rock n roll

Legless Records, Stiff Richards and Split System’s Arron Mawson: “Getting bunkered down with negativity and anger can stop you from actually achieving things”

| gimmiezine
Original photo Ben Hudson – @distorted.youth. Handmade collage by B.

Meet Arron Mawson, a powerhouse behind some of Australia’s most dynamic bands – Stiff Richards, Doe St, Split System, and Polute. But his journey transcends the realm of music; it’s a story of authenticity, passion, and a pursuit of doing things for the right reasons.

For Mawson, making music is a visceral calling he shares with his friends. It’s about connecting through art, driven by an unwavering compulsion that pushes him to create from the heart. 

Disenchanted with the traditional music industry, Arron took matters into his own hands, birthing Legless Records – a testament to DIY spirit.

In the whirlwind of the modern underground music community, where countless people, music, events, and distractions clamour for attention, Arron Mawson stands out as a beacon of authenticity and passion. It’s not just the fast-paced punk rock ‘n’ roll anthems or the inspiring DIY achievements that set him apart; it’s the very essence of his character. 

Gimmie recently had the privilege of sitting down with Mawson before Split System embarked on their first European tour. In this candid conversation, we explore his bands, creative process, the art of songwriting, his inspirations, and the upcoming label releases. But beyond the music, we venture into the depths of his experiences – trekking in Nepal, confronting mortality, challenging the “too cool” attitudes, and embracing the art of “getting on with it.” Prepare to be inspired and enlightened by someone who embodies dedication, goodness, and the true spirit of the underground.

How’s life been lately?

ARRON MAWSON: Good. Moving house before we go to Europe, me and my partner moved into her mum’s place. That’s been nice. It’s been a really busy year, to be honest. It was sort of like a treadmill, I guess. It felt like it was nonstop, and then it’s finally settled down now right before going away.

I feel like after COVID, there was that massive rush. Everybody was saying “yes” to everything. And it kind of got to mid this year, like maybe a month ago, and I was like, ‘Oh, jeez, I really need to slow down.’ It’s been the craziest twelve months. 

There’s so many good things that have been happening for you. 

AM: Yeah, I’m kind of ready to go camping or something, though. 

I feel like that as well. I work two jobs, freelance, and do all the Gimme stuff on top of that. It’s all fun stuff, but I just don’t have enough hours in the day to do all the things I want to do or that people want me to do. I always feel like I’m letting someone down.

AM: Yeah, exactly. You feel bad because you want to help your friends and you want to help everyone, but just you don’t have that capacity because it takes a lot. It’s been so nice seeing everybody back out after the couple of years that we had. There’s been so many good releases, so much positive energy. I feel like people are a lot more patient now and appreciative. It’s been a really fun year, but I think I can sort of feel it petering out, where it’s like everyone’s sort of chilling out now a little bit. 

Definitely. I’ve noticed that as well. Everyone was so excited to get back into it and then we threw ourselves in so much that, like you were saying, you burn out and just want to go camping. I noticed on your Instagram there’s lots of music stuff, but then there’s also lots of nature stuff. 

AM: Yeah, well, I guess that’s sort of my other hobby. I love hiking and I love being in nature. I live in Rye, which is about an hour and a half southeast of Melbourne on the coast. So I’ve always been drawn to the country and the coast. When I’m not doing music stuff or working, I’m usually doing something in nature. 

I noticed that you trekked in Nepal!

AM:Yeah, I did that a couple of times. 

What drew you to going to Nepal? 

AM: Don’t really know. I’ve always had a fascination with mountains. When I was younger, I really loved snowboarding. It was less of the sport that actually drew me in. It was more the being in the mountains thing.

Why the mountains? 

AM:I don’t know. A form of solitude. It’s cool. Doing a trek in Nepal, I wanted to be on my feet for over a month, and just be me and backpack. That was a place that I could do it. 

I don’t know anyone who’s gone off trekking in Nepal for a month; what was the experience like?

AM: It was cool. When I started, I came straight off, I can’t remember what gig it was, but I think we had played a festival in Melbourne on the Saturday night and I left on the Monday, and I was trekking on the Tuesday. You basically basically start at sea level. The first few days it’s really hot and quite dusty and dirty. I was like, ‘Oh, jeez, what have I got myself into?’ But after five or six days I really got into it; I trekked for about five weeks. After a week, it was incredible realising your body’s made for that stuff. You get over the tired part of it and this primal thing kicks in and by the second week, you’re just like a walking beast [laughs]. It’s like, I can walk forever. It’s a pretty cool experience getting in touch with that side of your body a little bit more and switching off, not being on your phone and just being you and your feet.

I assume you’d have a lot of time to think while you trek? 

AM: Yeah, it was really funny. I actually wrote more songs. I was humming songs, with the rhythm of my breath. I had walking poles and I ended up getting into a rhythm and writing songs in my head to the beat of my breath.

Wow. I love that.

AM: I’d hum these weird songs into my phone in my voice recorder on my phone. I got back and I had a ton of songs to go through. You get into that different creative headspace, but I didn’t really have an instrument or anything with me, so it was bizarre for me. 

I find I get my best ideas when I go for a walk or I’m driving in the car or I’m just doing something else not creative. It’s like you kind of go on automatic pilot. It frees up your brain space to be able to let those good ideas come in.

AM: We’ve got so much noise around us. Walking undistracted with our own thoughts, a lot of people aren’t used to doing that, they don’t get the chance to do it. I think it’s a really important thing for us to do. You can go on hikes and just be alone with your thoughts, which can be quite intimidating sometimes, and then quite liberating as well. Because you’re just out there. You’ve got nothing to hide behind.

Totally. I found that you can never just run away from problems in your life, you can never outrun yourself. Wherever you go, you’ve still got you to deal with. Your problems go with you, until you sort them out.

AM: Totally. 

Previously, someone asked you about your philosophy behind all the stuff you do and you said that you just get on with it. 

AM: Yeah. I’ve got a pretty full on personality. I’ve met some challenges in my life. Doing this music stuff, especially at the start of COVID, that it really kicked into gear with my label, Legless Records. I used to have a lot of anger and frustration with the world. Sometimes approaching challenges and things with that, you don’t get anywhere. Sometimes you just got to pick yourself up and move forward. I guess the get-on-with-it-thing is, I don’t know how to put that to words, but you’re finding something positive to do. Sometimes getting bunkered down with negativity and anger can stop you from actually achieving things, results. 

Yeah, totally. I think that you kind of realise that more as you get older. When I was younger, I was that punk rock kid with the spiky hair and the mohawk, and I was so angry at the world. But a friend told me that you can’t really fight fire with fire. Getting angry at someone when they’re angry is not going to achieve much. 

AM: I guess that’s the thing. We have a right to have anger, but it’s your choice how you channel that. I used to get frustrated with the music industry, people around me, there’s so many things. I made that decision to make the positive change that I’m looking for rather than complaining about other people not doing it.

Absolutely. I’ve been doing my own thing for a long time, so I very much get that. That’s kind of why we started Gimmie, There were so many bands that we love all over Australia and no one was covering them. 

