The Power Of Three

TIM SCOTT shares beers, anecdotes and relationship advice with Melbourne-via-Brisbane punk trio The Chinese Burns.

The Chinese Burns are fully aware that they are but one of a million scuzzy garage rock bands acts roaming this vast earth. But for them the only number that matters is three. That’s the number of members in the band, the number of beats the drummer uses to count off each song and the number of minutes it takes for their live shows to escalate from semi-normalcy to beer-soaked madness.

Having played their particularly raw brand of garage punk rock around Melbourne’s inner-north for just under a year, the band recently launched their debut 7” – and it’s a doozy. Recorded by Mikey Young (Eddy Current Suppression Ring) and mixed by Owen Penglis (Straight Arrows) the four tracks capture the said alcohol-fuelled mayhem of a Chinese Burns live show.

During a recent chat in a north Fitzroy beer garden, the band – Ben Buchanan (guitar/vocals), Xavier Poropat (drums/vocals) and newish bassist Rupert Finlason – discuss their formation, their relocation from Brisbane and give some impromptu relationship advice to a table of drunken girls.

So you are originally from Brisbane?
Xavier: Ben and I are from Brisbane. We formed in Melbourne. I’ve been living in Melbourne for about three-and-a-half years and Ben has been here for a little while now. I was playing in a few bands up there but just was getting sick of it and so moved down. We figured it would be better for our music.

What was it about Brisbane that you were sick of?
Ben: Just general stuff. The food, the [Fortitude] Valley. There’s not a lot of culture to go around. It’s the same thing every weekend. Not much variety. There’s less choice. Fewer cool venues. There’s one entertainment precinct that gets old really quick. In the ’90s it used to be alternative but no less crap but then everything got pushed into it and it became really crap.

There used to be an OK place called Six Ten. It was like an art space. They used to have rehearsal rooms and became a DIY space positioned next door to a big Valley nightclub that kind of catered to the backpacker scene that would always have massive lines. It lasted for around 11 really lucky months and then it eventually just got shut down.

Did you have connections in Melbourne or was it a matter of just turning up with a back pack and, “Let’s rock!”
Ben: He [Xavier] had made connections. He did all the in roads and I just did all the gravy [laughs].

Xavier: I knew people down here from bands. I’d met people when they came up to Brisbane so it was pretty easy to get connected.

What advice would you give to any band that has just moved to Melbourne?
Xavier: I think just the basics. Go to gigs and see stuff. If you like it, go again. You often gets bands who play together, so if you like one band go again and it’s more than likely you’ll catch other bands and likeminded people.

Ben: Yeah for us we just went to see people who had the same mindset. Bands like Late Arvo Sons, Kids of Zoo and Trophy Wives who have the same idea of writing and performing songs. It’s the best way I guess.

Were your previous bands in a similar vein to Chinese Burns?
Ben: Mine were. I was in a band called Feeling Lucky that was three-chord punk and I was in a skate kind of band R.A.D. that was more hardcore.

Xavier: I’ve been in a bunch of bands and they’ve all been loud [and] guitar orientated.

What happened to your previous bassist?
Ben: Brad inherited some farms in Greece. A whole bunch of land. He’s also a sailor so he’s going on some yacht race along the Adriatic.

Xavier: It’s a lot more exotic than playing every week at the Cobra Bar [laughs].

And so how did you get involved, Rupert?
Rupert: We all met through my other band the Trophy Wives. It’s all pretty close.

What was it like recording with Mikey Young?
Ben: It was really easy. He came around and drank some beers. He brings in his set-up and gets good sounds straight away. We did a first mix with Mikey then we sent it up to our friend in Sydney, Owen, who plays in Straight Arrows and wanted to mix it.

Xavier: Yeah it’s good to have an outside influence. He doesn’t get to see us play that much so he brings a different take.

Rupert: Live is always a little bit faster and more intense and it’s always hard to capture that on record. But if anyone is going to be able to do that I think it’s Mikey and I think he’s done really well.

What about some of the songs? ‘Steal Magnolias’?
Ben: That’s probably our newest song and it kind of is a little slower. You can’t keep up the snotty-ness for too long.

Is it about stealing flowers from gravestones?
Ben: I think that’s just a typo [laughs]. It’s actually named after Steel Magnolias, the Bette Milder film classic. The general sound is more important than lyrics in our band which is a good thing because most of the lyrics are kind of stupid.

Like ‘Everyday is the Same’?
Ben: Was that the first song we wrote?

Xavier: Yeah, it was like the first or second.

Ben: That’s a good one as it gives you an idea of the head space Brad and I were in when we first moved to Melbourne and we were all pretty stressed out trying to find work.

[Our conversation is interrupted by some drunken girls at an adjacent table]

Drunken girl: Excuse me we need your expertise. My friend just received a text from a potential who claims he has a migraine. Do you think that he’s telling the truth?

Ben: Men don’t get migraines do they?

Drunken girl: Do any of you get migraines?

Rupert: I think it’s called a hang over.

Ben: I get migraines when I want to be alone [laughs].

Drunken girl’s friend: I think he’s a virgin too. He is 24 and from the country.

Rupert: I reckon if you were a 24-year-old virgin from the country and you had a migraine you’d still want to get out [laughs]. Tell him to take a Panadol and jump in the car. [More laughs]

Drunken girls: Thanks guys!

A US influence is obvious when you play this particular garage music but there is also an Australian feel and sound to the songs.
Ben: Yeah, Aussie garage bands and then obviously the Goner records sound have been big influences on us. We try and fuck it up, I don’t know. A bit of Scientists. You know a bit punk, but a bit thrashy. I think the last six records I’ve bought have been all Melbourne bands: the new Deaf Wish that just came out, the new UV Race, the new Super Wild Horses and the Stabs is amazing.

There were single launches in Melbourne and Sydney but no Brisbane. Have you been excommunicated from the Brisbane music scene?
Xavier: Ha! No, it’s not like that. It’s just expensive to get up there. We will get there later in the year.

+