Wet Lips
Hi and thanks for taking the time out to speak with us at Musicology.
It is easy to draw parallels with your brand of punk to artists like L7 and FIDLAR but who inspired you in your formative years that helped shape your signature sound?
Dunno. I play a Gibson SG through a fender hotrod and it makes a pretty good sound. And we like yelling. That’s about it.
There is no end to politi-tricks, injustices and social pressures to be enraged by which obviously provides plenty of raw material for your own work, but what issues do you feel most strongly amount at this given time in which to rail against?
That’s a pretty huge question. At the moment I’m worried that the things that have made Australia a relatively prosperous and equal country, such as Medicare, free education, the Human Rights and
Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986, the dole and the pension, access to birth control, tax laws that redistribute wealth to the majority, are slowly being stripped away. In order to distract us, the conservative government is resorting to dog-whistling, blatant misinformation and scare campaigns designed to make working and middle class Australians suspicious and afraid of migrants, people of colour, queer people, trans people and welfare recipients. Meanwhile, wealth that was previously being spread across the population is streaming upwards into the accounts of extremely rich people like the two families who control mainstream media in this country and the rights of literally anyone who isn’t a white, straight, cis-gendered, working, able-bodied, adult man are being called into question. But y’know, call me at 5am sometime and I’ll pick another thing that’s keeping me awake.
Maybe the imminent climate apocalypse.
The flip slide to any great punk ethos is often in its sense of humour and scathing sarcasm. Do you find that employing some sense of comedy to your lyrics helps drive the message home?
Sometimes you have to laugh cause otherwise you would cry…or set something on fire…or go call out literally hundreds of people on Twitter..or give up because sometimes it feels like no one fucking cares and on one ever will.
Having formed in 2012 and played alongside a great many acts, have there been instances with people that you have met and performed with who have spoken some words of wisdom that really resonated with you and altered the way you approach your craft?
There aren’t any particular words of wisdom from specific artists that stand out. What inspires us more are the bands in our community and the people who continue to make art and support other artists despite the fact that the music industry can be a hyper-competitive and toxic environment.
In terms of playing your own sets, what do you like to bring to the stage that you perhaps see as lacking in other live performances and to what makes a truly knock out show?
When we play, I like to think that everyone in the room is there to have a good time together, it’s just that three of us are on stage and heaps more people are in the crowd. We get to play music and tell jokes and do sick rock moves and the best shows are when it feels like everyone else is there with us and is having a great time together.
Conversely, what do want from an audience? Presumably to depart a show enriched and invigorated rather than simply entertained?
We can’t control if the audience is enriched or invigorated, we just want everyone to be respectful of everyone else in the room so that there is the maximum chance they will enjoy the show.
As you prepare for your performance this year’s Gaytimes Festival, with such a diverse line-up on the bill, are there any other acts you are particularly keen to check out?
I’ve been thinking a lot about the word ‘diverse’ lately and I probably wouldn’t use it because it centres the experiences of white people, particularly straight, cis white people. Gaytimes is gonna be sick because we get to see artists we’ve been fans of for a while, like Porpoise Spit, Hexdebt, Callan,
Lubulwa, Pillow Pro, Spike Fuck, Brooke Powers and Miss Blanks, as well as huge acts like Le1f!