AM: It’s nice when people do things for the right reasons. It’s out of passion. It’s not for profit or self-glorification or anything like that. It’s just because you’re genuinely interested in it. And I think it shows. Things immediately get grabbed by people because they actually respond well to that—the honesty, the passion. 

People hit us up, wanting to give us hundreds of dollars to be on/in Gimmie and we’re just like, no, that’s not us. What were the particular aspects of the music industry that were annoying you? 

AM: Well, I guess it can be an element of your own perception of what people are like and the reality. But it felt like a lot of the music scene was really too cool, hard to break, it was hard to get through to radio or record stores would be kind of dismissive. After that experience, I wanted to create an umbrella, sort of make this bubble, that me and my friends can sit under and use each other’s momentum to help each other skip that exclusivity. It does feel like that when you’re at the bottom and it feels like no one cares. And then if we work together, with the momentum of each band, we can give a bit of a spotlight to the next band that comes up. With a lot of people being too cool, I guess, I just wanted to drop that and just let people be a bit daggy and just play music for the sake of playing music. I don’t really know how to put words to it, to be honest. It just felt like unless you knew the right person… if you want to try to get on a festival and you want to try to get on a gig, it’s like, who are you? I was like, well, I’ll just do it myself. Does that make sense? 

Yeah, totally. I’ve had that feeling before, that’s why you make your own things!

AM: Yeah. I feel better for it. I don’t really want to throw anyone under the bus, of course. It was actually good that happened, because it stimulated me to do something that I’m now really proud of. With that kind of pushback, it inspired me to do something. Now I’ve got all these incredible people around me. I wouldn’t take it back. 

Totally! You’ve been releasing so much amazing stuff on Legless.

AM: Thank you. 

I’m really excited that I finally get to talk to you about it all at length. Our favourite people are people that work hard and they just make stuff because they love making it. You’ve told me previously that your dad played in bands and you’ve been surrounded by music your whole life. What kind of bands did he play in?

AM: Dad grew up in Cornwall, in England. He was playing rockabilly, rock and roll bands for most of my life. He was a frontman-guitarist and he sort of switched between a few different bands. And then I lost him, when I was about 21. I had music around me most of my life but I think after losing him, I definitely got more drive having a loss like that at that age. It kicked me into gear. I’d always played music, but where I grew up in Frankston, there was not really many people that I aligned with. It’s a lot of fights, a lot of shit music, shitty clubs and as soon as I got my license, I moved to the beach. Half my mates either moved to the city or to the beach. 

That’s where I started jamming with people more, sort of between that 18 to 21-year-old time in my life. Music has always been there, but it wasn’t until then, I sort of started surrounding myself with a few mates, who introduced me to Eddy Current Suppression Ring and stuff like that. For most of my life it was just rockabilly and rock and roll. I listen to Brian Setzer, stuff like that. 

A lot of my buddies went to all ages hardcore gigs, but back then, I looked at it as very blokey and people punching each other in the head. I didn’t really find anywhere that I enjoyed until older age, and liking Eddy Current. That put me on to other things like Thee Oh Sees. I was like, what is this world? I haven’t ever experienced it. 

I’m so sorry that you lost your dad so young. I’ve lost both my parents as well, so I very much understand what it’s like. Especially when you lose your parent/s when you’re younger. Friends don’t necessarily get it because they still have their parents. It’s just such a massive thing. 

AM: Yeah. It’s a bizarre thing, death. I feel like our modern society is really not prepared for it. The loss wasn’t actually the hardest thing. It’s like that’s the only guaranteed thing in this life, is that we’re all going to die. It’s just the inability to process it. We don’t have the sort of community… the word that I’m looking for, like, rituals and stuff to process death properly; I feel like it’s something that we’re missing these days. That was probably the hardest thing, but it’s something that I’m really okay with because I started realising how much people are unprepared for death. It’s really weird. Yeah. Sorry, I’m thinking and talking at the same time. 

No, that’s fine. I totally get you. Thank you for sharing that with me. Changing the subject then, I know you play guitar and bass. Which one was first?

AM: Probably guitar. I never really ever played bass. Bass just came with guitar. Guitars were always in the house. I think dad taught me, ‘Johnny B. Goode’ and ‘Smoke on the Water’ when I was real young, and then it was just like through listening to songs. I never really had lessons. Me and my sister would usually just be sitting around, and occasionally jam with dad.

Your sister plays in a band? 

AM: She plays in The Miffs. They’re killing it at the moment. They’ve been playing around Melbourne and Australia. I’m really stoked for them!

That must be cool to see your sister ruling it. Is it your little sister or big sister?

AM: Little sister, three years younger. It’s great. The fact that we grew up with dad playing music and now we’re both playing in bands and stuff, it’s really nice. After dad passed away, it was probably about six, seven years there where we were kind of pretty separated, and it’s really heartwarming to be close again. 

Lovely. You mentioned, Eddy Current Suppression Ring was such a big band for you.. 

AM: Where I was getting a bit stuck before, is rock and roll and that environment, it’s very blokey and it just felt really “too cool”. Eddy Current had this daggy, raw energy where everybody felt honest. I wasn’t this big, masculine guy. Eddy Current was such an unorthodox approach to music that I hadn’t heard before. I know there’s so much of that in history, but it was the first thing that I put on and it just blew me away. It was just like, what is going on here? The awesomeness of what Mikey does! This is the first thing that really grabbed me and started an introducing me to bands like UV Race and the Thee Oh Sees, and the plethora of other bands that came from there.

How great are all those bands you just mentioned? I love them all too, especially UV Race. I super love Mikey’s band Total Control too.

AM: Yeah. Eddy Current especially for me. I grew up in Frankston and they’re all Frankston boys as well. So it was like, ‘Oh, there’s someone from here that is actually doing something interesting!’ Growing up it was a lot of fighting and just people that weren’t aligned with anything. I wanted to build bike jumps and cubbies, just hang out, go skateboarding and stuff. But everyone else just wanted to fight. It was just odd. 

Yeah. I’ve talked to Jim from Civic about growing up in Frankston a bit. 

AM: It’s like this love/hate thing. Split System are playing at Singing Bird tomorrow night. Got our going away fundraiser thing. What Stu’s done there, all ages gigs, he’s got the studios and jam rooms, kind of made this institution for Frankston. It’s nice seeing the next generation of kids, actually having something to do. I don’t hear much of all ages gigs at all anymore. It’s all licensed venues that are based around selling booze. That’s how they profit. What’s for the kids?

Totally. Growing up in the 90s in Brisbane, I used to go to all ages shows most weekends. In my Senior year of high school I went to over 100 shows. It made such a difference in my life. I do all the things I do today because I went to those shows early on, and there was a lot of younger bands, even my age (15-16) at the time, that played, and I was like, wow, I could do that!

AM: Yeah. I was talking to the C.O.F.F.I.N fellas because they played in Frankston just before tour before they went off to the UK. That’s where they started, they all met when they were like 14. One of my favourite live bands now, wouldn’t have existed without that environment for them. 

Stiff Richards. Photo: Jack Golding.

What was your first band that you had? 

