‘You’ll Leave A Convert’: Dig It Up! 2013

AARON CURRAN interviews Hoodoo Gurus’ Dave Faulkner, The Flamin’ Groovies’ Cyril Jordan and Kim Salmon ahead of Dig It Up’s second year. Discussed: pulling the pin on Adelaide, uncertainty over a third festival, a Victims reunion, a new Darling Downs album and those thieving Sex Pistols.

[Historical image is withheld pending rights review.]

Dave Faulkner (Hoodoo Gurus)

Congrats on last year’s Dig It Up!. I was lucky enough to catch the Sydney show.
It was a blast, wasn’t it? I don’t think people realised how much fun they were going to have till they got there.

Are you surprised to be back with Dig It Up #2?
It was always intended as a one-off, but Tim [Pittman, promoter] had as much fun as the bands so he was eager to give it another go. We had to be convinced really, and needed to be sure that the bill was going to be as strong as last year’s. Why blemish something that special? But I think we’ve got a mind blowing line-up this year too.

How does this Dig It Up! compare to the last one?
Well it’s a very different mix. This year’s bill has become a testament to power-pop, whereas last year’s was more garage-punk. There’s still a mix of styles represented when you factor in the local bands, like Frowning Clouds, but the flavour is definitely different this year. The Gurus’ universe is big enough for both.

“Getting Blue Oyster Cült was what pushed the go button.”

Blue Oyster Cült and The Flamin’ Groovies are perfect co-headliners Clearly big influences on the Gurus? Absolutely. There’s only so much on the wish list that you can practically hope for but getting Blue Oyster Cült was what pushed the go button really. That was what clinched it.

We’ve got such a long history with The Flamin’ Groovies: they were a key influence from the very beginning, right back to when James Baker and I started The Victims. I saw [ex-Groovie] Roy Loney & The Phantom Movers when I visited San Francisco in 1979, and I think Cyril [Jordan] guested with us on the Gurus’ first tour of the States, and he’s been back to play with us almost every time we’ve returned. The same with Chris [Wilson] in London.

Who else on the bill are you looking forward to?
Peter Case, for one. He may be the sleeper hit of the whole show, a bit like Steve Wynn was at the last one. Peter has an incredible reputation and a long history making wonderful records. For us he’s going to concentrate on his Plimsouls and Nerves material so it’ll be huge fun.

What do you think a band has to do to pre-sell tickets in Adelaide?
It’s really disappointing. Last year was exactly the same. Tim didn’t think we should go back this year because he didn’t make any money last time so it was a load of work for no reward. Maybe we pulled the pin too soon, but it’s such a risk because the landscape is a lot more crowded this year than in 2012 and the signs didn’t look good. We’ll try to get back to Adelaide soon for another Gurus’ show anyway.

“We’ll do at least 85 minutes worth, with more encores if people want them.”

It’s a more diverse record than some might remember, with a few slow and moody tracks on it, not all upbeat stuff. I’m cursing [producer] Charles Fisher a bit, who wanted all the singles on side one! [Laughs] But we copped a bit of flak in Melbourne last year for only doing Stoneage Romeos, so this year we’re playing a longer show. We’ll do Mars Needs Guitars in full and then a second set; at least 85 minutes worth, with more encores if people want them.

Do you think you’ll do a third Dig It Up!? If so can I request a Victims reformation?
[Laughs] Oh dear, I don’t know if that could ever happen. I really don’t know if we’ll get to a third, certainly not for awhile. We’ll see what Tim thinks. I still love The Victims’ stuff though, songs like ‘Horror Smash’ and ‘I Wanna Be With You’, even though we never recorded them properly. I know James [Baker] has been back playing with the Beasts of Bourbon, so maybe he’d be open to a show or two.

If this is the last one, that sounds like even more reason not to miss it this year.
Exactly. Don’t let a bit of rain or a hangover keep you away. Get off your couch and stop watching DVDs for one day because this is a line-up of bands that you’ll never see in this country again. You might think you only want to see a couple of them, but once you’re there there’s going to be so much to blow you away. You’ll leave a convert to bands you might not have even known before.

Cyril Jordan (The Flamin’ Groovies)

Where are you now, Cyril?
At home in San Francisco. Everybody else moved out of Frisco but me. The drummer’s in San Diego, my bass player’s in Tucson and the singer’s in London.

That’s George [Alexander, bass] and Chris [Wilson, vocals] you’re referring to. You’re hitting the road together for the first time since 1981. What brought you back together now?
Events unfolded, nothing contrived. George got in touch with Chris three years ago and then played bass on his solo album. Then I took a Teenage Head-era version of the Groovies to London two years ago with Roy [Loney]. Chris came to the gig, walked into the dressing room, there were tears and hugs and any old dramas just melted away.

After that we just wanted to play. Word got out and by November last year the offers from Australia and Japan came in. That was enough money to kick-start things. When we get back to the States next month we're going to go into the studio and cut some new originals.

Last time you were all together you made some of the best records of the band’s long career [Shake Some Action, Now and Jumping in the Night]. You recorded much of it in the UK, where you’d relocated, right at the time that ‘70s punk was taking hold. Was it a good time to be in London as punk was breaking?
We were a little out of place; punk was rejecting classic rock and roll. Their loss, y’know what I mean? But we’d laid solid foundations with UK fans when we lived there in 1972. We played more than 200 gigs in England that year. So when we came back again in ’75 we had enough of a fan base, despite being a little out of step with what was fashionable. What’s funny is that our band had been wearing black leather jackets, T-shirts and tight jeans back in ’72! Some of our songs from that time like ‘Slow Death’ ended up influencing the punks too. So which of us was actually behind the times?

“I’m guessing that’s my fuckin’ pedal they’re using on ‘Never Mind the Bollocks’.”

