Eddy Current Suppression Ring Interview October 2009
By: Steve Rose
Named after an infamous electrical component at a Melbourne (Australia's cultural capital) based vinyl pressing plant, Eddy Current Suppression Ring have been kicking out Troggs inspired lo-fi garage rock jams for four years. Over the course of those one thousand four hundred and twenty four days, ECSR have gone from a low-key, low-pressure inauguration to being the winner of the Australian Music Award, and receiving several other high calibre accolades for their latest record; Primary Colours. They now have two records released worldwide and a large cult following to go with it. Somehow an awesome band that is generally seen as a punk/no wave act, from Melbourne Australia, appears to be on its way to taking over the world, yet keeps doing everything its own way; the right way. We had a quit chat to Mikey, to find out what they are up to, if they're coming to the UK and what they think the Pavement reunion has in hold:
Rockfeedback: I find it pretty incredible that a band of your particular style are Australian award winning artists. Has this changed the band, or the fanbase, or the shows in any way?
ECSR: Hard to say yet. We have laid pretty low since the award writing and recording new stuff. We had 2 shows about a month ago and it did seem like a lot of various people turned up. Mind you we have always had a pretty diverse crowd. We got a lot of attention from media that previously didn’t touch us but it remains to be seen if it will be long lasting. It hasn't changed the band at all.
RFB: Have you heard the British band The Horrors (who were nominated for the Mercury Music Award), who's latest album is also called Primary Colours?
ECSR: Yeah, good album too from what I’ve heard. there was another band called Finally Punk that had a 7" out last year called ‘Primary Colors’ so we can't really claim ownership to it. Just one of those things.
RFB: I know some of you are in other bands, and that there is an Australian 'd.i.y/punk scene', but not a huge deal of underground Australian music is widely known in Britain. Could you tell us about the 'scene' and some of the other bands which you class as your contemporaries, and would recommend to fans of yourselves?
ECSR: We are lucky to live in Melbourne which is by far the most thriving scene in Australia. Lots of venues and lots of great bands. UV Race, Super Wild Horses, The Twerps are some of faves. Woollen Kits, Beaches, My Disco are also great, Royal Headache and Kitchen's Floor from Sydney and Native Cats from Hobart are all also tops.
RFB: Up until fairly recently your records have only been available in the UK through peoples’ distros. How did it come about that your albums have been released through what is essentially a dance label, in the UK?
ECSR: David at Melodic just emailed and said he liked the record a lot and asked if he could put it out. Not many people had shown interest in the UK and I did like the idea of not coming out on a straight up rock n roll label. The people that seem to like us are always pretty diverse so I like the idea of different kinds of labels releasing it to different kinds of people. The only band at the time I was aware of that they had released was Baikonour and I quite liked that record.
RFB: To me the tracks on both your LP's work together well, to create two whole pieces. Was this a conscious decision? Or were they simply the songs that you had at the time set to tape?
ECSR: Pretty much the latter. Just a bunch of songs that were ready at the time and fitted well together. The 2 albums were never considered as companion pieces
RFB: Do you have any favourite tracks, or tracks that you never play live off of your albums?
ECSR: ‘Demon's Demands’ off a 7" we did we never play as we just don’t nail it like we do on the 7. Also ‘I Don’t Wanna Play No More’ is one we don’t seem to fully capture.
RFB: With these recent British releases, does this mean that you will be heading across to these shores to tour, anytime soon?
ECSR: We are going to wait until the new LP is out in the first half of next year and then hopefully tour in the second half.
RFB: Are there any British bands past or present, which you are particularly fans of; like to see play live?
ECSR: Unfortunately most of the British bands I like would be way past their prime. I need some good recommendations on the current state of British rock n roll.
RFB: Are any of you Pavement fans? What do you think of the upcoming reunion shows?
ECSR: I'm actually a total Pavement fanboy. I'm pretty psyched about the reunion. I reckon they can still pull it off. It hasn't been so long that it will be too much of a nostalgia show. I've seen them twice before and they were great.
Artists in this article: Eddy Current Suppression Ring