Original photo: Brendan Frost. Handmade collage by B.
Contagiously energetic garage punks Cammy Cautious and the Wrestlers, originally from the Blue Mountains and now based on Gadigal Country in Sydney, consist of Sarah Rheinberger (guitar/vocals), Will Cooke (drums), and Callum Dyer (bass). Starting out recording in their lounge room on GarageBand, the band released their first EP in 2020. Since then, they’ve put out a series of self-released tracks, a cassette through Warttmann Inc., and, in 2024, their much loved CCATW EP, on 7-inch, recorded with Straight Arrows’ Owen Penglis. Ready to rumble for your attention and pin you down with their catchy hooks.
When did you first know that you wanted to play music?
WILL: Growing up, we had an AC/DC live VHS, and when they played ‘Hells Bells,’ a huge wrecking ball swung down and smashed the stage. I remember thinking, ‘Damn, that’s awesome.’
CALLUM: Mum and Dad were working musos, so there was no choice.
SARAH: Same sorta thing, the house was empty without music, so when mum wasn’t home I had to fill the gap and teach myself a thing or two.
What was the first song you remember loving?
CALLUM: ‘Robots’ by Flight of the Concords.
SARAH: ‘Pizza Angel’ by Larry the Cucumber (VeggieTales) .
WILL: ‘Joker and the Thief’ by Wolfmother.
Photo: Brendan Frost.
Who are your musical heroes? Why do you think they’re ace?
SARAH: II love Amy Taylor because she is doing everything I wanna do and saying ‘fuck you’ to everything that I say ‘fuck you’ to.
CALLUM: I love Peter Walker. I love his music and his ethos behind it. If you know you know.
WILL: I love Shogun. Royal Headache was the first Aussie album I loved as a teenager.
What initially brought Cammy Cautious and the Wrestlers together? You started the band in Grade 12, right? And, it was just you two, Sarah & Will? How’d you meet?
WILL: Sarah and I met through mutual friends. We are all from the Blue Mountains, which is a small space. Not many people were into music, etc., so we started hanging out and making music together! Then I met Callum at a party when we were young because he spotted me wearing a King Gizz shirt, haha!
SARAH: Callum had been stalking what we were doing as well, tehe!
Your band name has something to do with your brothers, right Sarah?
SARAH: Yes. Will and I were recording our first EP during lockdown, so my family of seven were all home, and in our recordings, you can hear the bangs and clangs of my three brothers getting mashed-wrestling.
What are the best and worst aspects of the Gadigal Country/Sydney scene you’re a part of?
SARAH: We have been playing a few years now so the venue circuit is getting a bit repetitive.
WILL: The best are the people. We have made so many sick friends from playing shows, so super grateful!
In August you released the CCATW 7”; what did you love most about the process of making it?
SARAH: It was super fun to punch it all out in a day, and by the end, we had a tangible copy of all this rock that had been living in my head.
WILL: It was a super hot day, and Callum and I did all of our bass and drums in 40 minutes. Then we sat and drank tequila while we watched Sarah work the rest of the day, which was fun, haha!
You recorded your first EP back in your lounge room on GarageBand in 2020 and now your latest release was recorded with Owen Penglis; what was the experience like for you having someone else record you?
WILL: It was super fun. Owen is a legend, and he got us sounding good. We are all big fans of him and his work, so it was super cool to work with him! It was a scorcher of a day, so we were hot and sweaty, which I think rubs off on the recordings.
Photo: Brendan Frost.
Do you have a favourite song you’ve wrote? What’s it about?
SARAH: I’m really loving some of the new stuff that I’ve written for our next album. It’s always fun witnessing songs develop from what I’ve written at home to what they become when the boys add their flavour. In terms of released tracks, though, I’d say I’m rather fond of ‘Want It,’ as it’s always a hoot to play. It’s mostly lyrical nonsense, apart from one reference to my Pop’s adoration of coal trains: ‘my lady’s cooler than a coal train.’
What kinds of stuff have you enjoyed writing about lately?
SARAH: I’ve been writing a bunch of tracks for our new album recently and have been enjoying the range of substance lyrically between these songs—dipping from love and pain to lunch innuendos and utter nonsense. I like that sometimes, when I write, I have something I want to express, and I enjoy doing that somewhat poetically. Other times, I just put words together that sound cool, which is poetry in itself anyway, I suppose.
What’s your preferred way to write? Is there anything you find hard about songwriting?
SARAH: I don’t think too much about writing; it just happens when it does and can happen anywhere. Sometimes in small fragments over a while, and other times all in a matter of minutes. I do sometimes challenge myself to write about random things, as I find it’s easy to fall into patterns topically, so I try to freshen things up with a bit of absurdity. ‘Feet Up’ is a song I get asked about frequently, as people are curious about the lyrics. I’m just talking about feet and stroking on meat. Take that as you will.
You’ve been a band for four years, since around 2020; What has been your proudest moment during that time?
SARAH: I remember the day that I made the choice to keep going at this whole Cammy thing. Will and I were in year 12 when the two of us started it up, and I remember when he would call me about gigs, I was so, so anxious about being perceived on stage that I was always hesitant to accept the gig offers. But I remember one day being like… care less, queen. Just send it, hey. Reflecting on what we’ve done since then makes me proud of younger me, who managed to mash those fears.
WILL: Just that we have continued to have fun and move forward, it doesn’t feel boring. i’m still excited to play and write
What’s been the most influential live show you’ve seen?
