The Mark Of Cain Talk Clear Vinyl, Gen Y Drummers & ‘The Straight Ahead Play’

The Mark Of Cain head back into the live arena next month, albeit for just the two Adelaide hometown shows in celebration of the launch of the vinyl release of Songs Of The Third And Fifth and the music video for the track, “Milosevic”.

We caught up with frontman John Scott and asked him if this was a thank-you to his local fans or just an excuse to get back out on stage.

“Yeah, a bit of both,” Scott says enthusiastically. “We haven’t been able to play for a long time when we wanted to because we were always reliant on when John Stanier (the band’s drummer) was available. But with Eli (Green) having demonstrated he can play all our stuff and he acquitted himself well so that’s part of the reason we can still do this.”

Scott expands on the idea behind the shows: “The two shows in our home town is probably a good way of doing it rather than do one big one at HQ (iconic Adelaide music venue). This is a bit smaller and friendlier with 400 people per show or something like that.”

The vinyl release of the band’s recent album came out mid-June and was limited to 600 copies. With a clear vinyl and gatefold depicting the band’s artwork from the CD release, the vinyl is a “must have” for long-time Mark Of Cain fans and vinyl collectors alike.

“We’re working on other stuff but I just wanna do like guerrilla-type stuff where I don’t want much thought put into it.”

Scott is still yet to see his copy. “Glad you’ve got a copy of it, isn’t that typical. I think they might be at my brother’s place, I’m really hanging out to see them. So how’s that, how fucking typical is that.”

Scott reveals the idea behind the vinyl concept: “Basically the clear vinyl was suggested to us, I mean I always liked that idea because when I was young I bought a two-set Yardbirds album and it was clear vinyl; I love clear vinyl. So when it was suggested I went, ‘yeah, I’d love it’.”

The concept of collecting vinyl is not lost on Scott and while not a collector per se, he still treasures the vinyl in his own music collection, adding, “I’ve still got all my vinyl and a turntable. I still play them; I’ve got records that I haven’t even bothered seeing if they’re on CD, real old stuff.

“I have some really old ‘60s … I’ve got some Rapeman stuff, ‘70s version of Velvet Underground, tons of Little Waldo as I love harmonica as I come from a blues background, The Doors’ L.A. Woman from like ’74, I’ve got a shitload of stuff.”

The music video “Milosevic”, completed during Stanier’s break between shows with Tomahawk on the Soundwave Festivals earlier this year, was a chance again to team up with Tom Molnar, whom the band had worked with previously.

“He (Molnar) just dropped a line and said, ‘hey look, I’ve got my own place now, I’m doing full shoots now, just putting it out there, if you want to do a video just let me know’,” Scott explains.

“And then because it was coming up we were going to be working out of HQ, he said ‘let’s just do a straight ahead play, that’s what the band is, lets not be too complicated’.”

The ‘straight ahead play’ perhaps best encapsulates what the band has stood for across its almost 30-year existence (TMOC formed in 1984) – no frills with a hard edge.

Scott expands on the concept: “You know, “Milosevic”, this sort of whole idea of youthful exuberance driving around in a tank smashing things out and over … It turned out really well.”

The music video may not be the last from the album, with Scott upbeat on a future release.

“We’re working on other stuff but I just wanna do like guerrilla-type stuff where I don’t want much thought put into it.

“I’m a bit over the really big produced stuff that any band does. I think you’ve gotta go back to using the budget that you’ve got, and, I mean, we’ve always paid for our own videos.”

Scott has a particular track in mind. “Probably “Heart Of Stone” I reckon, that’s one I can really see being done. That I would do as a comic book-type thing, but that’s expensive.”

While Stanier’s unavailability might be an issue to fans of the band, it appears his busy schedule is the main sticking point.

“I know he’s kept up with everything … he’s just full bore at the moment,” Scott explains. “We’ve offered a chance a few times, and its either him or his manager or whatever; he’s finding it really difficult at the moment to put the time aside and I know John is between Berlin and New York these days…”

Scott is pragmatic, however, about Stanier’s absence. “He might have taken a bit of a sigh of relief that you know he can sort of say no and not feel bad about it … Not that he doesn’t want to, he just does so much.

“Just getting him out here used to be hard enough, so I think to some extent he’s got the ability to say no now … I mean shit, we wrote everything with him and we’ve got 10 years of playing with him.”

Eli Green, the 22 year-old drummer from the band Life Pilot will again take the sticks for the upcoming shows.

“You stick at it, play your own songs and don’t sign to a major, just do it yourself, that’s all you need to worry about.”

Scott praises the youngster’s ability: “[He’s a] bit of a Y Gen and I have to tell him what to do but he’s good, he’s solid. He comes in, he’s very methodical, a lot different from a lot of drummers I’ve worked with, very serious about it. He was given some songs to learn, he goes off and he fucking learns them.”

The Mark Of Cain’s set lists vary often between shows, so will the local Adelaide crowd be treated to anything from the relics? Scott provides a glimpse, “Probably … the only one I’ve asked to get dusted off is “UCD” from our second album Unclaimed Prize.”

Given the recent trends of bands touring particular albums and playing them in their entirety, is this a possibility for The Mark Of Cain down the track?

“That’d be pretty cool,” exudes Scott. “That all started off a few years ago, there was some talk of us doing Battlesick, I’d love to do that. Nothing’s been offered up, but who knows … I’d be happy to do Ill At Ease or Battlesick, that’d be fucking great.”

With over a decade between the last two albums, and copious riffs and recordings going into Songs Of The Third And Fifth, Scott divulges that there may be a song or two released in the future – though in what format remains to be seen.

“There are two that didn’t get onto the album. One is an instrumental, which I think is fucking awesome [but] I just lost the fight. No one wanted it on there…” Scott laments.

“It was a matter of balancing the album I suppose … everyone was like, somehow an instrumental takes away from the impact of the album.

“There’s another song that didn’t make it, that just needs to be finished. It’s got John (Stanier) on it, just needs piecing together. It’s a monster of a song”.

With so many years of experience in the Australian music scene, Scott gives any new band trying to make it in the cutthroat industry this simple advice: “You stick at it, play your own songs and don’t sign to a major, just do it yourself, that’s all you need to worry about.”

Fair directive from the Pointman himself.

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