AM: Stiff Richards was the first band that actually did anything. I had like a couple of jam bands with mates. I had a band called Green Waste, which was my buddy, he had a property maintenance company and we all worked mowing lawns for him. Then we’d rock up at his joint, he had a jam room at the bottom of his house. There was a big pile of green waste out the front, every night when we finished. We did a couple of gigs, and that actually kind of led into us making Stiff Richards. Me and Tim, the other guitarist, were in Green Waste. That was pretty funny. That was probably ten random mates that switched in and out on different instruments. Probably seven guitarists trying to bash the drums [laughs].

The next band for you was Split System?

AM: Probably Doe St. Doe St and Split System were roughly a similar time. Polute, a little fun recording project with me, Benny and Stringer, came after that. 

Is there much difference for you between the different bands? Do you get different things from being in each of them?

AM: Well, Stiffs, they’ll always be my brothers. We’ve had this journey from playing in sheds to being able to go over to Europe, and just everything that we’ve experienced musically together, is like such a family. I’ll hold that close to my heart forever. It’s a really special friendship. Wolfie, our singer, his sister has kids with Gazzo, the guitarist. 

Split System, definitely feels like there’s a member from a bunch of different bands, and that seems to be really productive. They’ve become best friends as well. It feels really good writing-wise. That’s one of my main focuses at the moment, just because it feels really creatively stimulating and everyone’s getting along really well and having a great time. 

Doe St, are all friends from the Peninsula that just sort of organically came together. My old house was on Doe St. Everyone was living on the same street or in the same neighbourhood. We wrote all the songs and recorded it there, just friends hanging out.

Doe St, pic courtesy of Legless.

It’s funny, I’m literally thinking out loud right now. There’s not much thought been put into any of them. It’s just things have aligned at the right time and feels good.

Sometimes it’s that simple. Sometimes when you’ve got too much intention with something, you set yourself up to be disappointed. 

AM: Totally. 

So, Split System is going to Europe?

AM: Yes. Going over for Shock Fest. We’ve got one show at the start of July and then I got a holiday with my partner for a few weeks, and then Split System start with Binick Folk And Blues Festival, which is the 29th of July, I think. Then we’ve got a bit over four weeks. I don’t think we have a day off either. I think we’ve got one night off in a month! 

Wow. Do you like touring?

AM: Well, I’ve only done it once with Stiff Richards. And that was last year. It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. I’m definitely keen to go back.

What were some of the best things from that tour that you enjoyed? 

AM: Honestly, the people, the hospitality in Europe. We had no expectations. We thought we’d be playing for ten people some nights and we ended up selling out almost every show; I don’t mean that in a bragging way. It was just mind blowing that people actually came out, in another country. We haven’t even toured in Australia. We’ve been out of Melbourne once, we went to Sydney, played with Celibate Rifles once and Meanies once. To go over there and have such a good response and such friendly people, it was unreal. 

Yeah. Many bands I know that have toured Europe say the same thing and talk about how they have cool squats and places to stay in. 

AM: Yeah. You rock up, they’ll have bread and cheese and stuff for you. There’ll always be someone to meet you. A lot of people touring are cramming as much in as possible because it’s quite expensive to be there. You’ll get in, then you set up, and they’ll cook you dinner and sit you down with the other bands and the staff. Sharing a meal with a bunch of people is the best way to break the ice. By the time the gig starts, you’re friends with 30 people. It’s really beautiful. 

Stiff Richards Dig LP, pic courtesy of Legless.

Nice! So, you started Legless to put out Stiff Richards’ Records? 

AM: Yeah, basically. I guess that comes back to some of those frustrations. It was hard figuring out how to navigate the music industry. I was like, I reckon I could just do this myself. Well, with the help of my friends as well, I feel like we can do this together. Then as mates were asking me how we approached it, I was like, ‘Do you want me to just help you out with it?’

Is there anything that you wish someone would have told you when you started the label? 

AM: Well, kind of as I said, those challenges, even though they can be frustrations in the start, they end up being the things that make you stronger. Keep pushing through. Do things for the right reasons. Don’t expect to make money. Do things that make you feel happy and then you’re never going to get bummed out. Do things how you want to. There can be a lot of pressure to get bookers and management and stuff like that. That can work for some people, but if you’re willing to work hard, you can make it work really well for yourself. Positive encouragement for bands and people that want to do stuff. It’s like back yourself and have a crack. 

Definitely felt defeated sometimes, it’s hard navigating that world sometimes when you’re outside. If you don’t have any super cool friends or people in the know, you’re just in this big open world. People need to stick on their path and stay true to their art.

Totally! You’re speaking our language. Putting out records with your bands, do you feel like there’s any mistakes that you’ve made along the way that you’ve learned a lot from?

AM: Not really. All mistakes can become lessons if you are aware of them and you utilise them. I can definitely be quite opinionated and get grumpy about things. And that’s where as I get further into things, I know that I shouldn’t have given those things as much fuel as I did, but I wouldn’t have learnt that without going through it. I don’t really regret it. You know what I mean? 

Yeah. This is like anything in life, you get frustrated and then you learn to deal with something and you channel it into something else. 

AM: Totally. Yeah. I don’t really regret anything. I’m pretty happy. 

You seem it! Did any of the songs that you mentioned that you’d wrote when trekking in Nepal end up on any albums that you’ve put out? 

AM: They definitely would have. I can’t remember. I’ve got the most obscene voice memos folder saved on my computer and it’s like pretty funny. Sometimes when I’m drunk with mates, you go back through all your voice recordings and find early takes of songs that you’ve done. That’s like, basically how most of our bands do stuff, record things on the iPhone and then you get a better take of it and it just disappears into the ether. I reckon there’d be some funny recordings of me in Nepal somewhere, like humming a couple of Stiff Richard songs.

Polute self-titled debut release, pic courtesy of Legless.

Do you have a song that you’ve been a part of that you’re really proud of? 

AM: It’s weird, I don’t really approach music with heaps of intention. A lot of the time it’s me, grabbing a guitar and mashing chords until stuff starts feeling good. Sometimes it’ll be utter crap for three minutes and then something will feel right. I feel the beauty of a song is when everybody else contributes to it and then it becomes what it does. So I’m equally as proud of everything. Fluff it out with the rest of the team! 

What else is in the works for Legless at the moment? 

AM: We just finished recording the second Split System album. Can’t wait. I’m pretty stoked on that. That was a really fun process. The first seven inch and album were written, I think we’d only really played with each other properly like five times up until that first Vol. 1. 

Wow. It’s a great record.

AM: To have like a year under the belt and a lot of it was done over the phone, sending snippets. We had a couple of jams and recorded Vol. 1 and then with this one, playing with each other for a year and actually having a few jams leading up to it, it was fun. 

We’ve got the Stepmother album coming out later in the year as well. There’s a few other things in the pipe works, but I’m still not sure, I don’t want to jump the gun on a few things. Stepmother and Split System you can expect later in the year, most likely.

Split System Vol. 1, pic courtesy of Legless.

Cool! Looking forward to them. What can you tell me about Stepmother? 