WILL: When I first moved to Sydney, I remember watching Satanic Togas the night before my 20th birthday. It was as COVID was wrapping up and shows were back. I turned 18 and 19 during COVID, so I never got to watch live music until I moved, and I just remember thinking, ‘This is the best thing ever.’
CALLUM: Bill Callahan or Melbourne Drone Orchestra—Bill was just breaking hearts with a 3/4 nylon, and the MDO was a sensory experience that haunts my dreams to this day.
Can you share with us what you’ve been getting into lately?
WILL: I’ve been reading Into the Wild, which is interesting. Watching the first season of Underbelly, which is hilarious. And loving, the Protex album Strange Obsessions.
CALLUM: I’ve been getting into some light category theory and reading lots on additive synthesis. Spending lots of time on acoustic spectra at the moment too.
What’s next?
WILL: A few more shows, then lots of writing and maybe some relaxing. We’ve had a cool year, but it’s been super busy, so we might kick our feet up for a bit and finish our album.
Original photo: Jhonny Russell. Handmade collage by B.
Seasoned musician and skilled producer Owen Penglis is a massive music fan and has carved a remarkable path for himself in the world of sound. Hailing from a musical family (his father played in legendary 60s Australian surf band, The Atlantics) Penglis immersed himself in digging for records at a quaint secondhand shop nestled in the Sydney suburbs, seeking the weird and wonderful.
Penglis went on to be in many bands, starting out as a drummer before moving to guitar. He spent time exploring music at university but wasn’t vibing on it, and in a bold move, bid farewell to the classroom and became a Vespa mechanic. He eventually started one of the coolest Australian garage rock bands, Straight Arrows, in 2007.
Music’s magnetic allure beckoned him to pursue his sonic dreams. Armed with a borrowed 4-track recorder, Penglis took on the role of a musical alchemist, teaching himself the art of recording through his own and friends’ musical endeavours. He started his own studio recording bands Circle Pit, The Frowning Clouds, Bloods, The Living Eyes, Mini Skirt, Display Homes and many more.
In our insightful conversation, Penglis unveils details about a new Straight Arrows album, and recording a new Mini Skirt record. Delving into his memories, he tells us stories of mentoring a teenage Ishka from Tee Vee Repairmann, and collaborating on intriguing ventures like a sitar project with Lawrence from Royal Headache. We talk touring with The Oh Sees and Eddy Current Suppression Ring. And we discover the depths of Penglis’ creativity, including the fun project where he donned a gorilla suit and sang a dance anthem that went out for an ARIA Award.
OWNEN PENGLIS: Yeah. The highlight so far was probably when we went to Sunshine Coast yesterday, but the show was cancelled because of the venue shutdown. So we went anyway, we had a hotel up there. We went bowling. We got up today and went for a swim. And then we played mini golf.
Nice! Who won?
OP: Al won mini golf. Will won bowling.
The first time you toured with The Oh Sees was with Eddy Current Suppression Ring in 2009.
OP: That was really cool, and funny because the shows weren’t very well attended. Eddy Current didn’t really click with people until maybe, Rush to Relax. I mean people who were into that stuff knew about it, but it gained a wider audience, maybe up to that record, as they were kind of starting to wind down a bit. Us and The Oh Sees played in Wollongong, we played to 30 people. Then we did Newcastle with Eddy Current, too, and there were 80 people in a big room at the Cambridge. But Sydney was really good.
What a lineup! We love all the bands.
OP: It was really cool. We’re very lucky just to randomly get on it because this band called Witch Hats, they pulled out, and I said, we’ll do it. They said, “Ok. Cool!” And then we made friends.
The Oh Sees, at the time were doing all the vocals through a Space Echo, a proper tape machine box one and that shit itself. And so I was like, take mine on the road and bring it back at the end. We became friendly and chatted a lot. And then the next time they came, we played with them again, and then next time after that.
I understand that there was a conversation that you and John Dwyer had about potentially doing an Oh Sees/Straight Arrows split release?
OP: Yeah, we were doing the merch together in Newcastle and they’d just written this cool song called ‘I Was Denied’ that ended up being on album, Warm Slime. I think they had just started playing it. They played that song every night. I thought, this is mad. I was like, you’ve got a record label, do you want to do a 7 inch? And he’s like, “Let’s do a split 7 inch!” I was like, okay, cool. And then I just never really pulled my finger out and followed it up. Stupid mistake.
You should remind John of the convo while on tour now, and finally do it! I’d buy that.
OP: I was like, hey, do you remember we were going to do a Split like, four years ago. He was like, “I don’t really do it anymore.” And I was like, I guess I learned my lesson.
Has there ever been other opportunities that you’ve had that didn’t eventuate?
OP: I got one, but I can’t tell ya. I got asked to tour with a band. It’s not a big regret.
How did you get into music?
OP: I grew up in a musical house. My my old man played in a 60s band called, The Atlantics. An instrumental surf band with a hit song called ‘Bombora’. The Beatles hit, like, six months later and you had to have a vocalist, now certain music is not cool anymore. They got a vocalist who was an older dude who’s a bit of a rockabilly guy from the 50s who tried to do 60s rock and roll, it didn’t go well. They put out singles for years. They didn’t sell. But now some of them are really cool, and they’re really valuable. So I grew up with that. Although he hated that and wouldn’t talk about the band or anything. He just thought it was crap and old.
Photo: Jhonny Russell.
You initially started playing drums?
OP: Yeah, I started as a drummer, played in a few bands when I was a teenager.
What kind of bands?
OP: I played in a band that’s still going called The Holy Soul, when I was 17. I met them when I went to university in Penrith, West Sydney.
