STACK June 2017 Issue 152

74 / 93

“It’s a lockable little book that I
guess you’d have when you’re
a five-year-old? It’s got a little
girl whispering into a little boy’s
ear. The first actual song that’s
in that lyric book is Just Ace,
and then it goes through all
the B-sides that never made
it, and lots of scribblings from
an 18-slash-19-year-old stoner.
We compiled a little bit of that
into the booklet.” Stay tuned
for our full interview with Phil
in next month's issue, and
make sure you snap up tickets for the mega
three month-long tour, which begins June 23
(details at . ZKR
"How do you tell when a
frittata’s cooked?” This is how
Phil Jamieson interrupts himself in
the middle of a story about what it
feels like to listen to his own debut
album, 20 years after its release. We
spoke with the Grinspoon frontman
about the anniversary re-release of
the band’s beloved record Guide To
Better Living (1998), for which the
four-piece are going on a colossal
tour next month. “There’s like 10 eggs in
there man, it’s a massive quiche-style thing,”
he continues, adding that he’s making it for
old pal Davey Lane (You Am I), who’s coming
over for lunch. “It’s gonna be so good – it’s
got mushroom and zucchini.”
The deluxe reissuing of the record which
gave us DC X 3, Just Ace, Post Enebriated
Anxiety and a sackload of other post-grunge
belters includes an
entire show recorded
at legendary New
York club CBGB’s in
1997, another at Falls
Festival in the same
year, a pile of rarities,
B-sides and remixes,
and an incredibly thorough
accompanying book filled with
photographs, memorabilia,
lyrics and essays from each
of the bandmembers. “The
cover of the book is actually [a
scan of] the book I used to write in, when
I was writing the lyrics for the record – I’ve
got it in my hand right now,” he explains.
INTERVIEW
12 JUNE 2017
continued
visit MUSIC NEWS
How do you think your sound
has progressed, and how did
the darker tone of Punchbuzz
emerge?
I'm not sure how much we
realised it then, but living in Berlin
was a pretty wild time. Nights
often dragged on into days and we
were constantly on the move. The
city doesn't sleep whole lot.
Soon after we arrived there,
we played a show where we met
a guy who asked us to come
check out his collection of old
instruments. He was a lawyer by
day and a vintage guitar enthusiast
by night. After going to his place
and meeting his family, he gave
us the keys to his basement
where he kept all of his gear. The
next day, and for weeks to come,
we were jamming on some of
the best guitars, amps
and keyboards we'd
ever played. These jams
became some of earliest
ideas and demos for
Punchbuzz. Looking back,
I feel like the freedom and
adventure from that time
informed the songs for
Punchbuzz. We wouldn't
have made this kind of record
without that time away.
Where did the idea for the Ghost
clip come from, and what was it
like working with Dropbear?
The idea was sent to us and we
were into it from the beginning.
We loved other Dropbear
productions we'd seen so we
were excited to work with them.
Jonathan's work is very creative
and unique and he was amazing on
set. He had a very clear vision of
what he wanted from us and how
he wanted things to look. Because
it was shot on a green screen it
was hard for us to imagine how it
would come out. I think it ended
up looking really great.
What are you looking forward to
most about the tour?
There's a few songs
we've started working on
to get ready for the stage
as this is the first time
most of these songs will
be played live. There's
a couple of bangers in
there (by Husky standards
anyways) that I'm super
excited to play!
Guide To
Better Living
by Grinspoon is
out June 23 via
Universal.
This month, Melbourne indie-folk duo Husky – Husky
Gawenda and Gideon Preiss – release their third full-
length, entitled Punchbuzz.We asked Preiss a few
questions about the anticipated follow-up to Ruckers
Hill and the boys' upcoming tour.
Punchbuzz
by Husky is
out June 2 via
Liberation.
GRINSPOON
TOURING
23/06 - 23/09
Ruckers Hill was released in late
2014; what sort of path did your
exploration for the new album
take over the next three years?
In 2015 we set up shop in
Berlin and it became our home
base for most of the year. We
spent many months touring
across Europe and the US. When
we settled back into Melbourne
life the following year we'd been
through quite a lot. Touring and
travelling for a long period of time
makes you want to be still and
this is what we did once we were
back. We set up a simple home
studio and began the writing the
new record.
TOURING
17/06 - 23/07
Words Alesha Kolbe HUSKY