AM: It’s like a completely bonkers horror movie rock and roll album. It’s pretty crazy. Graham’s done an exceptional job. It’s going to be a split release with Tee Pee Records in the US. That’ll be out later in the year. 

Who’s one of the most raddest people that you’ve met through what you do? 

AM: Honestly, it’s really funny. I feel like the thing I feel most privileged about is that my favourite bands are the people that I’m actually putting out at the moment. So, between C.O.F.F.I.N, Smooch, you can go through the catalog; they’ve all become really good friends. So equally, everybody. The Rack Off Records girls from Blonde Revolver and all that crew. It’s a really good little community at the moment and everyone’s having a good time. 

Before doing any of this, Mikey Young was definitely one of those people I looked up to and he definitely influenced me. When we were in the early days of Stiff Richards, he was a really good mentor without intentionally doing it, just being a good person and making me realise that all the people you’re going to meet in the music industry aren’t just wankers. I’d go around and mix at his house. He’d just be in his boxer shorts and have coffee with you, super casual. I was thinking, ‘Oh, this dude is my hero. And he’s just the most normal guy ever!’ He’d load me up with five records and send me off on my way. 

With Gimmie, when we started, we knew no-one. We’ve met so many lovely people in the Australian underground music community. There’s moments when it feels like everyone is really supportive of each other.

AM: Yeah, I think that age of bolstering yourself up, and those “glory” years of, like, oh, look at me, it’s gone. There’s actually strength in supporting each other, and the competitiveness is starting to die out a little bit, and everyone’s kind of bringing each other along with them. So it’s nice. 

Yeah. That’s why I really love Nag Nag Nag fest that Greg and Steph from Display Homes put on every year. It just has such a great environment and vibe. Everyone’s just really nice. It was such a nice day this year. Every single band was great. We were there from the very beginning till the end and watched every band, everyone totally ruled!

AM: Oh, totally. And everyone had a happy day. You get a lot of drunk people in a room, and it’s like there’s always one idiot that ruins it for it. But it didn’t seem to be any negative energy there for the whole day, so it was good. It just seemed like a happy family. 

Before, you mentioned sometimes you feel defeated by things. How do you flip that for yourself? 

AM: I don’t know. I’ve had a lot of things happen in my life that I won’t bore you with, but I just found with a lot of those challenges, even with losing my dad and stuff like that, through processing my own anger, I realised that you don’t get results from letting that negativity have a flame. Move on to something positive and time will heal everything. Life will throw you punches, but it’s a complicated world and it’s never going to be perfect. And if you feel like a victim all the time or let things get you down, you’re never going to get back up. You’ve really got to just keep trucking and do the things that you know is right and elevate yourself instead of complaining about what else is going on. You know what I mean? 

Yeah, absolutely. Surrounding yourself with positive things and positive people, really makes a difference too.

AM: Yeah. Everyone has a right to be down and stuff, but unfortunately I feel like unless you can get back into some kind of momentum, it’s easy to get stuck. So I keep busy and do the things that make me feel good. And it’s worked. Like doing the Legless-thing. I run a property maintenance business as well. I do window cleaning. I’ve been really busy, but when I slow down, I realise that I like being occupied. And if I’m not doing stuff, then I’d rather be in nature. I like exerting energy by walking or doing something else. When I get stagnant, I want to go do something. 

We go to the beach if we’re having a rough day. Going for a swim or a walk can change your day. 

AM: Yeah. The ocean heals a lot of stuff hiking. I do diving, and I go free diving with my partner a bit. I’ve always been drawn to the mountains too.

As we mentioned you’re about to go on tour, what’s the rest of the year hold for you? 

AM: That’s going to absorb a bit of time [laughs]. As I said at the beginning of our chat, I’ve just moved house. I’m not back until mid-September, so by the time I get back, and get back into work, I’ve got the Legless releases teed up and then Christmas gets really busy for work for me. Usually once Christmas is over, we get back in a creative mode again once all the craziness of the holidays is over. Then probably start recording stuff again. I’m hoping that Stiff Richards might have some new music sometime next year, we have the intention of trying to record over January, we’ll see. 

Will the Split System record come out before the end of the year?

AM: That’s the aim at the moment we’re talking with discussing label options. I’ll definitely be putting it out, but we’re just contemplating a few things at the moment. Before Christmas, otherwise early next year. Probably do a big run of shows for that. See a bit more of Australia. 

It was so cool to see Split System at Nag Nag Nag this year! We loved your set!

AM: It was a pretty loose set. We got a bit excited early and were super drunk by the time we played, but it was such a good energy there. We were a little bit worried after, like, oh, jeez, that was pretty rough. Everyone was having such a good time, it didn’t matter.

Check out all the awesome things Mawson does and is a part of: 

Legless Records: leglessrecords.bandcamp.com 

Stiff Richards: facebook.com/stiffrichardsband/ & instagram.com/stiffrichardsband/ 

Split System: splitsystem.bandcamp.com & instagram.com/splitsystem666/ 

Doe St: doest.bandcamp.com/ & instagram.com/doestband/ 

Polute: polute.bandcamp.com/ 

The Prize: “Power pop always has great energy.”

| gimmiezine
Original photo by Izzie Austin. Handmade collage by B.

Naarm/Melbourne-based band The Prize give us everything good about power pop and rock n roll on their debut EP Wrong Side Of Town. Full of harmonies, hooks and energy, with melody to burn, the infectious 4-track release on Anti Fade will be running through your head all day. We’ve listened to it on repeat, over and over and over. Along with their dynamic live show—The Prize are ones to watch! 

Gimmie caught up with dummer-vocalist Nadine Muller and guitarist-vocalist Carey Paterson to find out all about The Prize.

What was your introduction to music? Nadine, your dad is a member of Cosmic Psychos; did he introduce you to lots of stuff?

NADINE: I was pretty fortunate growing up with my parents’ record collection! Dad has always played in bands and mum used to tour-manage, so they have collectively introduced me to a lot of great stuff!

CAREY: I got into it through the radio and Rage, and then just through my mates. My folks have great taste, but didn’t try and push any music on me, so I discovered it in my own way and at my own pace. Went through a couple of phases but it all clicked into gear at like fifteen when me and my friends got really into CBGBs bands and started trying to cover their songs.

When did you first start playing your instrument? Who or what influenced you?

NADINE: I first started playing around thirteen/fourteen. My dad is a drummer too. I was pretty lucky to always have access to a kit, but I think it really kicked-off when I saw the movie Josie and the Pussycats (which was based on a comic book from the 60s). I really loved the soundtrack to that movie and I brought it on CD and would play along to it in my bedroom. So I guess you could say I was influenced by a fictional drummer, in a cat costume.

CAREY: I wanted to play drums when I was about twelve, but my parents managed to talk me into playing guitar instead. It was a pretty reluctant switch at first but it eventually became the instrument that I got obsessed with. I had all the staple kid heroes like Hendrix, Angus Young and Jimmy Page.

What’s an album that has really helped shape you? What about it was so influential?

