The Council is an unusual name. Why that name?
The original plan for The Council was that Hamish and I would have revolving musicians contributing on an ad-hoc basis, and The Council seemed to be a fitting name for that. As it turns out we needed to learn our instruments before we could do that. Hamish couldn’t play guitar standing up and it took me about 45 minutes to set my drum kit up … so it’s pretty much been a council of two until just recently.
Are you recent additions to the 2-piece band-wagon?
Not at all – we started this band about 8 years ago – out of necessity more than anything else. Our band at the time had fallen apart and Hamish happened to have half a drum kit and a beat up old guitar at his house. We had a rehearsal space booked but no band to use it. So being the intellectual geniuses we are – it was decided I would play drums and Hamish would play guitar. We booked our first gig a month later. There were a lot of 2 pieces around back then, but not a lot of them lasted. However, just recently Melbourne seems to have seen an influx of 2 piece bands that are using the lack of band members as their strength. This is a real buzz to see. Bands like King of the North and Jackson Firebird have really helped melt away any preconceptions that people might have about a “band without a bassist”.
Did you really headline the Toilet Stage at a CherryRock festival?
Ha! Yes we did – it was actually a co-headline spot with another great 2 piece – The Patron Saints. Do you see the prestige you can get when you’re in a 2 piece?! We played halfway up the stairs of the 24 Moons stage on a landing about 1×2 metres, and had a revolving audience of about 12 people who had to squeeze past us to get anywhere. It was hot and cramped and awkward, and arguably a fire hazard. It was also my favourite gig ever.
Tell us about the debut album? What’s it called? Where did you record it and why? And what does it sound like?
The album is being released is self-titled. We decided quite intentionally to do a self-titled album by forgetting to name it when the artwork got designed. It is more of a mini-album consisting of 7 tracks, released on a 12 inch 45RPM Vinyl. We recorded with Brent Punshon at Headgap Studios which is a great studio and Brent’s done a brilliant job of capturing the live and raw two piece feel, whilst still keeping a beautiful well rounded sound. We were careful not to go too nuts with overdubs – preferring to keep it sounding like it would at a gig, and Brent done a great job of capturing that.
In a 2-piece how do you gang up on another band member?
We generally find the healthiest way to deal with this 2 piece paradox is to hang shit on Steve. Steve is the bass player. No one can see or hear Steve but us. Once he locked Hamish in the jam room. Steve’s a jerk.
The launch is at Cherry. You guys seem to have a real connection to the Bar. I hear Hamish did the skull and skeletons artwork in the hallway, yes?
Yes we are launching at Cherry on Saturday the 21st of October. And yes – we have been connected with Cherry Bar for as long as we have been in Melbourne. Once you go there – you’ll never want to go to another bar. You’ll find Hamishs’ skulls and skeletons in the hallway between the front and back bars. He knows how to do skeletons good.
Who are your influencers?
We tend to cast our line out pretty far. It doesn’t show so much in our music but we draw on the old stuff. From the likes of John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters, to Rodgers and Hammerstein. Hamish’s favourite album right now is the Jaws soundtrack.
Is there a Melbourne music mafia and do Bunny Monroe, Bitter Sweet Kicks and The Council run it?
Yes, yes there is. Council is the brains, the Kicks are the brawn and Bunny are the Enforcers, you definitely don’t want be on their shit list! I’m probably going to get whacked out for telling you this. If I’m found floating face down in the Yarra minus head and hands, you’ll know the Bunnies came a knockin’!
The song ‘Got A New Way’ is a ripper. Who plays the harmonica and do you like adding unexpected instruments to your sound….like horns?
Thanks! We got Cherry barman Ryan Kemp to lay down some harmonica. It was one of our first experiments into collaborating with outside musicians and thanks to Ryan it worked really well. He rolled up late into a recording session with a 750 of beer, and cranked it out in 2 takes. Now we are experimenting with horns (care of Bitter Sweet Kicks’ Brendan Charlie) and have been collaborating with Schematics guitarist Paul Donoghue to add some slide guitar on for size. It’s all sounding great!
Why should people come to your launch on Saturday 20 October?
The Council album has been a long time coming, and we are making sure it’ll be a ripper of a night. We’ve got the hottest band in Melbourne Bunny Monroe kicking the night off. After that the legendary Bitter Sweet Kicks are gonna sweat that stage up good and proper. And we’re planning to deliver the best set we’ve ever played with a string of guest musos to keep everyone partying. The new album will be there for purchase, and Cherry Bar owner James Young is shouting the first 100 punters a shot of Jagermeister. It’s gonna be wild!
