1. Growing Up
I remember my dad proudly introducing me to the ‘magic’ of stereo when I was just a kid. He had me sit between two speakers as he played ‘Sky Pilot’ by The Animals on an old 45.The sound of a warplane panned from one ear to the other… I thought it was incredible at the time. So did he, despite it being 17 years after the song was released. My parents approached their record collection with a small sense of abandon. It didn’t matter who or what it was, or when it happened, but rather how it affected you. I like to think The Good Ship peddles that same idea. That’s why our live shows are so important to us –we desperately want our music to affect you.
2. Inspirations
Each one of us has an eclectic taste in music. So when you combine our favourites, we cover the lot: ’60s R&B, ’70s punk, ’80s hair metal, ’90s lo-fi and whatever we call anything from the last ten years or so. My personal favourites include The Beatles and Elliott Smith – I like the melodic stuff. And combining that with the likes of John’s Gunners love, or Janey’s secret jazz addiction, is really what forms our sound. Throw a bunch of things at something and see what sticks.
3. Your Band
The Good Ship has been together for around five years. We are eight people with a healthy dose of instrumentation, including accordion, trumpet, banjo and mandolin. We’ve shared the stage with many lovers (The Beards, Gay Paris, The Snowdroppers, Graveyard Train…) but our hearts are really devoted to each other. To drink and sing and make fools of ourselves, together –there’s very little better than that.
4. The Music You Make
We are currently launching our third studio album, The Seven Seas, recorded by Josh Tuck at Gasworks Studios in Brisbane. It’s tragic, melancholy and all those things we only flirted with on our previous albums, where most songs were awash with raucous enthusiasm and carnal indecencies… Not to say these are bad things. This new album is a more crafted, slow release of that same energy.
5. Music, Right Here, Right Now
I think the music scene in Australia is a pretty resilient one. Despite the closure of venues on an almost monthly basis, and the fact that it costs most musicians more to gig than what they’re paid, there is still so much happening. Musicians simply can’t stop making music, and venues can’t help but push it.
Sydney is the spiritual home of live music for so many of us, with iconic venues like the Annandale and the Sandringham Hotel (Newtown Social Club), so it is a relief to see the city adopt a Live Music Taskforce to keep that scene alive. We just can’t wait to get to Sydney again and add to the noise.
The Good Ship play Spectrum with General Pants and the Privates on Saturday December 7.