NADINE: I watched the Ramones movie Rock’n’roll High School very early on and fell in-love with the Ramones. The soundtrack to that movie really embedded itself in my psyche with artists like;

Alice Cooper, Todd Rundgren, Devo.. And the movie itself really shaped me and set me up for a future, 70s aesthetic. 

CAREY: An album that really shaped my tastes is probably Vampire on Titus by Guided by Voices. This album sounds like it was recorded on an answering machine but the songs are so good. I really like how this band would just hang out and get drunk and wind up recording such interesting music. Their albums are usually pretty inconsistent but you get moments of absolute magic like ‘Unstable Journey’ off this one.

Photo by Jhonny Russell.

Can you tell us a little about your musical journey? Nadine you were in Killerbirds and Wolfy and the Bat Cubs, (and both you and Carey were in) Mr Teenage. Carey I know you’re originally from Canberra and played in some bands there too, like The Fighting League and PTSD.

NADINE: I started Killerbirds while I was still in school and we got to play with some great bands like the Celibate Riffles and Bored! After that band wound-up, I started another band with some friends from Bendigo, called Wolfy and the Bat Cubs, which I played bass in. 

Joe and Carey had played together a handful of times before I’d actually met Carey and then we all ended up in Mr Teenage together, which was unfortunately short-lived but we decided to get something else going after that, which has resulted in The Prize!

CAREY: Fighting League felt like the first proper band I was a part of. I started on drums and got booted on to guitar. After that all started working and became a really fun band to be in. I also played in the live bands for TV Colours and Danger Beach for many years. Got to play some amazing shows and tour Europe. PTSD was something that got started when I was living in NYC in 2016 at the same time as Lachlan Thomas, who releases music as Danger Beach, and James Stuart who was drumming in an incredible punk band called Haram. There’s another tape’s worth of music in the pipeline for that band as soon as I sit down and finish the vocals.

When starting The Prize; what was on playlists of your musical influences?

NADINE: I had just been introduced to The Toms and I think we were all playing that first album on repeat for a few months! Also a power-pop band from the UK called ‘The Incredible Kidda Band’ we discovered in a deep YouTube hole and loved them so much that we covered their track ‘Fighting My Way Back’ which is on our debut release.

CAREY: Bands like the Toms, the Shivvers, Incredible Kidda Band and the Nerves. Also a lot of Badfinger, Cheap Trick and Thin Lizzy. I think the sound was born out of combining the poppier and rockier ends of that spectrum of bands.

Photo by Jhonny Russell.

Why the name The Prize?

NADINE: I wish there was a better answer for this question! We had booked in our first show, which was with Civic at the Croxton and they were holding off making the poster until we’d settled on a name. So there was a bit of pressure to come up with something asap… 

We just wanted it to be something straight up and simple. ‘Blondie’ was obviously already taken and Brownie just doesn’t quite have same ring to it.. Anything with a Z is a bonus for logos and designs… We were all sitting in my dad’s shed one night, which is full of vintage bits and bobs and ‘THE PRIZE’ was written on an old sign hanging up on the wall and we went, “that’ll do”.

The Prize came together in 2021, during the pandemic; how did you jam and write songs during this period?

NADINE: I was living with our bass player, Jack at the time and we had a jam room and some recording gear so we would muck around with riffs here and there and send them back and forth. 

Between lockdowns we would all get together, to try and work on songs but it felt like a pretty 

difficult and slow process during that time. Once restrictions were eased, we stared rehearsing pretty intensely as we had a bunch of half-cooked songs and a first gig already booked in.

What’s one of the biggest things you’ve learnt about songwriting or your process while writing your debut 4-song EP Wrong Side of Town?

NADINE: Probably to not overthink it. It’s important to get the structure right and spend time on each song but also knowing when to leave it be, is something that took me some time.

Artwork by Sammy Clark.

What attracts you to the power pop sound?

NADINE: I love a good hook and melody!!! Power pop always has great energy and its something that’s fun to dance and sing-along to. Its a real, feel-good genre!

What’s title track ‘Wrong Side Of Town’ about?

NADINE: Joe had written the guitar lead-line a few years ago and it’s such a great riff! When we were trying to craft the song around that I  really wanted to do it justice with the melody and the lyrics.

The lyrics were written during one of our later lockdowns and it was definitely getting to breaking point for a lot of people.. Myself included.

A lot of people were packing up and moving home or back to the country and it’s about wanting to get away and start again but really just ending up, right back where you started.

How did ‘Easy Way Out’ come together?

NADINE: Easy Way Out was actually the first song that we wrote and was also one of the first songs I had really ever written lyrics for. It’s about feeling burnt or letdown by someone.

What did you have on your mind when you wrote ‘Don’t Know You’?

NADINE: Joe and I really pulled that one out of nowhere! I’d been humming a melody for a few weeks and when he and I caught up one day, he showed me a new riff he’d written and the melody worked perfectly over the top. I think we had that song written and demoed in about two hours!

It’s about being close to someone and sharing experiences together and then, for whatever reason they are no longer a part of your life. You still see their face around but you feel like they’re a familiar stranger. 

On your 7” you do a cover of ‘Fighting My Way Back’ by The Incredible Kidda Band; what inspired you to pick this track? 

NADINE: Its such a great song! We actually found it while trawling the Internet for power-pop bands and when that song came on we were all like how have we never heard this band before?? 

It was unanimous to add that to our set. We reached out to TIKB ahead of our release and sent them a copy of the track and luckily, they seemed to really like it! 

Photo by Jhonny Russell.

What was the most fun part of recording?

NADINE: Collaborating and working with your friends to make something is always fun, although at times, kind of stressful! but listening to the finished product is alway the most fun part for me.

CAREY: I find recording stressful so probably realising we’d finished it

Nadine, as well as playing drums and singing in The Prize, you’re also a makeup artist and hairstylist working with Ed Sheeran, Charli XCX, Amy Shark, Meg Mac, Thelma Plum, Nick Cave, Amy Taylor and Harry Styles band; how did you get into that line of work? Who has been one of the biggest surprises to work with?

NADINE: I started out doing a hairdressing apprenticeship while I was still at VCE and living in Bendigo and then when I moved to Melbourne, I would help out friends bands for music videos and photoshoots and it just really snowballed from there! 

I did a short course in makeup and then started getting booked for some really fun jobs! 

The biggest surprise was working with Ringo Starr’s all Star band. I got to meet a Beatle! Which was very special and pretty surreal!

What’s been your favourite show The Prize has played yet? What made it so?

NADINE: Our first show was in November last year with CIVIC at the Croxton and I think that’s still my favourite to date. I had never done lead vocals before and to get to the stage where I was able to play drums and singing at the same time, took a bit of work for me- I nearly threw in the towel a few times! 

To finally get to the point where we could pull it all off live and play our first show, felt like a triumph in-itself and the added fact that it was the first show in 18 months of lockdowns (that any of us had played, let alone been to..!) The energy in the room was something I wont forget.

CAREY: I’ve really enjoyed playing at the Curtin this year but I reckon the arvo show at the Tramway in May this year was the funnest. Something about a good Sunday arvo show that hits different.

Who are some of your favourite performers to watch?

