Sauce

Touring Tasmania very soon, Sydney City Trash’s fiddle player, Jim Bones, caught up with me to speak about such controversial matters as the band’s dislike of well-known country artists, as well as what they might be getting up to when they reach our island…

What stage are you guys at with your forthcoming album, Convict Cuntry?
We have written most of the material for the album – just a matter of a bit of spit and polish now.

What’s the difference between “country music” and “Cuntry music”?
I’d say that for us cunt-ry music is country without all the posturing, right-wing politics, sentimentality, and general arse-licking that characterizes the country music genre both in Australia and in the States. We invented Cuntry music in response to what we saw as a bastardisation of country music and took our cues from outlaw country music singers like David Allan Coe, Waylon Jennings and Hank III. It’s Country with its balls and fuckin’ heart back.

Your most recent release featured contributions by Roaring Jack frontman Alastair Hulette, as well as John Schumann from Redgum. What was it like working with these guys?
Alastair is a fuckin’ legend. We contacted him initially about doing a Roaring Jack cover – we wanted to make sure he was ok with us ripping off The Day The Boys Came Down, which is a classic song. It turned out that his Australian tour coincided with our recording sessions so we asked him if he wanted to co-sing the song with Mitch. I reckon he was dubious at first but once he heard our shit and hung out with us for a while he really got into SCT and was keen to do more songs with us. We had a week to learn eight songs, and I’ve gotta say that he has more energy than us combined – we’d jam for an hour and we would be pushing for a smoke-o and Alistair would just want to keep playing. In the end we got it nailed and we ended up doing a show of Roaring Jack numbers with him. That has to be one of my own personal highlights – it was a fuckin’ awesome to be Roaring Jack for a day. As far as John Schuman goes we didn’t work with him as such – we sent him a copy of the album before it was released, and said that if he had anything to say about it to let us know. He liked the songs so we asked him to write a foreword for the album, which he did. All of us are massive Redgum fans so it was cool to have John write something about us for the album. Maybe we will work with him on something for the new slab… We’ll see.

SCT is clearly influenced by a broad range of styles and genres. How far do your influences spread, in terms of genre diversity?
All of us have varying musical tastes. When I joined SCT I was playing in a black metal band called Punisher and was mostly listening to metal, although I’ve always loved Aussie bush music and outlaw country. Mitch, Pig and Paddy came from a more punk background and Gus was mostly into folk music and stuff like the Pixies and Sonic Youth. Our newest recruit on the drums, Ozzie brings a strong Irish feel to SCT. It all influences what we do I s’pose.

The sound of SCT is particularly unique. To what extent has this been a curse as well as a blessing? Have you found the band to be too left field for some people’s tastes?
Well doing something different always has its drawbacks, as people find it hard to fit you into a category that they feel comfortable with. We weren’t sure how we’d be received at first but we tend to draw a pretty diverse crowd. Punks, ferals, metal-heads and middle class mums all make up SCT fans. As far as our politics goes we have definitely felt the drawbacks. We can’t get a gig in Tamworth (half the band’s home town) because we upset the blue ribbon fuck-heads who own the pubs and book the shows. Airplay can be hard to come by too cause presenters don’t have the balls to play music that takes an oppositional stance to the status quo. I s’pose that’s what happens when you write songs about putting a bullet between the eyebrows of our Prime Minister. We aren’t going to change for anyone.

What stands out about you guys is your focus on Australian subject matter. In other words, a deaf guy could tell you’re an Aussie band, and that seems rare in our music scene these days. Has this always been an objective for you guys?
Definitely. Far too many bands and musicians emulate the American style, particularly the American accent. This trend is probably most evident in the Australian country music scene. We should be singing with our own voices, about issues that are relevant to us, not trying to sound like the latest fad in Nashville and singing about Tuscaloosa bars that we have never been to.

From what I’ve read online, you’re a huge fan of Lee Kernaghan (sic). What is it about him that inspires you all so much?
Well Mitch is the one with the problem with Lee so you’d best ask him. All I can say is that he is guilty of all the aforementioned crimes of singin’ like a Yank and dressing up like a fucking oil tycoon. He also did an ad for Macca’s at one stage. Wanker.

How would you describe SCT’s live show?
You get drunk. We get drunker. We all have a fucking good time and go home with new and exciting ideas about how to bring down the state. And maybe off a few right-wing radio personalities while we’re at it (I’m looking at you Alan Jones.)

You’re playing in Tassie this month. What experience have you had playing down here?
We absolutely love coming to Tassie. Last time we were down on the Apple Isle I ended up on stage at some hippy festival in the bush singing Drunken Sailor to a few hundred unimpressed punters. Needless to say I had fun. For us it’s a holiday and a chance to get on the piss with all our Van Demonian, prawn-headed mates – and play to some of the most energetic crowds we have seen. Tassie – get fuckin’ ready cause we are gonna drink you dry …

Sydney City Trash play Hobart’s Brisbane Hotel on the 15th of September.