As well as the stunning array of glamorous, international musical megastars strolling the catwalk at Summersault, Fremantle Oval January 7, a local contingent of glamorous musical megastars will put forth their noise on the same stages. ADAM CONNORS spoke to Perth bands Jebediah, Bluetile Lounge, Outstation, Wormfarm and Thermos Cardy before the big day arrived.
Tour poster. Facebook: Neil Hooper/Sound As Ever (Australian Indie 90-99)
Hi Ara. There was a Two Minute Noodles review coming but they were so shockingly dreadful that I could not find one redeeming feature in it, nor anything slightly interesting to report on. Squidfinger were pretty good but we only covered them two weeks ago, and the ‘Noodles were downright stinky. I’m sorry, but to say anything about them wouldn’t be criticising music as such, just notions of boredom and the rights of people to bear CDs.
Eek, hard words. But if you’re really stuck, reprint this note. ha ha.
Below is the local Summersault coverage. I’ll be back on Tuesday, so Money Mark will be on your desk Wednesday morning. Ta
adam.
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The depth of the Perth original scene is obvious to everyone these days when you take in the fact that 20 local bands, plus local club DJs, will being playing festivals this summer. Up to 40,000 people will see these bands at the two big festivals, as well as all the international bands touring here and their A&R overlords. It could be fun playing under such conditions, wouldn’t you think?
Guitarist Craig Hallsworth from Outstation is going to treat it like another day. “I don’t really pay much attention to the audience – as long as they don’t inhibit what we are trying to do.” But punters would know what to expect from Craig and Jim, ex-members of Zuvuya, with Outstation being the new combination with a new drummer.
“We’re not players that are into skill and we’re not punk rockers either. We’ve got a fairly noisy, big sound and I don’t do any solos or anything flashy, the songs are the main thing.
“We might exist on the fringes of pop perhaps, we play heavily and noisily because the songs sound better that way.”
Outstation appear third on one of the two stages which alternate all day. This way you can’t miss the local assault because they are sharing the same stages as ‘the names’.
Starting off the day, Harry Kneen from the mid-fi trio Thermos Cardy expects the Freo-wide audience of thousands to picture him naked. “Well, I remember being embarrassed at school getting a citizenship award, but that was only in front of 300 people. Apart from that, this is going to blow me away.”
Playing by day will also give the bands the chance to see a sea of faces, something which is usually hard to do in the dark pub environment. Similarly, when quizzed as to the appropriate jig that Thermos Cardy promotes, the six-string bass player recommends “the two step, though I find that people who are quite inebriated find it quite easy to sway to Thermos Cardy. In this respect, playing outdoors is a real treat.
“The other guys probably don’t know this but I have a stunning number that I plan to wear and shock the pants off everyone. All I can say is it is fluffy.”
Sassy Gavvy Gold One, or Sassy GG One to his friends, is the bass-wielding limb of highly favoured next-superstars, Wormfarm, and he’s aiming for gold. “It’s just a matter of time, I mean, we’re quite prepared to play the waiting game with the record companies and I think that’s what we’ll be doing. It’s a strategic arrangement we have with the record industry, we’re biding our time and they’re playing the stand-off role at the moment.”
The Wormfarm enigma is set to cause more celebration and confusion when they power-up on the Summersault stage after the ‘Cardy. Sassy GG One sees the event as an opportunity to moon the people above the glass ceiling, to reincarnate early-retired cricketers and to live on the true rock and roll bus.
“We’re a two-bit Perth band really. Yeah, we have our aspirations to not die poor so we’ve decided to die rich with our heads together, maybe frozen in time like Leo Sayer, Hall and Oats. If we can do something along those lines we’ll be happy with ourselves when they turn off the machines.”
With members of Pavement, Sonic Youth etc., possibly getting the urge to saddle up with Wormfarm on the day, who would Sassy GG One like to share the stage with? “Jamie Parry (The Neptunes) has always been our favourite ‘Perthonality’, so to speak, but to get David Boon up to sing a few of our tunes, and some of his, I think that would be very special for us all.”
Meanwhile, on Earth, Perth’s Bluetile Lounge were specifically requested to appear at Summersault by higher beings following the release of their debut album, Lowercase, which has sold 1300 copies in the US in its first month of release. Their slow, slow music should be quite apt in the heat of the day and the ‘Lounge’s Alex Stevens loves the idea of people grabbing an ice slushy and sitting down to listen for a while.
“Normally we just hear incessant chatter so if they all sit down and watch that would be great,” says Stevens of the band which is like no other in Perth, maybe Australia …
“We’re on after Jawbreaker so that should be really interesting. We’re up for a bit of a contrast. And if any of the other band members decided to join in that could be fantastic.”
Now that Bluetile Lounge have finished their university studies plans are already afoot for another batch of recording, seeing that that Lowercase was recorded in March, 1995. But considering that it was only released in November and has virtually sold out in Australia, Bluetile Lounge’s rise is only just beginning.
Wedged in between The Amps and Pavement, Jebediah could well be forgiven for being quite speechless. “We’ve got an excellent position, I don’t know how the hell we got it. I don’t know what it’s going to be like, I just don’t know,” says guitarist/vocalist Kevin Mitchell.
Jebediah’s meteoric rise is quite astounding – their first gigs were done with their parents present because they were underage, by about their 15th gig they had won the National Campus Band Competition and now, 30 gigs down the track, they are playing after The Amps at Summersault.
“It’s going really fast but we’re in control of things at the moment,” says Mitchell. “Some people say that we’re a bit disorganised but I think it’s because we’re still developing and changing and getting our own sound. We are getting heaps more gigs than anyone our own age but every week people are seeing us in this developmental phase.”
And how does Kevin see this renewed interest in fashion on Perth stages? Will Jebediah get into the glitz and glamour? “Oh yeah, I’m hoping Chris (Damon, guitarist) is going to don his jumpsuit again for Summersault, he’s only worn it once in Perth. And Brett (Mitchell, Kevin’s older brother and drummer) is a bit partial to makeup, a Kiss fan from way back.
“Jumping up and down to Jebediah is the easiest thing,” Mitchell answers to the question of essential dance steps on the day. “Anyone can do it and you don’t have to be a great dancer. That is how to deal with our music.”