NADINE: There are so many good ones! But just to name a few; Grace Cummings, CIVIC, The Murlocs, RMFC, ROT TV and of course, Amyl and the Sniffers always put on a great show.

CAREY: As far as local bands go, I’ll go and see Civic and EXEK any time I can. Faceless Burial always blow my mind. I saw the Blinds play recently after a long hiatus and that was one of the best shows I’ve seen in ages.

Your debut is coming out on Anti Fade Records; what’s one of your favourite AF releases? Why should we check it out?

NADINE: I think I listened to CIVIC’s record New Vietnam an absurd amount of times when that was released on Anti Fade in 2018—every song is a banger! More recently, RMFC and Modal Melodies is great!

CAREY: I would probably have to split the honours between the Reader 7″ by RMFC and Civic’s New Vietnam. Buzz from RMFC is one of the best young talents making music in Australia today. New Vietnam is one of the best debut releases in recent memory.

What’s the rest of the year look like for The Prize?

NADINE: We have our first 7” coming out in September and the first single will be available this week (today I believe, when this interview comes out)!

We have a tour with The Chats and Mean Jeans starting in September, plus our launch show on October 1st (which I’m not sure if I’m supposed to announce yet butttt we have a very exciting lineup for that)!

The Prize Wrong Side of Town EP available via pre-order at Anti Fade Records. Out September 2.

Check out: facebook.com/theprizemelbourne + @theprize___ + @antifaderecords

Michael Beach: “No rules ever. Keep it wild and free.”

| gimmiezine
Original photo by Sarah Gilsenan. Handmade mixed-media collage by B.

Naarm/Melbourne-based musician and songwriter Michael Beach is back with new song ‘Out In A Burning Alley’ from his forthcoming self-titled EP. Beach is intensely cool and has become a master of writing and harnessing beautiful melodies, creating a spontaneous feel in his songs, wrapped up in a lively, elegant squall of garage rock n roll and swirls of distortion. Beach’s work is always engaging and vulnerable. ‘Out In A Burning Alley’ reminds us of what makes him an excellent songwriter. 

How are you? What’s life been like lately for you? You’re currently in the US spending time with family.

MICHAEL BEACH: I’m well, thanks! It’s been real nice to get back to California after too long away.  We came over to visit my parents but my mom got COVID the day before we got here, so we’ve had to improvise a bit. Life was pretty busy before I left…a ton of work to do with the new record coming out, but Goner and Poison City have helped so much, so I feel pretty lucky. Off to Big Sur today, plus a visit to Robinson Jeffers house in Carmel. Stoked!

We’re premiering your new song ‘Out In A Burning Alley’ the first single from your up coming 12” EP that will be out in September; were there any specific influences for this song?

MB: Thanks! I recall wanted to cross a Saints-style guitar tone with a Peter Laughner rambling narrative—not sure why but I think those were my compass points for this one.

  

What’s one of the biggest things you’ve learnt about while songwriting for your new EP? Do you have any rules for yourself?

MB: No rules ever. Keep it wild and free. Ha!  The old ‘serve the song’ maxim is a good one. Otherwise I’d say the more time goes on, the less I know.  ’m gradually unlearning everything. My brain is decaying nicely by this point.

What was the experience like of recording ‘Out In A Burning Alley’?

MB: It was a grand old time. Andy/Poison City offered up his family’s country house for us to record in. I moved my 8-track up there and we spent a couple winter days recording, eating, and drinking. Excellent memories with excellent friends—it was a totally enjoyable recording experience. 

Video Directed by Alexandra Millen.

You’ve been making music for some time now; who or what helps you trust your instincts in relation to your creativity?

MB: As far as trusting myself, I think friends help a lot, and I’m lucky to have such excellently creative friends. Time and experience have helped. I enjoy the process of creation so that’s enough most of the time.  

You’ll be touring the US in September/October and play this year’s Goner Fest; what is something that you have to do before a performance?

MB: Yeah, can’t wait to be back in Memphis! Before a show…stay connected to the band, connected to the audience, connected to spirit of the thing I’m trying to get across. Keep it connected!! 

What’s something that’s been bringing you a lot of joy of late?

MB: Nan Shepherd’s The Living Mountain. Anybody out there wanna book me some shows in Scotland?!

Michael Beach will launch the new EP in Naarm on October 29 at The Curtin. MB’s music via Poison City Records and in the US on Goner Records.

More Michael Beach: michaelbeach.org + @michaelbeach__ + facebook.com/MBandtheartists + michaelbeach.bandcamp.com.

Read our previous chat with Michael: “Good Things In My Life Have Happened Because Of Music.”

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.

guppy ‘lipshitz’ premiere – “I step into the part of myself that doesn’t give any fucks and it’s completely liberating in a sexual hyper-feminine way”

| gimmiezine
Photo courtesy of Guppy. Handmade mixed media art by B.

Meanjin/Brisbane band Guppy don’t sound like anyone else. It’s post-punk, it’s noise rock, it’s No Wave, it’s art-pop, it’s guitar-less, there’s wild saxophone, but saying all that only tells part of the story—it’s a dizzying array of cool. There’s an accidental alchemy formed from the simplicity and joy of friendship and explorational, experimental jams. After seeing Guppy live earlier this year, we loved them so much we interviewed them and put them on the cover of our print publication of Gimmie Issue 2. Those that have seen their hectic live show can attest to their magnetism. Guppy features members of some QLD’s most exciting bands of the last decade Clever, Cured Pink, Per Purpose, Psy Ants and Come Die In Queensland.

Today we’re premiering their DIY debut video and song ‘Lipshitz’ from their forthcoming highly anticipated first album, 777antasy . We spoke with Guppy’s vocalist, Pam, who represents a new kind of thrilling frontwoman.

We’re excited to be premiering Guppy’s debut clip for song ‘Lipshitz’ from your forthcoming debut album in the works; why did you choose this song for your first video?

PAM: We’d been tossing round ideas for clips we could put together ourselves and in the process of spitballing one night we decided to demo this lip-syncing idea, thinking we could use some green paint around my mouth and key it out and it would look a bit like that Mulligrubs show. Because this song’s full of attitude, it made sense to try it out with this track. We did a bunch of takes that progressively became more complicated, with little cameos from Jack [saxophone-vocals] and Callum [drums] interweaved between closeups of Mitch [bass-vocals] and I, but in the end, the best take was basically our first one. I guess the choice of song wasn’t so deliberate, it was just meant to be.

How did the song initially get started? What’s it about?

P: As usual, the music came first. It had a real tense, unnerving undercurrent that held lots of space to drag out the tension. Jack wanted to make a lovemaking song. When it came to writing the lyrics, I knew it wouldn’t start with a melody. The gups joked that I should approach it like a rap. So I did. I was thinking more about words with bite, phrasing, repetition. It was like a word collage, guided by this book I got from the lifeline superstore Thugs and the Women That Love Them by Wahida Clark. It’s titillating stuff. And subconsciously it was helping me express parts of myself that I usually keep to myself. She snake-charmed the rude outta me. It felt good. Next prac, it came out in a blaze and I thought it was done, but I think Mitch could see the potential of more narrative if he were to voice the male perspective. And it made it even better. He’s not afraid to be tacky but also vulnerable. I think we get a real kick out of both our characters.