What were you studying at uni?
OP: I was doing music. I hated it so much, I quit and became a mechanic.
Why a mechanic?
OP: I got offered a job as an apprentice at a shop that fixed old Vespas and Libras. The guy there said, “Come work for me and stop delivering pizzas.”
During that time you were still making music, though?
OP: Yeah, I was still making music, but when I was doing uni stuff… rather than a strict this-is-how-you-plug-in-a-microphone-thing, and this is how you get a drum sound, it was on the creative side, which is cool. But it was early digital equipment. I thought it all sounded crappy. I hated it. I hated the academic side of it and the people that it attracted.
For you, is music more of a feeling kind of thing then?
OP: I’d say so. Yeah. I’d much rather pick up a guitar then write it down. I couldn’t write it down [laughs]. Not very well.
So I became a mechanic and then I borrowed a 4-track cassette deck off someone, and started again from scratch.
Teaching yourself?
OP: Yes, teaching myself. I was a drummer and I thought no-one wants to see a drummer write songs [laughs], or sit behind a kit and sing.
I do. I love watching drummers sing. Ben from C.O.F.F.I.N, Nadine from The Prize, Buz from R.M.F.C.
OP: [Laughs] Maybe I should have stuck with that.
Does being a drummer help you write songs?
OP: Yeah, probably. I’m sure it does. Just thinking about a song rhythmically is something I do first and then it goes from there.
Do your lyrics come after the music?
OP: It depends. Me and Al in the band always talk about it and are like, if you’re writing a song and your lyrics kind of come with the melody it’s really nice, but if you write cool sounding music and then write the lyrics after, it can be really difficult. It’s like trying to fill out a crossword with no questions on it.
You have a new album that you’re going to put out?
OP:Yeah.
We’ve heard six songs. They’re really awesome. Is there going to be more?
OP: Thanks. There’s heaps more. They’re the only ones I wasn’t embarrassed about [laughs].
Photo: Jhonny Russell.
How long of a period were you writing over for the new record?
OP: During COVID so it all melts together. In Sydney it was all locked down. There was a while where we couldn’t go more than 5kms from your house. When they finally let you do that, I could go to my studio and I’d go in two or three days, sit down and write some music. If today is good, it’s good, and if it’s shit I had to do better. At the moment, there’s no work for me. I can’t mix anyone’s record because no one’s recording because no-one knew what was happening.
Your studio is called Goliath?
OP: Yeah. So I actually had to move studios, at the start of January. I got a new one which is close to my house but haven’t got a name for it yet. It’s a five minute walk or I just get on my pushy and ride over.
Do you know what the new album will be called?
OP: I have no idea.
When do you think it’ll come out?
OP: I was supposed to finish it off in December but I moved studios, which pushed everything back. I’m hoping towards end of the year, maybe September/October. It kind of depends on the record plants because everything takes so long now. Major labels have discovered that they’ve got a physical piece that they can sell again. And it’s like maybe 60 bucks retail for them now, for a single record. People seem to think that’s normal. You get big artists, like Adele clogging up the plants.
Yep. And Taylor Swift. All the Record Store Day things too. Reissues of everything.
OP: It’s all bullshit, likeTop Gun 2 soundtrack. Whatever. [Laughs] I need that on vinyl! It’s funny because they’re almost, like, keepsakes rather than playable things to a lot of people buying.
I remember reading that when you were younger you used to find bands, new music and you used to love getting records, looking at record covers and then choosing them that way.
OP: Totally. I was really lucky when I was a teenager, there was a secondary record store. I grew up in an outer suburb of Sydney called Asquith, which is like 45-50 minutes on the train from the city. The next suburb was Hornsby and there was one secondhand record shop and it was great and really cheap. They had a listening station. I’d go in all the time. They didn’t care if I just took a pile of records and sat there and listened to them all and maybe didn’t buy anything. It was that it was a great education. And then I had to figure out what I liked. All the dudes running it was, “There’s a $2 copy of this Pretty Things record. Think you might like it, listen to it, it’s cool.” I just dig through and find weird records with strange covers and be like, who is this? Sam The Sham. Cool. Chuck that on. Digging through boxes and seeing cool names.
I do that. I also look for fun song titles. I especially like songs that mention dogs or space.
OP: [Laughs]. Space is always good.
[Shows the screen of his phone] This could maybe be the new album cover. A friend took this amazing photo of a building in Bundaberg. He still lives up there. His name is Brad and he used to play the band Chinese Burns. Think he works for for the ABC taking photos.
Is recording other artists your full time job or do you do that on the side of something else?
OP: It’s my full time job, weirdly. I can finally feel confident saying that’s my full time job.
OP: Yes, I was just up in Byron recording Mini Skirt, which was cool. They got a really nice studio up in the hills, in Coorabell. It used to be a studio in the 70s and maybe like Cold Chisel and that school of bands would use it. It went to disrepair and a very rich lady bought the land it’s on and restored the studio to how it was back then, including finding all the old equipment. Mini Skirt flew me up to work on the record.
Have you been working on anything else as well?
OP: I’ve been doing a lot of mastering, which is nice to do. I mastered the Wiggles covers album, which is pretty funny [laughs]. That made my mum understand and respect what I do. I’ve been mastering all sorts of weird stuff, cool local bands and also country artists .All sorts of stuff comes through.
Do you find that when you’re working on something and you might not totally be into it or what the artist is doing, do you find something in there that makes it okay and you can get through it?
