a singer!’ Even though I can’t sing. That’s really arrogant, but I have always had the belief that anyone is an artist and anyone can make something interesting if you have the drive and ideas. In fact, most of my favourite singers, that I just mentioned… even Roy Orbison, sings off key, which makes his voice really interesting and intriguing, where he often has to bend into a note. There are a lot of notes that aren’t quite right.

I love singers that are non-singers, I find their voices really interesting. There’s this Greek singer Márkos Vamvakáris, who was one of the biggest rebetiko stars; they call it the Greek Blues, it’s a lot about hash dens and sordid activities. It was real people’s music, real working-class music. His voice is like a chainsaw! It’s not good, but I love it, it has the most edge to it. Obviously, that throughout punk and post-punk as well, it’s like that. It’s from that background that I thought I could at least make something interesting. I can sing these two notes, kind of, if I’m in this register [laughs].

[Laughter]. What else is the song about?

CJ: It’s about playing with that idea of a singer. It’s a fantasy tale about being a hero of the suburbs. I’ve never really understood why everything has to be so city-centred, and why everything has to play into these references of what’s cool and what’s happening now. In my fantasy dreamworld, there would be pockets all throughout the urban sprawl of Melbourne and beyond, where amazing music is happening. And, there’s this one singer that plays around the Eastern suburbs, around the R.S.L. and chicken-parmigiana-pubs, that are actually really creative and great but for whatever reason in our culture (in the 80’s bands would go out and play those places), it’s just not a thing now. It’s about that, because it’s just an impossibility.

The other layer is that actual baring of childhood and real-life things. As I was saying before, it’s amazing to hear yourself in music. I haven’t heard other people mention the Eastern Freeway in a song before! It’s a pretty good road [laughs]. It also expresses that driving was a form of freedom when I was younger. Going to the city, to places for “culture” and discovering different kinds of music was really important to me. So, that road means a lot.

Even my suburb. I’ve actually moved back to my teenage house, that’s where I am now. I bought it off my mum, which was very strange. I remember living here when I was younger, I remember this Australian rapper called Bias B, he talked about the trainline here. Aussie hip-hop around 2000 was the first time I ever heard specific areas mentioned. He talked about the Burra to Eltham train! Growing up here in a leafy suburb having nothing to say, but it’s not true, hearing things like that, I loved it, and that’s probably how it fed into my work.

The video clip we’re premiering for ‘Cong The Singer’ is really fun! What do you remember about filming?

CS: We only shot it two weeks ago, so I remember all of it [laughs]. And if anyone wants to know, we did do it Covid safe, I’m even wearing a mask in one part. I was actually saying this to Nick [Mahady] who filmed it with me…

He did your ‘Leather Whip’ clip too!

CJ: Yeah. This is kind of like ‘Leather Whip #2’. The first song was set in Greece because we happend to be there before Covid. Nick is a really great friend and talented artist; he did the portrait artwork for my releases so far and the Cong! cover. He’s an example of someone that is so open and creative and sensitive. We have a really great relationship, since I discovered more about myself and valued that aspect in people even more.

I was saying to Nick, that this video and ‘Leather Whip’ mean so much to me and are so close to me, because we literally went out with a camera and a few sketched ideas. We saw a rabbit, so we filmed a rabbit. We saw a bin chicken… or we decided to go to the river, which felt like minus thirty degrees! It was all very spontaneous over two days. It was nerve-racking also.

The first shot we did was Footscray Amphitheatre. We got there and it was so quiet. It was a Saturday morning, beautiful weather.  A couple of people were sitting in their Northface jackets drinking coffee. There were two groups of people looking down at exactly where we were filming. There were people jogging. Being in a cowboy hat, add to this debaucherous music, which we knew was going to be loud for a moment; I had my little Bluetooth speaker to mime to. It was scary! We actually started talking to each other, “Oh maybe we can do this other shot” [laughs]. We started setting up and one of the people there made a joke to me, he said, “Are we going to get an organ performance?” Because he saw my pants underneath my long jacket I was wearing and that broke the ice. I was like, ‘Ok, this is alright’ [breaths a sigh of relief], and then I started performing. I was like, ‘This is the best grassroots campaign ever, I just made three fans!’ It was me and Nick, and Johnny Cayn (Cayn Borthwick) was there.