What do you love most about it? We love the co-vocals and attitude in the delivery, along with the hectic energy sonically.

P: Yeah I think you’re onto it. For me it’s less about the story and more about how it feels to deliver it. I step into the part of myself that doesn’t give any fucks and it’s completely liberating in a sexual hyper-feminine way. That’s probably what I love about it most, that it’s so fun to play live. Everyone’s so animated. Like, Mitch chugs this heavy bassline along with Cal who’s holding it down, holding the tension, and then Jack comes in at the end of every line with some sass, punctuated by this squealing skronk. Everyone’s suddenly moving more as the song builds. Yeah it’s got good energy. 

Photo by Jhonny

Can you tell us a bit about recording it? What do you remember from the session?

P: We recorded in this little studio tucked away in Stafford just across from the Stafford Tavern. The roof was covered in egg cartons and Callum was propped up on this platform with what felt like a huge drum kit covered with mics. The drums really filled the room. We were so close together but listening to each other through headphone sets. It didn’t take long for us to get the final take. 

We recorded vocals on a different day. For most of the day I’d recorded vocals alone but for this song Mitch and I recorded together and I remember it felt like I was properly hearing his lyrics for the first time. It just poured out of him, enunciated in the way that only he can do. It was so natural to him. It was cool, I remember him coaching me through my parts trying to get the gold outta me. 

What is the symbol that appears at the beginning of the clip?

P: Well we decided to call the record 777antasy, like ‘zan-ta-see’. We were humouring ourselves with shit like ‘we belong to the fantasy genre’, ‘with roots in karaoke’ and a ‘smack of funk’, etc etc. Anyway, it stuck. And Jack came to practice with this symbol she’d fashioned at work, cut out from lino. It was perfect. If you look closely in the circle it reads 777antasy without being too obvious. The sevens cut down the centre and into each other in this angular way. Then I extruded it and warped it in cool 3D world. We’ll be using the symbol in slightly different incarnations across other videos and the record. 

You made the video yourselves. What went into the making of it? 

P: Well I feel like we almost lucked out with getting a one-take-wonder that night we were mucking around. Jack just got on my phone and started filming, fixing weird things to our heads that she’d rummage out of her car, giving us directions. She’s super resourceful that Jack. A few beers later and it’s as if the video made itself. It felt like the hard part was done cause we had the raw footage but little did I know how painstaking the video editing process would be. Feels like new territory. Lots of fun but lots to learn. I edited the clip in After Effects and used Blender to animate the opening sequence. The pain was worth it though, that 3D opening puts a big fat smile on my face everytime. 

What’s one of the biggest lessons you learnt making the clip?

P: Just cause you have a million effects doesn’t mean you’ve gotta use them all. 

What’s happening next for Guppy?

P: We’re working on a band website and album art so we can launch it early next year with the help of Gimmie (THANK YOU!). Also working on ideas for more videos… We like the idea of producing them ourselves so that we can put our own stank on it. There’s something about the way we work together, jamming and editing ideas that feels magical and we want that to come through in our videos, everything that we do. Plus, we’re gonna have more downtime so we can work on new songs and prepare for the 777antasy launch. That should be a hoot. I want it to be over-the-top larger-than-life, an extravaganza! That’s if I had it my way. 

Follow @itsguppybaby. Listen to Guppy’s first single ‘Creepin’ at itsguppybaby.bandcamp.com.

Gimmie RADIO OCT 2021

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New playlist for October is up now for your listening pleasure!
This months features songs from screensaver, Dr. Sure’s Unusual Practice, Laughing Gear, Hearts and Rockets, Ausecuma Beats, Power Supply, Bitumen, Alien Nosejob, Springtime, and more.

ISSUE 4 (U.S. Edition)

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Cover illustration by Jhonny Russell

Gimmie Zine Issue #4 has just been released in the U.S.A. via Total Punk Records. This version has a limited edition Amyl And The Sniffers cover variant!

People outside of Australia please get it from http://www.totalpunkrecords.com

We have a very limited amount of import copies of this one available for people in Australia here.

We are sold out of the Australian edition covers, but keep your eyes peeled on AUS record stores as limited copies will be popping up at places like Rocking Horse, Repressed, Lulu’s, Sonic Sherpa and Rudderless.

We chat in-depth with Tessa & Alda from D-beat band Jalang! They’ve released Australia’s best hardcore record this year. We explore the album themes: politics, religion, feminism and queer rights in South East Asia and beyond. A really important chat.

Gareth Liddiard from Tropical Fuck Storm speaks about new album ‘Deep States’, songwriting, creativity, fanboying and collecting weird shit.

R.M.F.C.’s Buz Clatworthy talks, a new album in the works, lockdown being a creativity dampener, finding inspiration in films and friends.

We yarn with Emma Donovan and The Putbacks. New record ‘Under These Streets’ draws on soul, R&B, funk and the protest music of Indigenous Australia—a dynamic portrait of Blak pain and joy in all its complexities.

Amyl and the Sniffers’ Amy Taylor and Bryce Wilson check-in to tell us about their new album’s journey, experiencing depression, keeping busy and the power of music.

French duo Heimat play off-kilter experimental-pop with folklore influence, cinematic-like soundscapes, and vocals in multiple languages. A chat on experimentation.

Old Home vocalist Dylan Sparks gives us a peek into their visceral performance poetry coupled with spontaneous musical composition.

We speak with Louisiana band Spllit just days after a hurricane hit their area. We adore their lo-fi weirdness. Next level music.

70’s acid-folk legend Howard Eynon has had a storied life: appearing in films including Mad Max, supporting Hunter S Thompson’s tour; performing in theatre. Recently, he’s been working on music with Zak Olsen. A brilliant chat.

Julian Teakle of The Native Cats and Rough Skies Records selects some of his favourite tracks for us.

52 pages. A4 size. Limited Edition. 

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

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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

RABBIT’s Bobby K: “I’m always a lovesick fool for a pop song…”

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Original photo by Scott Bradshaw. Handmade mixed-media by B.

Forming just over a year ago, nipaluna/Hobart-based band RABBIT are releasing their debut 7 inch on Rough Skies Records (home of bands we love: Slag Queens, All The Weather, 208L Containers and The Native Cats) today. The quartet give us three high energy, power-pop gems. Overdriven guitars, catchy riffs, solid driving rhythms, and melodic vocals singing songs of love and heartbreak. Songwriter and guitarist, Bobby K, tells us about the band’s formation, recording the EP, and their inspirations.

RABBIT is inspired by forgotten power-pop groups and new wave punks; who are some of these inspirations and what is it that you appreciate about them?