OP: Oh, yeah. Mastering I try to be kind of totally objective. It’s a technical thing. There’s joy in any of it. I’m fairly uncontactable, I don’t advertise or try and actively get something, I’m lucky enough tI don’t have to actively try and push to get work from bands. People come to me, and I’m able to leave it like that. If people have made the effort to find me, then they probably know what I’m doing. And we’re probably going to understand each other. I’ve had a couple of weird ones [laughs].
I get that. I was speaking with Ishka from Tee Vee Repairmann recently, and he was saying he likes likes recording, but he doesn’t want to advertise either.
OP: Ishka was my intern.
I know. He told me you were the one who got him into Back to the Grave and all these cool compilations.
OP: That’s cool. When he was in high school, year 11 or 12 he came and worked with me for his work experience, I was recording that band The Grates. They came in for a couple of weeks, so come in and hang out. He’d come in and everybody loved him. He was a quiet, tall kid that wanted to learn lots. Ishka is such a lovely guy. We played New Year’s eve the one before last and Al was away and I caught up with Ishka and asked if he’d like to play guitar for a show. He said, “Yeah, cool, ok.” He came to one practise and learnt everything really fast. He was so good at it I had to ask him, can you play it a bit bit shittier [laughs]. I told him he had to make it bad.
We love Ishka, he’s the best, one of the nicest people we know. With, like, the new album did you have an idea of what you wanted it to sound like?
OP: I’m so caught up in listening to shit all the time that I’ll hear record be like, yeah, I love that I should record something like that, and then the week it’s something else. Each song is probably like a weird snapshot of what I was loving that day or week.
Is there a song on the album that’s significant for you?
OP: There’s some darker stuff in there, but I don’t want to talk about it.
Not a problem. I guess that’s why we write songs sometimes. We can communicate things that are sometimes hard to talk about and it can also help us process what we’re going through.
OP: Oh, totally. I mean, that’s what it’s all about, right? Getting up and yelling on stage.
Yeah, it’s a release. It can also just be total fun and bring immense joy.
OP: It’s so great to do this stuff. I’m so thankful that I get to travel with some ofmy best friends and see some great friends from overseas.
Are you working on anything else musically besides Straight Arrows?
OP: Not really at the moment. I went through a weird patch in, maybe, 2015 or something. I did a bunch of weird records. I did a sitar record. I lived with a guy Lawrence who played that band Royal Headache. We hanging out and I found a sitar on the side of the road that had a hole in it. I fixed it. We were just hanging out and with it, Royal Headache’s High had just come out, and I was listening to these great double 60s records. There was like a band playing a track but with sitar as the vocals. I was like, let’s do that with Royal Headache. We started this dumb band called The Royal Sitars. We put out a 7 inch and played few shows. Then Royal Headache got quite busy. He was off doing festival, running around, and that was the end of that. But there’s a Sitar record out with me and him [laughs].
There’s another one I did around the same time which is called. The Green Bananas, which was like me dressed as a gorilla singing a song about a dance song called ‘Do Ape’.
Amazing!
OP: [Laughs] And that ended up getting picked up by the ABC and it was a 7 inch. The guy from the ABC called up, he said, “Don’t be offended, but would you consider making a kids release?”
You did it, right?
OP: Yeah. I ended up doing an EP. The main reason we did the EP was, “Okay, so the ARIA Awards are coming up and we get to submit like three albums or mini-albums to the nominations in the children’s section. And we have some space. So if you can write and record this in two weeks, we can try and nominate it for an ARIA Award.” I sat down and did it, and then I think the Wiggles put out two albums and I got left behind [laughs].
And now you’re working with The Wiggles! A full circle moment.
OP: [Laughs].
What kind of things are you enjoying music-wise lately?
OP:I spend so much time digging through the past. My other job is DJing, I do that heaps. Touring doing that is much easy than touring a band. I really like The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, their records are amazing. Their story is really strange. A rich older guy was an orphan who was adopted by an oil baron, he decided that he wanted to start a popular rock group and recruited these 18 year olds to start a band with him. He paid for everything. The recordings, the light show. He got them on Reprise, Frank Sinatra’s label. He had them touring around America and kind of slowly started to appear more on stage, playing tambourine and singing. I love the records.
Is there anything musically you haven’t done yet that you’d like to?
OP: I just sit down and play and see what comes out. I guess Straight Arrows is within some sort of confines but I can kind of put out almost anything that’s guitar-related in that band. The new single ‘Fast Product’ we just did, I feel like it’s a weirder one for us. It’s almost like egg punk.
Was there anything you were listening to then when you made it to influence that sound?
OP: The newer wave of egg stuff, I suppose. Like Coneheads. Uranium Club. Even R.M.F.C., those guys are awesome!
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!
Original photo by Jamie Wdziekonski. Handmade mixed-media collage by B.
The Frowning Clouds’ Gospel Sounds & More from the Church of Scientology is a great record. They unabashedly wear their 60s influences on their sleeve. The songs are sunny, folksy, at times wild and nostalgic; it has a homespun quaintness, their charm and the group’s chemistry coming through loud and clear. In 14-tracks the band captures the beating heart of why we love music, why we make music, and why we try to express ourselves and find ourselves, and our need to connect with each other. It’s all here, raw, flawed and honest, exploring love in its various forms, longings and infatuations.
