Hello there. We are The Good Ship. This December we’re bringing our shambolic live show of shabby shanties and shouty sing-alongs to our favourite haunts in Sydney and Melbourne, rounded off with a debut appearance at Festival of the Sun. We have a brand new album to inflict on the public too.
What is your band’s music the best soundtrack for?
We’ve been told it’s perfect for road trips through Germany. Can you imagine the majestic backdrop of the Bavarian alps, heading off on an adventure with your best mates? That’s what it’s all about: friends, fun, and probably a couple of quiet drinks (once safely out of the car…)
What’s your earliest memory of performing and who inspired you to start?
In a collective past life, The Good Ship was the house band in a Prohibition era Chicago speak-easy. The punters didn’t really understand our Aussie drawl, but the scruffy and salacious message was pretty clear. This time around, we darkened the tone by listening to a bunch of Nick Cave and The Decemberists and combined it with the sing-a-long pub goodness of Weddings, Parties, Anything.
The Good Ship is a ship certainly dedicated to a life at sea. What was it that first inspired you set sail?
The band fell together through a collective love of story telling and dress-ups. Like any good crew, we have captains, crew mates, and a bunch of dirty jokes, though sadly, the parrot flew away ages ago. With several singer/songwriters in the band, the live set is a pretty dynamic revolving door of lead vocals. This tour we’re featuring our trumpet player Katherine Cooke on lead vocals for single “Word Spin Round”. Not only is she a great singer, she’s much nice to look at than the boys.
You describe your music as ‘PoCoFoCa’ (that’s Porno Country Folk Cabaret), how is it that genre’s that you don’t hear together too often come out sounding so damn good?
Training. Sprints, obstacle courses and loads of pushups. With those funny foot weights. Coming into festival season, we amp up our Shipper cross fitness sessions (aka banjo AND beer drinking). Jumping around on stage for hours on end takes a bunch of stamina, with extra nimbleness required for Shipette high heels.
You’re playing at Festival of The Sun, who’ve picked a ‘Black Friday’ theme for this years festival, citing the Mexican Day of the Dead for inspiration. How will The Good Ship adapt to this not so nautical styling?
A festival about death with outrageous costumes? It’s the perfect gig! Our credentials speak for themselves – have you ever really considered the body count on our albums? The first two albums have serial killers and murders of passion, while new album “The Seven Seas” is all about a sailor who would stop at nothing to achieve success… there’s bound to be a few nasty accidents along the way. Just between you and me, the Shippers are already planning their costumes…
You’ve played at quite a list of festivals – Woodford, Brisbane, and have even jetted off to Canada for Canadian Music Week. What’s been your favourite festival experience so far?
That’s a really tricky question – does the time we counted in the New Year in a circus big top trump the time we converted a room of strangers in Toronto into bona fide Shipper groupies? Festivals are always amazing – loads of people pile into a paddock, leaving “the real world” at the festival gates – ripe for us to swoop in with a rambunctious party set. Good times. Usually a bit of nudity.
If you could curate your own festival, where would it be, who would be on the bill, how many people would you let in and what features would it have?
Backyard festivals are where it’s at. Bruce Springsteen would open the day on the tiny little stage under the clothesline. There would be picnic rugs all over a grassy hillside and a backyard bar serving drinks at backyard prices. Neutral Milk Hotel and Wilco would do sets while sitting on rocking chairs in front of the shed, while under the house Beck would do a DJ set in the laundry. In the late afternoon sun we would hear from Belle & Sebastian, (who would be sporting their Good Ship shirts, naturally (LINK – http://www.belleandsebastianshop.com/product/ladies_good_ship_t-shirt/). After dark, we would bring the party home with Weddings, Parties, Anything smashing through their greatest hits.
Because it’s more fun to do things together, which living Australian artist would you most like to collaborate with?
We have a soft spot for passionate women, and we’d love to see what Delta Goodrem could do to one of our more twisted tunes. Perhaps we’ll write a mass-murder-suicide-love-ballad duet for her and Nick Cave? The only proviso is that it would have to be acted out as well. The world’s first live-snuff performance.
Where we can see you play next, what releases do you have available and where can we get them?
For all those answers and more find us at thegoodship.com.au. On the twitters or instagrams we are @thegoodshipcrew – follow us, and we’ll try not to post too many food photos of dodgy roadhouse tour meals!
The Good Ship’s Tour Dates:
Friday November 15 – The Powerhouse, Brisbane
Saturday December 7 – Spectrum, Sydney
Sunday December 8 – The Toff in Town, Melbourne
Friday December 13 – Festival of the Sun, Port Macquarie