We couldn’t top Johnny Rotten going on TV and telling the country to fuck off, no one could. The Sex Pistols came to our shows in ’75 before they were known, when we played Dingwalls for the NME. I’d known Malcolm McLaren for years. He called me up and asked if he could bring his boys down. Twenty years later I found out that they’d come along with the intention of stealing my Dan Armstrong clear Plexiglas guitar. They didn’t get that but they did steal the band’s briefcase, which had our passports, our papers, our airline tickets back home and my fuzztone stomp box.

We’re freaking out back at the hotel when a little punk comes up and gives us this case back saying, “We took this by mistake”. Yeah, mistake. [Snorts] Everything was still in the case except for my fuzztone, so I’m guessing that’s my fuckin’ pedal they’re using on the Never Mind the Bollocks album. The Pistols were heavy kleptos: it was a big joke to them to meet other bands and steal their stuff. Out of their minds, but they were just kids.

When did you meet the guys in the Hoodoo Gurus?
Dave’s an old friend, we go way back, the same with Brad. I try to see them every time we’re in the same town. It’s a mutual admiration society, y’know? There’s no way we’re going to do these Australian shows without getting together onstage, ‘cause they’re going to want to strap their guitars on for ‘Shake Some Action’ and we’ll want to do the same for ‘Bittersweet’.

The Groovies broke up shortly after the last time you played in Australia, in the late ‘80s. What happened?
We had a great time in Australia. I think we did two tours there and really enjoyed both of them. But we went to Europe after the last tour and got ripped off big time. Me and George’d had enough, the band was over, we thought forever. But this Flamin’ Groovies thing … it’s like we planted seeds a long time ago, and they’ve taken root and just keep growing.

“Your country to me is like Cleveland, full of people who love rock and roll.”

Like I’m walking in New Orleans last year and an Australian guy asked me for a match. I lit his cigarette and when he got close and saw it was me he said, “Cyril Jordan, fuck man! The Flamin’ Groovies were better than The Beatles”. Not quite fella, but I’ll take the compliment. It’s really satisfying to know some people got it, y’know? That they understood what it was we were trying to do.

Australia is totally a nation that got it: your country to me is like Cleveland, full of people who love rock and roll. There’s a reason the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is in Cleveland … people love music there. Some say that’s where rock and roll started. When we got to Australia in the ‘80s, we kept saying to each other, “Man these people, this place, it feels like Cleveland! Everybody wants to fuckin’ rock out here. We’ve found another home.”

Kim Salmon

Tell us how you first met Dave Faulkner.
We’re old mates; I met Dave in Perth when I was about 18 or 19, at a party. He was personable, smart, and enthusiastic about making music. I seem to remember he had visions of us playing the blues not punk! We jammed with friends, Dave played organ, a Farfisa or Yamaha. The drummer handed out instructions – “this one’s in 7/4, this one’s atonal” – and we fancied we sounded a bit like Can. I’m not sure our 20-minute-long 12-bar blues excursions really did merit a comparison to Can, if I’m honest. [Laughs]

How did you and Spencer [P. Jones] enjoy last year's Dig It Up!? We had a lot of fun. The shows had a loose feel and we played to lots of friendly faces. He and I are back to do a show at the Annandale [Friday 19th April], a couple of days before Dig It Up! in Sydney.

Runaways sounds like it was a lot of fun to make.
Definitely. It’s very us, isn’t it? There’s nowhere to hide on that record. Very naked, created on the spot pretty much.

“We’re polar opposites in terms of how we actually play. My stuff is more anarchic and linear; his is more blocky and chordal.”

How would you describe the guitar interplay you have with Spencer?
We’re polar opposites in terms of how we actually play. Maybe that’s why it works and fits together so well. My stuff is more anarchic and linear; his is more blocky and chordal. With our long history we know what to do to complement the other without having to think about it.

You’re back for Dig It Up! in another duo, with Leanne Cowie on drums?
Yeah, the only challenge has been to work out a band name. It started with us playing a bunch of Scientists songs so I thought Science Test might work, but Leanne hates that. On our new LP we’ll call ourselves just Kim & Leanne. But Tim [Pittman] has printed up the Dig It Up! stuff as Salmon & Cowie ... like a bad folk duo, some boring rootsy shit!

I’ve got the Sydney ad in front of me. You get the full whack here – ‘Kim Salmon and Leanne Cowie’. It takes up more space than anyone else.
Oh does it? Ha, well that’s better. I still prefer Kim & Leanne, it’s like Nancy & Lee. We’re playing early-period Scientists as well as the later stuff. Leanne is one of the only drummers I’ve met with a handle on both styles; the rhythms are so completely different. Then we’ll put out an album of all new songs, say September or October. It was loads of fun to make. Recording was an absolute ball.

Before that’s released you’re busy with The Darling Downs too, right?
Yeah, Ron [Peno from Died Pretty] and I have made a third record which is called In the Days When the World Was Wide. Our first time with a band behind us. The production is a lot more elaborate by Darling Downs’ standards. There’s still a core of guitar or banjo with vocals, still lots of emotive ballads, but with the addition of piano, percussion and bass.

The piano was interesting; it took a few tries to get that sounding as simple as we wanted, which was Aretha Franklin/Carole King-type chordal stuff. The sort of piano you hear on old hit records but most players shy away from – not intricate enough, not enough notes - so I ended up doing some of it myself. That album should be out in June, we’re working on a pledge campaign for that one.

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Dig It Up! kicks off tomorrow (April 18) at The Tivoli in Brisbane. Full dates and line-ups here. The Flamin’ Groovies are also doing side shows, and Kim Salmon & Spencer P. Jones play The Annandale (Sydney) on Friday, April 19 April and Prince of Wales (Melbourne) Saturday, May 4.