The Clouds are an important Australian band that were under-appreciated while active, but over time ignited a garage-rock scene in Djilang/Geelong and beyond, influencing countless creatives. Clouds’ members went on to evolve their craft, innovate and continue to inspire in bands Bananagun, Orb, Traffik island, Ausmuteants, Alien Nosejob and more. Gimmie chatted with Frowning Clouds’ guitarist-vocalist Nick Van Bakel to get an insight into the band and release what you could view as the Clouds’ sophomore album that never came out… until now. Over a decade after it was recorded it still feels fresh and rousing.
What’s your earliest memory of The Frowning Clouds?
NICK VAN BAKEL: My earliest memory is probably just me and Zak [Olsen] playing a couple of originals, some Velvets & 13th Floor Elevator songs in my bedroom and our friend Danny recording it on his video camera. We took the audio off it for our first recordings [laughs].
I know that the band was very much inspired by the 60s, specifically the period 1964-1967, as well as the Back From The Grave series and Nuggets compilation; when did you first get into that kind of music and what is it about that period that resonated so strongly?
NVB: Probably about 16 or so, we’d heard some more obvious stuff like The Kinks and The Stones etc., but the deep garage comps were like even more outlaw than that. The attitude and spirit of it all. We were real young and those comps are mostly all teen bands, so it was what we wanted to do. Also they’re just amazing songs played with high energy.
How did you learn to write 60s-sounding songs? Previously you’ve told me songwriting for you back then was very much about craft. What kinds of things catch your attention in songs?
NVB: Well, that was our introduction to playing/writing, so we just did what they we’re all doing. Seeing documentary Dig! just showed that you could go DIY. The crafty bit is like all the girl group stuff of the 60s and pop. There’s a billion 60s songs that all have the main chords and motifs, and that’s where you can get creative and bend your idea into this little 3-minute song. Like the professional writing teams going into a room and making five songs a day.
The Clouds have a new release coming out on Anti Fade, Gospel Sounds & More from the Church of Scientology, which is predominately songs from the 2013 Frowning Clouds European tour tape called Gospel Sounds For The Church Of Scientology, with a handful of singles and unreleased tracks; what do you remember most about that tour?
NVB: A Spanish label called Saturno released our first stuff and organised the tour; the best part of that was going to Nacho and Dario from Saturno’s home town Seville. Seville is a medieval city. Star Wars has been filmed there. It’s where Flamenco was invented. We just loved the lifestyle of having siestas, meeting all their friends in the park in the afternoon, having a relaxed beer and tapas. They were adults to us, so it was cool to see that you could be an adult and have a job and family, but not have the weird Aussie thing of all the milestones like getting married, a house, having kids etc.
During the tour you record in Berlin with King Khan; tell us about the experience.
NVB: It was fun because he’s also, another big kid [laughs]. He came to one of our shows. We were hanging out at a bar and he invited us to record the next day. We had this super legend, but super regimented, tour driver who was like “C’mon guys we gotta go!” Then Arish being like “Oh, you know what? We should actually do a whole album!” He’s real lightning in a bottle, just having new ideas every five minutes and changing directions. We recorded four songs or so just in the lounge room live with a toy kit and practice amps.
That’s so cool. I’ve seen videos online. There’s a western instrumental you guys did during those sessions that Khan released on an album Let Me Hang You that features spoken word by William S. Burroughs; what do you think of it?
NVB: It was fun to do and it’s funny to have a song credited to me and William s. Burroughs!
What’s it like for you to revisit these songs on the new release now?
NVB: Over lock down I had some good nights getting drunk like an old man listening to all the stuff we did when we were young. Only good memories. I feel proud overall, that we didn’t half ass it.
We’ve been listening to Gospel Sounds & More from the Church of Scientology heaps, we’re really excited the songs are seeing the light of day. What do you like most about the release?
NVB: Well, it’s mostly stuff at the time, we thought we’d leave out and I still feel the same way, but not so precious now after some time away from it.
I also love the art that Millar Wileman (who plays percussion in Bananagun) did for the cover. He’s got a pretty distinct style, he uses a lot of old world-y stuff and has a Monty Python Flying Circus kind of vibe.
Album art by Millar Wileman.
What was the earliest song you wrote in this collection?
NVB: That’s hard to say exactly, maybe ‘Open Your Eyes’? Or probably ‘Stick Fight’. That was about me challenging this guy that my ex left me for to a stick fight [laughs]. Tender days!
I know that a favourite song of yours from the album is ‘All Night Long’; what do you love about it?
NVB: There’s always something about a recording or performance that bugs me, little mistakes, but I think we really nailed it with that take. It’s the band in a nutshell really—raw teenager energy.
I think it’s probably the best performance we ever did. It was the best vibe. We recorded it with Owen [Penglis].
Do you remember writing it?
NVB: I remember Jake [Robertson] came over to work on some songs together and I had the riff for ‘All Night Long’ and we made headway from there. I don’t remember all the details but I remember sitting in my room and writing it. I remember riding around on my bike with it in my head and doing little monos and banging the front tyre down getting real pumped!
That’s how I think creativity emerges, just when you’re relaxed, like in the shower or washing the dishes. I’ve been running a lot and I get a lot of ideas running.
A lot of the songs (like ‘If You’re Half Then I’ll Make You A Whole’, ‘Thought About Her’ & ‘Not the Fool’…) are love songs, yearning for love, breaking up etc. How do the songs reflect you as a person?
NVB: I guess it says I’m a sucker for love [laughs]. Love songs are pretty universal and eternal.
Most things that most people do deep down are trying to find themselves some love. I like emotional content, I can’t get into things as much on an intellectual level, or clever use of language is impressive but what is the transfer? What’s the communication? Besides being wordy usually. Mostly though, I was just trying to make stuff like my heroes, Ray Davies or John Lennon. Lots of genuine expression.
