28 Days

“We play maybe five shows a year – you might even call it semi-retirement,” says bassist Damian ‘Damo’ Gardiner with a laugh. “It’s good for us, though. We do it now just as a getaway with mates – if there’s a good place to play, we just go and we’ll hang out for the weekend. It’s always good to catch up, and playing is always a bonus. About eight years ago, we were playing something like two shows every single week. It definitely got a bit tedious after a while. This way makes you love it a lot more – for us, it’s the best way to do it.”

Gingerfest is an all-day event bringing together a slab of punk, hardcore, rock and folk acts across two stages in Sydney. It’s being held in memory of Nicholas Sofer-Schreiber, a Canberra native known to all and sundry as the Ginger Ninja. An eccentric and enthusiastic music fan, the Ninja was seen as the heart and soul of Canberra punk rock – all without even picking up an instrument. He was horrifically murdered at his home in the suburb of Lyneham on Boxing Day 2013, and Gardiner recalls hearing the news with shock and disgust.

“We all knew him fairly well,” he says. “He came to all the shows we’d play back in the day, he’d always end up backstage, he’d always be up for going out after the shows. He was just an awesome dude. He was the kind of guy who would do whatever he could to help a guy out. He was just mad for music. It was his love – be it punk rock or whatever else, Ginger was there for it. That’s the kind of person that I like to surround myself with. We were shocked when we heard about it. It didn’t make any sense. It was just terrible news for us – we had no idea why such a thing would happen. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. It just shouldn’t have happened.”

Gardiner insists that in spite of the circumstances that have brought these bands together, they don’t want Gingerfest to be a sombre day. This is, for all intents and purposes, a day to celebrate the life of a great friend and a supporter to the end of every band he loved. Although a lot of the lineup features new names to Gardiner, he’s excited to see what’s on offer throughout the day.

“There’s a lot of Sydney bands on the bill, and we sadly don’t get to play Sydney much,” he confesses. “I’ve heard of a lot of the bands, though, and I’m really looking forward to seeing them for the first time. I’m sure we’ll all gel. After all, we’re all there for a really good cause. We love the guys from Bagster – it’ll be great to catch up with them.”

The 28 Days you’ll see onstage at Gingerfest will more than likely be a slightly rejigged version of the one you saw last – long-serving turntablist ‘Jedi Master’ Jay Howard has left the fold, and drummer Dan Kerby is the band’s most recent recruit, having joined in 2011. To paraphrase Led Zeppelin, however, the songs do indeed remain the same. If you’re fanging for some old-school hits from the band’s early days – the 1998 self-titled debut, 2000’s Upstyledown or even 2002’s Stealing Chairs – then you’re in luck.

“We just like to get up there and play all of our so-called hits,” says Gardiner, practically throwing quote marks in the air with his fingers as he snickers at the idea. “We’re lucky in that the songs that have been the most successful for us are the songs that we still really like to play.” Even ‘Rip It Up’? “Even ‘Rip It Up!’” he laughs. “I’ve played it a million times, and it’s still awesome to play. People still get into it. It’s crazy when you play those songs that people still really connect with and love hearing. We always get people coming up to us these days and saying our old shit reminds them of Year 12. It’s an incredible feeling.”

Above everything else, Gingerfest is about friendship – the bond between musician and fan that can never be broken. It’s still something that means the world to 28 Days, however infrequent their appearances may be these days.

“Over the years, we’ve been able to create such a closely knit network of really good friends,” says Gardiner. “It’s one of the main reasons that we’re still doing it to this day. When we go out and play shows now, half of it’s just catching up with all the old mates. If you don’t make those friendships while you’re in a band, you’re just wasting your time. It’s such a great way to meet really interesting and really creative people. You’re throwing it away if you’re just getting wasted and being a rock star. You’re in it for totally the wrong reason.”