The 1997 classic Unit may have won five ARIAs, including Best Album, and later been ranked as the 27th best Australian album ever, but Regurgitator frontman Quan Yeomans still doesn’t necessarily hold it in the highest regard. That’s despite the iconic Brisbane band playing that record and its 1996 predecessor Tu-Plang back-to-back on a national tour starting this month, which already includes several sold-out dates.

In a soon-to-be-published interview with M+N contributor Matt Shea, Yeomans (pictured, centre) questions the popularity of those first two albums in light of sheer salesmanship and payola in a corrupt music industry.

I guess it's fair to say you were pretty negative about the album back in the day, talking about how you fluked it and that sort of thing. I guess hindsight's changed your opinion in that regard?
“No, not at all, not at all. We've released some terrible records and I don't know: the fact that those two were quite popular always makes me wonder how many records we could have sold had we done it independently, and how much was just the salesmanship of the record company and the payola and all that shit. I found out recently that people pay for Facebook likes, and pay for YouTube views. I had no idea. That seems ridiculous to me, and it's exactly the same thing with radio payola that the record companies all do – kickbacks and all that shit.”

He continues: “It's a very corrupt system and I don't know if I could really measure the popularity of our records based on any of that industry stuff. So when I look at a record I look at it on face value, and when I finish something I always see the worst things about it. I remember being harassed by [bandmate] Ben [Ely] about being so negative about it in the press, but the best thing about it is if you're your best critic, what else is anyone else going to say? They can't go anywhere because you've already said it.”

In the interview, the reliably frank Yeomans also discusses supporting “real hard-arses” Helmet in the US, not touring more overseas at the time and the “tainted” vibe of ‘Just Another Beautiful Story’ after it was covered by The Whitlams. On the subject of Unit’s ARIA wins, he reckons “awards are basically set up for industry people to slap each other on the back” but concedes that his mum “has all the awards somewhere.”

Regurgitator’s upcoming Tu-Plang/Unit tour follows extensive touring behind last year's wearable seventh studio album SuperHappyFunTimesFriends. Dates below.

Wed, Sept 26 – Great Northern, Byron Bay, NSW
Thurs, Sept 27 – Hi Fi, Brisbane, QLD
Fri, Sept 28 – Hi Fi, Brisbane, QLD (sold out)
Sat, Sept 29 – Hi Fi, Sydney, NSW (sold out)
Sun, Sept 30 – Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle, NSW
Mon, Oct 1 – Hi Fi, Sydney, NSW
Thurs, Oct 4 – Zierholz @ Uni of Canberra, ACT
Fri, Oct 5 – Uni Bar, Wollongong, NSW
Sat, Oct 6 – The Gov, Adelaide, SA (sold out)
Sun, Oct 7 – Astor, Perth, WA
Thurs, Oct 11 – Hi Fi, Melbourne, VIC
Fri, Oct 12 – Hi Fi, Melbourne, VIC (sold out)
Sat, Oct 13 – Brisbane Hotel, Hobart, TAS
Sun, Oct 14 – Brisbane Hotel, Hobart, TAS

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