BOBBY K: There’s a demo by Peter Case’s band The Nerves that I come back to a lot. I stumbled on a lot of these old power-pop songs because they were made popular by other artists. The first Cyndi Lauper record has a couple; Robert Hazard wrote Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, The Brains wrote Money Changes Everything. The Nerves wrote Hanging on the Telephone which I only knew as a Blondie song until I started sniffing around its roots like a truffle pig. There’s so many truffles underfoot hey, The Flamin’ Groovies, The Records, Vibrators, The Soft Boys, The Only Ones, Television Personalities, Buzzcocks, The Motels… plus all the Oz punk stuff like Celibate Rifles and Birdman and Saints. What ties the truffles together for me is sharp, simple songwriting – I’m always a lovesick fool for a pop song but rough it up a bit with overdriven guitars and demo-quality recording and you get me all buttery. Recently I got hooked on the Buffalo Springfield song Burned – prime example of perfect guitar pop, and coincidentally almost the same title as a RABBIT tune from the 7”.

You wrote and recorded the demos for the three songs on the Gone 7” yourself on a Tascam 4-track tape before forming the band. Who or what first got you into music?

BK: My Aunt Lou played me a tape of a Welsh choir when I was about 6 and I guess it got in there pretty deep, pretty powerful music. Neil Young taught me guitar, Bill Ward taught me drumming. I studied classical music at uni too, but it wasn’t much chop and crushed me into a tonal box from which I’m still trying to escape. Nahhh, I like tonality, it’s comforting. Anyway I’ve been in heaps of gross punk bands since I was 13, and one that was pretty good, and now I’m in RABBIT.

On your Instagram there was a vid of you playing guitar with the caption: upstrokes are for arseholes. Where does your love of the downstroke come from?

BK: It’s a worthy commitment! I got it from Dave Gibson (Funeral Moon/Spacebong/Ratcatcher). Dunno where he got it from but probably The Misfits or The Ramones or The Slayer [sic]. Have a look and a listen next time you watch a guitar band, upstrokes are so floppy and limp. There’s nothing worse than listening to limp floppy upstrokes, nothing, except like if you’re running back to your car because you’re two minutes overparked but as you get back the inspector is taking a photo and the ticket is there on your windscreen and you were too late, and you try to protest but the inspector just simpers at you, and then later you’re at the pub and there’s a band playing and IT’S HIM, THE INSPECTOR, and he’s playing third wave ska! That’s worse! But it’s the same thing! Also, the tone and attack of downstrokes rips.

photo by Scott Bradshaw

How did the band come to be? How did you meet each band member: Maggie Edwards (vocals), Sean Wyers (drums) and Claire Johnston (bass)?

BK: I was living in a sharehouse with Magz around the time I was recording the demo. My singing voice sounds like Leo Kottke’s farts on a muggy day, so I asked Magz to sing on it. Even her retching is sonorous. I think I met Clairey at the Brisbane Hotel one night and she put her name in my phone as ‘CLAIREY MEGABABE’. She’d heard the demo and was super keen, so we tried to get a band together with her on drums. I went overseas for work and it fizzed, and then she kicked it back into life last year, she put the word out and pulled it together with Sean on the kit. I’d met him a year before when I showed up at a rehearsal space for a weekly blast beat practice and his metal band had muscled in on my slot. They went to the pub for an hour while I sweated it out over his snare, and eventually I moved into his spare room. That’s how Hobart works. Clairey is still MEGABABE.

Each of the songs on Gone speak to various aspects of love and/or relationships. Can you tell us about the writing of ‘Gone Gone Gone’? What sparked it?

BK: The songs on the demo came out of a singularly painful and traumatic breakup, sort of diversionary processing tactic or something, dunno what was going on upstairs but I chucked it all into writing loud pop songs. Somebody in France was very kind to me when I was low, dusted me off as I was passing through so I stayed with them for a few weeks and eventually got a flight to Dublin and drank a million pints with my Da and then BANG, wrote a song about it. It’s in G major and it’s got a bunch of suspended 4ths which try to convey the feeling of vomiting in the rain in the front yard of a BnB while your Da takes photos of you from the rental car. Berlioz for the 21st century or whatever. Actually, the lyric in the chorus came out of a dream I had many years ago and I never knew what it meant but now I sort of do.

You made a film clip for ‘Gone Gone Gone’ directed by Joseph Shrimpton; what do you remember most from filming it?

BK: Shouting SHRIMPTON a bunch. I’d just met Jo that day and was pretty excited. They’re really nice! It was an easy film shoot – mostly I just lay on a mattress and read a book about chess while Clairey had a bath. Magz and Sean had an argument about a lamp. SHRIMPTON!

The songs were recorded with Zac Blain (A. Swayze and the Ghosts) in a sharehouse on Muwinina Country. How did the collaboration come about?

BK: We just asked the guy because he’s a ripper. We more or less all knew one another, so it was an easy thing to organise. Sean and I were living in the old sharehouse on Warwick Street (where the video was filmed), the neighbour screeched at us like a bat, Zac was an absolute pleasure and he gets where RABBIT comes from. He’s got cool spectacles.

Can you share with us some details of the recording of ‘Burnt’?

BK: More room mic and less close mic in the drum mix, Bonham style for Seans. Two almost identical guitar tracks panned L/R – one through a Fender Bassman and one through an Orange Rockerverb II, same set up for every song on the 7”. Clairey’s bass guitar signal attended the Zac Blain School of Wonderful Works and graduated with a Certificate III, and Maggie just sings everything perfectly, every time. That’s what she does.

How did the song ‘Love Bites’ change from the original demo version to the final recording version we hear? We especially love the dual vocals!

BK: Well, Love Bites wasn’t on the demo that went up on bandcamp, it was a later song that I demo’d after we’d started rehearsing. I recorded it really rough for the band to hear and Maggie filled in a missing verse. It still changed quite a bit from my demo to the band recording… the dual vocals are more contrapuntal on the 7”, I think on the demo it was more of a straight harmony. Clairey reworked the bass part and made it more harmonically colourful. Sean and I are very different drummers, so the drums were bound to feel different. I’m an absolute slop-fest octopus while Sean is much more precise with his fills. The brief I gave to Sean for Love Bites was “play it like Mitch Mitchell, y’know, like just put shit everywhere”, but Sean hits ’em harder and more solid than Mitchell, so there ya have it!

Photo by Scott Bradshaw

Rabbit are nipaluna/Hobart-based; what’s the best and worst bits about living where you are?

BK: Worst bit is how the gaming industry dominates pubs all around the state and there’s relatively few venues to support live music and there’s not much we can do about it.

The best bit is how everyone drives 10ks under the limit and the sky always looks like an ice-cream cake.

What’s one of the most memorable local shows you’ve attended or played and what made it so?

BK: We recently played at Junction Arts Festival in Launceston and after our gig we went and watched a friend’s band Broken Girl’s Club, and I was standing on the grass in the dark with Sean and he taps me on the shoulder and shouts over the music ‘OI, BOBBY LOOK AT THIS’ and I look down and he’s holding a handful of wriggling worms.

Ohhhh, also there was one at Altar where the sewage backed up and flooded out onto the dance floor and The Bonus didn’t get to play because it was a public health emergency.

What do you love about making music?

BK: It’s the only thing in the world that I ever want to do, and I GET TO DO IT.

What else should we know about you?
BK: I used to go for the dim sim but now I go straight for the corn jack.

RABBIT ‘Gone‘ 7 inch is available to order through Rough Skies Records.