Yourself and Zak were the primary songwriters in The Clouds; what are the differences and similarities you see in both your writing?
NVB: Hard to answer, we both started writing together and grew up together and influenced each other and wrote together. Zak’s definitely more of a poet than I am and more collaborative, but I’m physically stronger and a faster runner, and could easily take him down with a single fly kick!
What do you feel each member brought to the Clouds?
NVB: There’s been member changes, but for the most part I’ll say:
Jake, brings chords, scales and proficiency, punk vibes.
[Jamie] Harmer, allowed us to write in more open terrain because he had a broader pallet. (Both Jake and Harmer were like phase two, the best bit).
Daff [Gravolin] is like a studio player, he can do anything in any style, but you can still tell it’s him. There’s only one Daff!
Zak is the researcher, finding all the awesome records and writing awesome tunes.
We’d really need all night to cover this properly cos we’re like brothers, we did everything together. Everyone brought their own little things to the party. They are all super funny too.
The Frowning Clouds really inspired a lot of other bands that came after you; what are you feelings about this?
NVB: Can only be a good thing! We really got so lucky with our friend circle. We got a bit territorial sometimes which is kinda funny and fine for teenagers to do.
When we first started, Geelong had just punk and hardcore gigs that we used to go to. The first one that I went to, I remember getting punched in the head in the mosh pit [laughs]. I was just like, ‘Fuck these guys!’ Heaps of them had big brothers and they were just these big punk bully dudes. We all just got bitten by the 60s bug because it was the coolest thing that we had heard. It does seem like we got the ball rolling for people to follow suit.
Is there anything that you didn’t appreciate back then that you do now?
NVB: I have to give huge props to Katie Jones who saw us play when we’re underage and volunteered to drive us around Australia for four years; five rude, stinky kids basically. She was beyond generous to us. Did so much for us and never asked for anything in return. The real Queen of The Barwon Club, always will be.
The Frowning Clouds seem like they were a really tight knit gang; tell us about a funny Clouds moment.
NVB: I remember opening for Little Red at the Toff and we got so drunk in the green room and started throwing crates of wine bottles out the 4th story window [laughs]. We’d honestly get canceled so fast nowadays. It felt like actual family though, thick n thin, and The Living Eyes were our little brothers.
Are you going to play any shows for the album?
NVB: We’re hoping to! Bananagun are moving overseas to Portugal for a bit to do a bunch of touring, but we haven’t bought tickets yet. I’m hoping we can squeeze The Frowning Clouds stuff in before that happens. I’m working on album number two for Bananagun.
Awesome! What have you been listening to lately?
NVB: I’ve been listening to a lot of Beach Boys this morning, it’s been a while. I gave Pet Sounds a spin. I’ve been listening to a lot of Sun Ra and spiritual jazz stuff. I’ve been listening o a lot of Gamelan music and Indonesian folk. I’ve been listening to a lot of 60s garage again over the last few months because putting together this release has reawakened my fire for it!
Gospel Sounds & More from the Church of Scientology is out August 5th, 2022 on Anti Fade Records. PRE-ORDER HERE.
Original photo courtesy of Display Homes. Handmade collage by B.
Eora/Sydney 3-piece Display Homes are back with new music! The asymmetric guitars, bass grooves and dynamic drums we’ve come to love on their previous two EPs are all there brighter than ever on forthcoming debut album What If You’re Right & They’re Wrong?. It’s raw but sharp, minimalist and danceable. Their pop sensibilities make it accessible while their post-punk leanings make it exciting. We’re calling it now as one of our favourite albums of the year!
Today Gimmie are premiering first single ‘CCTV’ with accompanying video shot via CCTV at a pub vocalist Steph King once worked at. We caught up with the band for a yarn.
We’re excited that you have new music coming out. The sneak peek copy of your debut full-length album, What if you’re right & they’re wrong? has been on high rotation at Gimmie HQ! It’s one of our favourite releases we’ve heard so far this year. How long have you been working on it and how does it feel to be releasing it into the world?
GREG CLENNAR: Thanks, glad to hear you are enjoying it! We recorded the album at the end of 2020 and the songs were written over the two years prior to that, so it has been a long time coming. To finally announce the album is very exciting to say the least. The delay caused by COVID and the subsequent delay with pressing plants has drawn it out as I am sure many other bands have experienced. It’ll definitely be a relief once it’s out.
What influences have shaped Display Homes’ sound?
GC: I’m not sure if there’s been any one collective influence for our sound, even though it may come across that way. At our first ever practice, none of us had any idea of what we wanted to do, except that Darrell had already declared our name was Display Homes, which Steph and I both wholeheartedly endorsed. We didn’t even know who was going to sing, which entailed a few failed attempts on mine and Darrell’s behalf before realising that Steph was clearly the best singer in the band. As we evolved and the sound started to make more sense, I think we started to draw more on influences from bands of the 80s like Delta 5, AU Pairs, Pylon, B-52s etc, who we all love.
How has the band grown from 2019’s EP E.T.A.?
DARRELL BEVERIDGE: In 2019 we all lived together in one of the most beautiful sharehouse in Marrickville. Seriously, this place was incredible, a true Display Home inhabited by us FRAUDS. It looked like one of those places that instagram bedsheet companies use to shoot their ads and people look at them and go, “If I get these pistachio coloured sheets, maybe I can live somewhere like that!” Unfortunately the owner dogged us and kicked us out because they wanted to move back in.