The clip is very direct and real. It’s very D.I.Y. This is going to sound really bad, but I can’t stop watching it. My band The Crimes that are in it, can’t stop watching it either. There’s so many funny bits. They’re like, “Why are you presenting the Westgate Bridge?” [laughs]. I’m like, ‘I don’t know?!’

Do you have a favourite moment from the video?

CJ: In one of the first musical breakdowns, I’m on the Coburg Lake stage and there’s people having picnics, bemused by what we were doing – I’m either clicking my fingers or combing my hair – and there’s a rollerskater behind me twirling. That was a guy we met while we were packing up. Initially there were two boxers on stage. They said they were happy to be in the video and they had the music cranked, they were big beefy guys; then they told us they didn’t want to be in it. As we were packing up one of the boxers were like, “Hey, get Tony! Tony is amazing. Get him in it.” We introduced ourselves and asked if he wanted to be in it. He said, “Ok.” Then he started doing spins and we pretended music was going on. It’s one of the most beautiful shots, because he’s really great. It’s a great juxtaposition.

That’s one of my favourite shots too! His leg movements are perfect, such finesse. It works so beautifully.

CJ: There’s another one second shot of us with a beautiful white dog.

That’s my other favourite shot!

CJ: There was a mum and daughter walking their dog. I was doing the shot where I comb my hair near the car, obviously people were looking at us a bit strange. I said ‘hi’ as they walked past and thought maybe I should ask them if we can get a shot with that big gorgeous dog. They were really happy to, and they gave me treats to keep the dog in the vicinity. You don’t get shots like that otherwise. I wanna keep doing it. Maybe it’s a great way to build my fan base [laughs], very slow and labour intensive.

[Laughter]. We’re so happy to be premiering the song and video, it’s right up our alley. We really love your whole album Cong! It fuses so many things we love together – it has a kind of rockabilly vocal and then it’s got an EBM feel and a punk spirit.

CJ: Yeah, cool! It has all of those things. I really dug into a world of the Norton Records label, they do some really great outsider rockabilly like Hasil Adkins. Those wild rockabilly/rock’n’roll/country fellas: Jack Starr, Stud Cole, Legendary Stardust Cowboy, Terry Allen are some of the sleezy cats that have been an influence. Also, a lot of the artists that The Cramps were inspired by, they called them wild men, and apparently some of them really were—that’s a big influence on who Cong is. Cong is the wild rockabilly artist but in a suburban Australian setting, so he’s also gonna be a bit different.

In terms of the electronics, I was never able to focus on the throb, as I call it, the throbbing rhythm. In NO ZU everything was still mechanical and awkward funk, a bit more danceable in a different way. It’s a big clash of those things.

I love Johnny Cayn’s guitar on the track. It’s probably the most slide-y, rockabilly thing on the record. It’s just wild and out of control.

Yes! It’s very cool.

CJ: I really love Simone aka Mona Reeves’ voice with the “Saturday night” part on there too, which is inspired by the Elton John ‘Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting’ track. Just that idea of being really excited by a Saturday or Friday night is a musical trope that was really fun to explore!

Ed’s note: We spoke with Cong Josie for over a hour, this is a small extract from a more in-depth chat exploring the entire album, growing up in Melbourne, toxic masculinity, Nicolaas Oogjes musical evolution, creativity, getting through life’s challenges, and creating your own world to heal and grow. Read it in our next print issue (#5) we’re currently working on.

Pre-order Cong! HERE. Follow @congjoise