Were the life and times of Grinspoon the highest peaks of rock n roll?

The ebb and flow of Australia’s music landscape has taken many victims, be they iconic festivals, venues or artists. To be an evergreen feature on the scene requires seemingly insurmountable levels of dedication, talent and as the French would say, a certain je ne sais quoi. Even still, few life forces have steadied the changing tides with as much panache as Grinspoon.

Later this year, the band will be embarking on the Chemical Hearts tour, which will see them digging deep into their back catalogue to perform an anthology of tracks released between 1995 and 2013. The tour follows on from the band’s most recent outing, which saw them paying homage to their formative album Guide To Better Living.

Already, dates on the Chemical Hearts run have started to sell out. It’s one thing for fans to appreciate the ‘old stuff’, but to come out in droves to celebrate a band’s entire decade-spanning catalogue, right up to the ‘new stuff’ is indicative of something even mightier – Grinspoon didn’t just steady the changing tides, they damn well carved them up.

Ahead of the tour, we spoke with frontman Phil Jamieson.

“There’s always doubt in my mind. I’m always going, ‘Is this the best idea?'” Phil says of the decision to return to the road for more shows that celebrate the band’s beloved anthology.

“From my end I didn’t really think about that too much.” Phil says, “It doesn’t weigh on my mind about slam dunks, sold out shows. I just keep thinking about the artwork and the product.

“We’re releasing on vinyl, and I’m mostly concerned about the production and what fancy things I can take on tour, like crazy lights and what I am going to wear and all that kind of shit. I consider myself on the creative side of things rather than the commerce side. People will come or they won’t. I can’t control that.”

Kicking off in October, the tour will see the band meandering through Australia, hitting both major centres and regional hubs. Already Melbourne, Hobart and Towradgi have sold out. There’s a strong sense of recouping some ’90s nostalgia when the show rolls through your town but the Chemical Hearts tour will also bring us right up to 2013, covering the band’s last full-length, 2012’s Black Rabbits.

As such, it’s not a nostalgia tour so much as it is a rollercoaster ride through the life and times of Grinspoon.

“I know we’re playing songs from the rest of our – I forget how many years we’ve been together – but the seven albums that we’ve released or whatever.” Phil says, “So, sure there’s that but I don’t really put a name badge on it as such.”

“I think the Guide to Better Living tour, the big anniversary and that kind of thing is probably a little more nostalgic because it will be 1997, very specific,” Phil says. “Whereas this tour encompasses from 1995 to 2013, I guess that’s sort of nostalgic in some ways but I think maybe I was a bit more itchy about Guide… than I was about this one. I feel more confident in my skin about this.”

Digging through a back catalogue as extensive, and as cherished by fans as Grinspoon, to piece together their setlist for the tour couldn’t have been easy. The band are eager to spend the shows covering the big moments of their career, as well as some of the lesser-known moments that never got the air time they deserved. “It was an argument, I will be honest,” Phil admits.

Watch: Grinspoon – ‘Hard Act To Follow’:

“It’s kind of excessive and kind of a long-winded process. We ended up with where we ended up. I really love that Black Friday made it one there.

“Black Friday was only released on an EP back in 1990-fucking-8 or something. So, it never was on an album of any description. I really love that song and I look forward to playing that live.”

“‘More Than You Are’ never appeared on an album either and that’s nice that that song’s on there as well, so, yeah. There’s songs that are sort of, I don’t wanna sound like a wanker here, obvious like maybe ‘Chemical Heart’ or ‘Hard Act To Follow’ or those type of songs that people know.”

The fact that Phil, a founding member struggles to remember key milestones is a testament to just how long Grinspoon have been not just ‘surviving’ but thriving on airwaves and headphones around the world. The band has proven their mettle countless times, as well as their staying power.

We put it to Phil to surmise, from his perspective, why he believes Grinners managed to remain interesting, relevant and above all else – awesome. “It’s really lovely that you think that and maybe there’s a little bit of evidence to suggest that in some ways.

“From my perspective, I think that the reason that we still maybe – there’s a few factors but – number one is that there is a really nice genuine feel of the fact that we’re all still the four same dudes that started the band,” he says.

“That’s a nice connection from ’95 for people that were there from the start. Then there’s kind of been this weird thing where we release albums in ’97, ’99, 2002 and 2004, and all of those records had different personalities to them. If you weren’t around in ’95 and maybe you heard us first in the Chemical Heart era, or maybe you heard us first in the Hard Act To Follow era.”

Watch: Grinspoon – ‘Passerby’

“There was a period of time of about nine or 10 years that I guess we put out some good shit, I don’t know. ’cause I think were some songs that weren’t always the same stylistically too. There was a bit of variety as well, I think in those four records. I hate this word, there’s an authenticity to that that you can’t pretend.”

“So, yeah, short answer… I don’t know. It’s flattering and it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.”

Having inhabited the highest peaks of Mt. Rock, Australia, since the mid-’90s would no doubt provide Grinspoon with some interesting takes on how the landscape has changed in that time.

Having performed at Big Day Out during its glory years and dominating venues in Sydney when, well, Sydney had venues to dominate. The biggest shift Phil has noticed isn’t on the live front, however, I just think it’s the way people consume music really.

“I think the biggest change is how people consume music, because of streaming; that’s changed. It allows people to gain music more readily, that’s the only thing that’s changed, from my perspective, the way we listen or consume it but apart from that, people are still people, people still like music, especially live music…”

So, really, you have no excuse to not have consumed Grinspoon’s entire back catalogue in time for the shows.

Grinspoon ‘Chemical Hearts’ National Tour

Supported by The Hard Aches, Gooch Palms, and Bugs

Friday, October 11th
Metropolis, Fremantle, WA (18+)

Saturday, October 12th
Metro City, Perth, WA (18+)

Wednesday, October 15th
NEW SHOW
The Forum, Melbourne, VIC (18+)

Wednesday, October 16th
SOLD OUT
The Forum, Melbourne, VIC (18+)

Friday, October 18th
UC Refectory, Canberra, ACT (18+)

Saturday, October 19th
NEW SHOW
Waves, Wollongong, NSW (18+)

Wednesday, October 23rd
SOLD OUT
Odeon Theatre, Hobart, TAS, (18+)

Saturday, October 26th
Entertainment Centre Theatre, Adelaide, SA (AA)

Thursday, October 31st
SOLD OUT
Waves, Wollongong, NSW (18+)

Friday, November 1st
Entertainment Centre, Newcastle, NSW (AA)

Saturday, November 2nd
Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, NSW (AA)

Thursday, November 7th
The Star Broadbeach, Gold Coast, QLD (18+)

Friday, November 8th
The Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane, QLD (18+)

Tickets on sale from Friday, June 7th through the Grinspoon website

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