In terms of progression as a band, I think we’ve just tightened a few loose screws. When we were recording the album and I was doing guitar for one of the songs, Owen the producer stormed into the room on about the 38th take of a very simple guitar part and said to me, “You keep hitting that top string, do you even use it?” I replied, “I do not.” Owen: “Then take it out!” So now I only play with 5 strings (seriously). So technically, I’ve regressed musically.
Where did the album title come from?
STEPH KING: I always find it hard to give anything a title. I couldn’t think of a title for one of the songs on the album and I asked Darrell and he named it ‘Neenish’– which was the name of his cat at the time, probably because he remembered he needed to feed her. It worked out surprisingly well as the lyrics very much matched the behaviour of a little kitty cat.
I was struggling to think of an album name and was rewatching season 1 of Fargo during lockdown. What if you’re right & they’re wrong? is the quote on the poster in the basement that Lester reads moments before he loses the plot. It just stuck with me. I asked Greg and Darrell what they thought, and they liked it, so we went with it. I think if I asked Darrell for an album name he probably would have suggested ‘Beans’ – which is the name of his current cat. But cat names can only go so far.
Photo courtesy of Display Homes.
We’re premiering first single ‘CCTV’ as well as the video for it, which is your first music video. Tell us about the writing of ‘CCTV’.
SK: The lyrics were inspired by a game that I’d play when I was bored on long car trips using letters from number plates. Using the three letters I would add one more letter to make a word. I came up with a drum beat and brought it to practice and then Greg and Darrell added their parts. I think it was one of the quickest songs we have ever written. Over time I have found that if I bring an idea to practice that has the drums and vocals already aligned it makes it a lot easier. Playing both at the same time means they really need to work together, and if it isn’t written with that in mind, it can be a struggle to play live.
The album was recorded and mixed by Owen Penglis; what brought you to working together? What was recording like? What was one of the most fun moments for you? What was one of the most challenging?
DB: I met Owen close to 10 years ago and was actually going to record one of my old bands EP with him (we were called Sucks) but we ended up going with someone cheaper for the same reason one would drink cask wine over bottled wine. Sucks were cask-punk, Display Homes is more bottle-punk. It’s still cheap but it’s in a bottle at least.
It was all fun except for this satanic devil dog in the studio that had it in for me and wanted to fucking bite me all the time. I find recording really difficult and uncomfortable and while I enjoyed the process as a whole, actually doing my parts made me pretty self-conscious on many levels. Why am I self conscious? Why do I keep fucking these parts up? But Owen was great, he could really pull you out of your head. Just as you’d finish a song and convince yourself you had nailed it, you would look up and see Owen with a big smile and he would say, “Tune your guitar and do it again!” He really encouraged us to get the best out of the recordings.
The video was made using the CCTV cameras at the Cricketers Arm Hotel, a pub, that Steph used to work at. Steph, what were some of the best and worst bits about working there?
SK: The Crix is a very special place. It’s the best pub in Sydney! It’s like the clock stopped in 1995 and everything is the same. It was my first job when I moved to Sydney and the overwhelming sense of community with staff and locals was very welcoming. Worst bits – hmm, it’s near the SCG so maybe on game nights when rude men would buy three Jack and Cokes at a time. It always felt weird, kinda like the outside world was entering the pub for a few hours and then leaving again.
What do you remember most about the day of filming ‘CCTV’?
SK: It was an interesting music video to ‘shoot’ because there wasn’t a great deal of shooting involved. As it was all done on the CCTV cameras, we would set up in front of one of the cameras with the help of our very good friend Luke Smith who brought along some lights and his handy cam to get some additional footage. I would yell out to our friends who we coaxed into coming along with a couple of free beers “Ok everyone we are doing it now”, often without anyone hearing me, and then one of the bartenders would start the song on the speakers so that we could try and play along to keep the footage in time. We couldn’t hear a thing and every take we would finish a couple of seconds before the recording ended. The whole day was very much an experiment and even by the end of it we didn’t know what was caught on the cameras. It wasn’t until we got home that we could really try and figure out how we would put it all together.
What was it like putting together the downloaded footage for the clip?
SK: The first hurdle was downloading the footage. After we finished up for the day I was told by the pub manager that “the security camera guy is coming in the morning and last time he came he wiped all the footage from the system”. Panic mode kicked in at the thought of losing it all and involved me arriving at the pub at 7.30am the next morning and contacting several different people to get a hold of the key that opened the cupboard of the security system. I kid you not, there was about 10 seconds remaining on the last piece of footage as the camera guy was walking up the stairs at 10.30am. Then came sorting through the thousands of files of footage, which was very tedious, but also very fun at times. It was my first time editing and I obsessed over it for months – but we got there in the end and we are all really happy with it.
Which is a favourite from the album?
DB: I liked recording ‘Proof Read’. When Steph was doing the vocals, me and greg were standing in the other room looking through the window psyching her up to make her get as tough and intense as she could. Jumping up and down yelling “GO STEPH!!! FUCKING BELT IT OUT!!!!!! YESSS !!!! IT’S A HIT!!!!” Steph nails it in that song I reckon.
Album closer ‘Aufrutschen’ was on the E.T.A. cassette; how do you feel the album version has changed?
DB: Part of me didn’t want to do it, but then I remembered growing up hearing multiple versions of the same song from bands I liked – I really liked that. Like a live recording, EP version, and then an album version or whatever. I always thought there was no bad that could come from that. If people like it they’ll listen to both, if they don’t they’ll listen to neither. It’s like if you put $5 in the pokies and got $10 credit, or put nothing in there and got nothing. Everybody wins! Or no-one wins! Take your pick!
