Pex: Two-Minute Noodles

Short, sharp and to the point, Perth’s Bamodi has been recently revived for a tour with Japanese noise outfit Bariken. And, writes PATRICK EMERY, it’s just one of the many musical sides of founding member Predrag Delibasich, better known as Pex.

Since arriving in Perth from Serbia, Predrag Delibasich has been a busy man. Delibasich – or Pex as he’s become known to cater for local linguistic capabilities – has traversed the spectrum of punk and experimental noise – from the adolescent attitude of Sokkol to the post-punk intensity of the Soviet Valves, the confronting power and noise of Bamodi to the recent instrumental musings of his solo work. Taking time out from his more esoteric musical explorations, Pex has reinvigorated Bamodi to undertake a tour in conjunction with Japanese noise outfit Bariken.

You were born in the former Yugoslavia. What led you originally to move to Australia?
My ex-wife. And I always wanted to see the other end of the world. Another reason was love for Australian music, mainly punk. It was only when I got to Perth that I realised all the great Aussie bands at the time lived on the other side of the continent…

Were you playing music before you moved to Australia?
Yes, but never seriously. We had a punk band in my teenage years. We were called Protters and we did mostly Ramones covers translated in Serbian. There are no recordings left, just a photograph we took back in 1987 or so, but at least I look good in it [laughs].

Was there much of a punk scene in your hometown?
Not really. I grew up in a small town. Apart from Protters there was another part-time band that did covers of punkish songs. Later there were a couple of bands, but they were so crap they’re not worth mentioning. None of us ever released anything. I had to go to the capital [Belgrade] to see live shows, as not many decent bands played in my hometown. We pulled a lot of all-nighters. We’d spend a couple of hours on the train going to the show, the show would start around midnight, finish at 2am and then we would catch the first train home at 4am, arrive at 6am, have something to eat and coffee and go straight to school.

Did it take long for you to find a place in the Perth musical community?
I met some nice people immediately. I’m not shy, so I found a couple of fanzines and got in touch with people who were doing them and we are still friends. Soon after my arrival I started going to shows and met some more people involved with music, but it wasn’t until 2001 that I started playing in a band. That’s when I got my first decent job that allowed me some spare time to make and play music.

I believe the first band you formed in Perth was Sokkol – is that correct? What music were you playing with Sokkol?
Yes. Sokkol was a punk band. It had Milos and Brendan – both later in Soviet Valves – as well as Mark, who was (together with Milos) in Les Shits (who were a Nomeanso-influenced band). Sokkol played 20 odd gigs in a year-and-a-half, never recorded anything properly, apart from a bunch of songs at practice with one microphone. I listened to those recordings recently and the songs are much, much better than I remembered them. It kind of reminded me of early Black Flag and New Bomb Turks.

You released a couple of records with the Soviet Valves. Did any of those receive much interest outside of Australia?
Soviet Valves released two CD EPs (six songs each), a split 7” single with Perth band Whitechapel, as well as a 7” EP with four songs on American label Smart Guy Records. We had our first jam in May 2004 and played our last show on May 20, 2005. In 12 months, we played over 40 shows and wrote and recorded 20-25 songs. There was interest from overseas, especially from some labels in the United States, but it was Smart Guy Records that was the most keen. We sent them the Fun, Safe & Anonymous EP and they immediately said they want to do a 7” EP.

Have the Soviet Valves broken up, or is there a chance they’ll play again?
Yes, as Milos (vocals) went to live in London in May 2005. We played two shows when he visited Perth in 2006 and 2007. I really loved all guys in the Soviet Valves, both as people and as musicians and I’d be extremely happy to play those songs again. However, I doubt it will ever happen. Milos is coming over in October, so me and him might make some music together. He is doing some great stuff over there with another ex-Perth guy. They go under the name Tough Troubles.

“We wanted to keep things short, sharp and to the point. No double choruses and stuff like that … I knew it wasn’t going to sound like the Beach Boys, but I didn’t care.”

What happened to Airport City Shuffle?
They asked me to join them on bass in March 2006 when their bass player went to England and they had a tour with the Tucker B’s booked. I jumped in, as I knew the guys and wanted to get some touring experience. Later I recorded some stuff with Airport City Shuffle, and we went on another tour. After that I left, as I wanted to concentrate on Bamodi. I believe Simon (the main guy in Airport City Shuffle) still plays live shows around Perth.

