Classics: Royal Chant

M+N are asking bands about classic Australian albums – both the idea of a classic and some prime examples – as well as posing a few polite questions.

Answering this week is US expat Mark Spence (with some help from bandmate James Carthew) from Royal Chant. The lineup-shifting Sydney rock duo/trio/whatever have just released the double EP Small Town Bruises/A Day at the Wauchope Races as a single CD set (or name-your-price download). They’re launching it nationally from tomorrow. Dates below.

[Historical image is withheld pending rights review.]

Preamble

a. So you’re releasing a double EP, including one EP [A Day at the Wauchope Races] you previously released as the side band Designer Mutts. Why pair the two EPs up that way?
The initial idea of Designer Mutts as a two-piece baritone side-project became irrelevant/redundant when Royal Chant was forced to become a two-piece as well for a while, so we basically rolled the Mutts’ material into the Royal Chant catalog and let Designer Mutts become something entirely different now. The discs were each conceived on their own, but they are like kissing cousins so we went with a double album because we’re in love with the idea and will probably never have a better chance to do it. Each disc has its own identity, but the way they weave and reflect off each other makes sense to us.

b. Is Small Town Bruises a reference to specific small towns that some of you grew up in?
After I moved to Australia I did a lot of very introspective, ME ME ME writing, and as I gradually exhausted that specific outlook I started turning my attention to the very unique surroundings I found myself in, specifically Port Macquarie and Wauchope, but really any of the small towns that we’ve visited through touring or general wandering around.

There is so much crazy shit that happens in small towns that gets overlooked or deliberately ignored out of habit or courtesy, and I basically wrote from there. Not only big stuff like domestic violence, broken homes, and drug abuse, but all kinds of little quirks that add up to all kinds of scarred individuals with massive chips on their shoulders. There’s also moments of pure joy, so I wanted to portray how it’s barbaric, beautiful, & bored all at once.

c. You guys are obviously influenced by 1990s grunge and indie rock. What’s a less obvious influence that informs the band?
Hedwig & The Angry Inch … anything on Broadway, really.

What Makes a Classic?

a. What are some defining qualities that make a classic record?
It’s gotta sound new, necessary and familiar all at the same time, and if you feel a lightning bolt shoot down your back then you’ve probably struck gold. It stays on repeat for months on end, and you know it inside and out in every mood and all types of weather. It has answers to questions you didn’t even know you should be asking, and makes you reach for the lyric sheet, or even better, a dictionary. Sometimes you wind up using it to explain things about yourself that you are unable to put into words. Instead of answering a question you say, “Here, listen to this.”

b. Name a recent Australian record that already feels like a classic.
Skeleton Jar [2004] by Youth Group. They are at the perfect moment when they have been mostly forgotten about, which means they might be due for a reevaluation in a few years. The dust needs to settle a bit before they can be seen properly again without any hype or lack thereof. I think the writing is underrated, but maybe that’s just me.

c. What was the first classic Australian record someone introduced you to?
I had to think on this a bit, and then it hit me: Whatever that big INXS album that went huge in the States? That one. [James: It was Kick.]

d. Is there a classic ‘Australian sound’? If so, what is it?
To my ears, I’d say the classic sound seems fairly catchy, with its pop elements slightly more rocking and its rock elements have the odd dash of psych veneer. Straightforward and unashamedly sincere, armed with a capable vocabulary and a fair amount of swagger. I keep thinking of The Saints and The Angels, not individually and in some sort of sonic mixture. That might be blasphemous, but I don’t care.

e. Who’s your favourite Australian producer, past or present?
Wayne Connolly. I’m a bit biased coz we actually got to work with him, but I like the way he works and the fact that he is far more quirky than his résumé might suggest. He’s a real music geek in the best sense of the word, with awesome stories that don’t sound like a pissing contest. A real musician’s producer.

Five Classics

Tell us what these five classic Australian albums mean to you:

Hoodoo Gurus Stoneage Romeos (1984)
I like this one a lot. There’s something so passionate and everyman about this, and using acoustic guitars in such a driving manner is something that is sadly lost most of the time. More young bands should listen to this. I think it should get an extra merit badge for not succumbing to all the synths and electronic drums that would likely have been shoved down their throats by various producers and tastemakers. It sounds very, very Australian: part pub, part surf, part punk. Alright!

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Murder Ballads (1996)
Could anyone else pull this off besides Nick Cave? He’s proof for the argument that the performance of the art is inseparable from the art itself, and that conviction must be transmitted to the listener or it’s all shite.

Jedediah Slightly Odway (1997)
Well, this will be pretty obvious, but I was introduced to this record via ‘Leaving Home’ only a few years ago. That’s when it struck me that this must have been what things sounded like in the Australian version of the many post-Nirvana waves of alt-rock. My biggest takeaway is that this is an album that kids could listen to and say, “I can do that.”

Silverchair Frogstomp (1995)
I remember this came out when I was a kid in America, and then I started hearing some of the singles on the radio. A lot. It was never my thing, nor were they my kind of band, but maybe I was just too young to appreciate it. I always thought that although they were very much of that “alternative” sound, it’s pretty obvious that they are quite different from Nirvana, Pearl Jam or any other band that they often get thoughtlessly lumped together with. Only later did I bother to think, “Damn, his balls sure dropped at a young age!” especially compared to other teens who tend to go in for bubblegum pop or whatever. I’ve not kept tabs on Silverchair overly much, but it’s pretty heavy stuff for such a young band.

Magic Dirt What Are Rock Stars Doing Today? (2000)
Did they have a song from this in Looking for Alibrandi? [Ed. It was a cover of Liz Phair’s ‘Supernova’.] Why am I so confused? I dunno, this is a band that people were still referencing when I stepped off the plane, but it took me ages to finally hear a few songs coz I’m bloody lazy. Once I finally heard this particular record everyone else said I “needed to hear their early stuff,” so I keep trying to compare Magic Dirt to some other US band I can never quite remember. I know they were around much longer than Youth Group, but they’re another one of those bands that are currently out of the conversation but won’t be for long.

+

Tour dates

Sat, July 12 – Captain Cook Hotel, Sydney, NSW [w/The Water Board + Megasaur]
Fri, July 18 – Tote, Melbourne, VIC [w/Claws & Organs + 24-Hour Neon Sex Machine]
Sat, July 19 – Metropolitan Hotel, Adelaide, SA [w/The Aves+ The Rocketeers]
Sat, July 24 – 459 Bar, Perth, WA [w/Pat Chow, Trigger Jackets, Black Stone From the Sun + Catbrush]
Sun, July 25 – Beat Nightclub, Northbridge, WA [w/The Novocaines, Tired Lion, Lionizer + Hideous Sun Demon]
Mon, July 26 – The Railway Hotel, Fremantle, WA [w/Kill Teen Angst, Shimmergloom, Tenderhooks + City Views]
Sat, Aug 9 – Trainspotters, Brisbane, QLD [w/Kaleidoscope, Dead Wolves + Roth]