We love the album art; who did it?
SK: We actually had a completely different cover that I did on lino. We were sitting on it for a while and I just wasn’t sold on it. I am studying architecture and almost every semester I always partnered up with my friend Allyson because we worked so well together. We always managed to produce our best work at the last minute. Five minutes before a presentation we both grabbed pastels and started scribbling our building on the page. I asked her if she would mind if I used it for the album cover and she said go for it (thanks Allyson!). It reminds me of a time when my studies and hobbies were at peak productivity. Sometimes it’s crazy how much you can get done in a day.
Can you tell us a fun fact about Display Homes?
GC: When we supported Real Estate at the metro the official run sheet said ‘Display House’. As Darryl Kerrigan of The Castle says, “It’s a home not a house”.
What do you do when not making music?
SK: I think I can answer this one for all of us. We all work 9-5, enjoy swimming laps, and eating delicious charcoal chicken.
What’s next for Display Homes?
GC: The record will be out on Erste Theke Tontrager this European Summer and then we will look to play some album launch shows. We have played Melbourne and Brisbane before but we are excited to play some other cities/towns this time round. We have started writing some new music too, so maybe another album!
Northern New South Wales band Mini Skirt play Aussie pub punk that captures the climate of current-day Australia, things aren’t always picturesque and idyllic; the vocals are urgent and frustrated while the music has a rawness and melody sonically painting a picture of the hope through the struggle. Gimmie interviewed vocalist Jacob Boylan about this year’s debut LP, Casino.
Mini Skirt are from Byron Bay; how would you describe where you live?
JACOB BOYLAN: The area is absolutely beautiful. It’s also more and more like Hollywood but can’t complain about too much.
Where does the band name Mini Skirt come from?
JB: Pulled it out of our asses. Pretty much the best we could come up with the time [laughs]. We don’t really think about it too much. I don’t think any of us even really associate the actual article of clothing with the name anymore.
What do you enjoy most about music?
JB: That you can listen to it in the car.
What first got you into it?
JB: I think probably my dad’s tape/CD collection. And then Eminem.
How did Mini Skirt get together?
JB: Over a beer and a yarn at the Railway Hotel.
You’ve released debut LP Casino this year. Previously you’ve mentioned that often your songs come from your observation of things; what kinds of things were inspiring this album while writing it?
JB: The lyrics were kind of compiled over a year or so, so there are a few different things and different moods that kind of get tapped into. A lot about being frustrated by the echo chamber of the elite lefty PC police and at the same time being super frustrated by purposefully hateful and bigoted right-wing pigs. It’s all about the tightrope baby.
I especially love the first track ‘Pressure’; what kind of place was this song being written from? Were you feeling pressures in your own life?
JB: A little bit. I just felt like I was working heaps at the time and felt like having a sook about it. The song didn’t help much though, I still sook to my girlfriend every night.
Was there any song on the album that was a challenge to write?
JB: I personally struggled a bit with writing a chorus for ‘Face Of The Future’. Sometimes they take a bit of panel beating, but generally they come together fairly naturally over time.
Can you tell us the story behind the album cover image with the band’s name and the album title written on the shop window?
JB: I kind of had the rough idea of having our name and album written on a corner store window where it would normally say “Fish’n’Chips” or whatever. Then one day I drove past “Skimmo’s” in the Lismore Industrial Estate on my way to work and was like “That’s the shop!” Long story short we called up old mate and he was sweet with it so we got our friend Nathan Pickering to come out and do the signwriting and our other mate Parko to come and get the pic. Pretty iconic. I think we were all pretty stoked. The shop owner wanted us to leave it up, he was a legend.
The album was recorded at The Music Farm in Byron which is a historic recording studio first born in the 1970s; how did you come to record there? What was the space like?
JB: Our dear friend and the Mayor of Byron Paul McNeil was managing The Music Farm and it’s one of the most crazy and beautiful properties I’ve ever seen so we figured that was the spot to record. It’s so good in there. Paul did a great job setting it all up.
You recorded with Owen Penglis from Straight Arrows; how’d you get together? Did you learn anything from working with him?
JB: Indeed! Through Nick from Nick Nuisance and The Delinquents, we hit up Owen and he was psyched. I think he was mainly just psyched for a holiday. But he didn’t get much time for recreation. We learnt that he’s real good at pinball and that he’s a total badass.
When you think back to recording; what’s the first memory of the process that pops out at you?
JB: Going for a swim out the front with Owen each morning before we went out to record was pretty classic. Just watching Owen in general was pretty great. Also seeing all the stuff we’d been putting together for over a year finally come together into something tangible.
What have you been listening to lately?
JB: Right now, I’m listening to ‘Russell Coight’ by Shadow feat Huskii and Vinsins. I know a couple of us have been listening to a fair bit of country. Cam and I always listen to a fair bit of hip-hop. Jesse was listening to Underoath the other day. Also, The Floodlights album is excellent. Other Jacob said he listened to the new Flatbush Zombies album the other day when he was cleaning his house.
What do you do outside of music?
JB: We all work full time. Surf a bit. Watch the footy. Enjoy our fair share of neck oil. I’ve got a print studio I spend heaps of time at. Jacob has a motorbike, so that’s pretty cool.
The world’s a pretty weird and uncertain place at the moment; what helps keep you positive and get through?
JB: I just got a pet Lorikeet, his name is Raffy, he keeps me pretty happy. I can send a photo if you want!
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