When did you form Bamodi?
March 2006. I knew Kenta and Scotty from their band Mannequin and wanted to jam with them. We had a couple of practices and two weeks later played the first show with Artimus Pyle. We knocked out eight songs in 10 minutes.

What were you trying to achieve with Bamodi when you first formed the band?
I was full on into Minutemen at the time, so I guess I wanted to have a band as cool as them.

Is Bamodi intended to have a deliberately confrontational sound?
When we had a first practice both me and Kenta brought some riffs. Nothing was intentional, except we wanted to keep things short, sharp and to the point. No double choruses and stuff like that. I never found it confrontational, apart from Kenta’s voice, which took me 10 minutes to get used to. I knew it wasn’t going to sound like the Beach Boys, but I didn’t care.

What – if anything – is the defining feature of Bamodi compared to other punk bands?
The fact we never follow the typical song structure, as well as Kenta always coming up with lyrics on the spot, sometimes in Japanese, sometimes in English and sometimes in his own language.

Is Bamodi planning to release any new material soon?
We have eight new songs coming up on a split CD with Bariken. As I mentioned, we started in March 2006. By the end of that year we had written and recorded 22 songs for our first album, which got released in August 2007. In October that year we went to Melbourne for three shows. For the next 12 months we played regularly around Perth, although not as often as before as our drummer Scotty had (and still has) some problems with his wrists. That kind of stopped us from being as productive as before. In November last year we supported Clockcleaner and decided to take a break after that. Then the opportunity to have a split CD with Bariken and tour came up and we decided to get back in action.

You’ve spent a bit of time visiting and playing in Japan. How did you organise those gigs, and what reaction did you get while playing in Japan?
My first tour was in 2007 with Abe Sada (an all bass improv noise combo), those shows were organised by a Japanese promoter. In 2008 I went there to play some solo shows with another two solo acts from Perth – Stina and Chris Cobilis. I pretty much organised those shows myself, just by getting in touch with the venues I played a year earlier. This year in May I went again with Abe Sada. Again, a local promoter helped us with shows.

Japan is a great place to play, but everything is so different from playing in Australia: the venues are small, the PA is huge, everything is mic’ed up, you go there at 3pm for a sound check and rehearsal, which goes for an hour, then the show starts at 7pm, must be finished by 11pm, so people can catch the train home. The punters come to see and listen to the bands, not to get pissed. There is no agro behaviour, people appreciate your effort and they talk to you after the show. This year’s Abe Sada’s tour attracted a lot more punters, probably due to the fact that we had two CDs released in Japan since our first tour. We also used another promoter, who obviously knows how to do his job.

How did you first come across Bariken?
I saw Bariken at UFO Club in Tokyo. They played a show with Abe Sada in 2007. The intensity of their performance impressed me. I went and talked to them after the show and they gave me their demo. It was awesome, like early Melt Banana, except even noisier. I met the guys again last year when I played my solo shows and had a chance to see them doing a gig again. We started talking about them coming to Australia and releasing a split CD with Bamodi. Heartless Robot productions (the label behind my three solo releases) offered to put it out, so here we are.

You’ve been very prolific with your output, including your solo bass project [Bassta! Pex], Bamodi and your recent solo work. Do you intend the various projects to be complementary, or are they all separate activities?
Well, I like many different kinds of music and if I have a chance I like to try doing different stuff. At this stage they are all separate activities. I never make a long term plan, so I can’t really say if it will be any different in future. I started doing Bassta! Pex and Gutter Guitar stuff during the time when I was not too busy with playing in bands and it gave me a different perspective on creating and playing music. When time permits I'd like to do some more of that and see how I feel about it.

What do you plan to do in the future, both touring and recording wise?
I just released a 7” single/CD EP with some new songs I recorded by myself and got a bunch of friends to play that stuff live. The band is called smRts and we’ve played five shows so far, all with a very positive response. It’s totally different than anything else I’ve done before. It’s instrumental music with some surf and eastern European feel, or “upbeat and melancholic”, to quote Rachael Kuan, one of smRts’ guitarists, although that’s how she described her solo stuff.

So, at this stage the plan is to push smRts more, hopefully go over east in October and record an album when we get back, so we can release it end of the year or early next year. After that it’s world domination, of course.

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Bamodi will perform with Bariken on Friday, August 7 at Red Rattler, Sydney, and on Saturday, August 8, at The Birmingham Hotel, Melbourne.