56 years.
That’s how long The Sonics have been around. That’s nearly as long as the evolution of rock‘n’roll itself. At a time when countless garage rock acts are bringing a distinctly lo-fi sound to the masses, it’s important to remember where it all came from. Of course, The Sonics have gone through a mix of lineup changes over the years, as more and more folks have stepped in and out of the collective. The most recent changes, however, are some of the biggest in the band’s history. At the forefront of this handover is Gerry Roslie, the band’s lead vocalist since 1964, whose health has sidelined him from any future touring with the band.
“Gerry had a major operation about 15 years ago – he actually had a heart replacement and he’s been taking medicine since 2007 to stop his body rejecting his heart,” explains Rob Lind, who has been with the band since 1963 as its saxophonist. “We did a five-week European tour last summer, and it hit Gerry really hard. He gave me a call not too long after the run ended and basically said that he can’t do it anymore. He still wants to write and record with the band, but the touring has just become too much for him to bear.”
Founding member Larry Parypa, who has served as the band’s guitarist since its inception, has also made the executive decision to step down from playing on a full-time basis. Lind puts this down to Parypa’s understandable reaction to being in a band that tours the world.
“Larry is a lot different from me,” Lind says. “Personally, I love to travel, whereas he just doesn’t want to do it. I suppose it’s a bigger part of my life – I was an airline pilot for 25 years and a navy pilot for 27. Coming in, landing on the strip, going through security, walking through the terminal and out onto the street of a completely different city or a completely foreign country… I just love that. Larry’s just fed up with it – we even asked if he wanted to come to Australia, and it was a flat-out ‘no’. He’s available to play with us on short notice, but for now he’s just taking a bit of a break from the whole touring thing.”
Filling in for Roslie and Parypa, respectively, are Jake Cavaliere and Evan Foster, both veteran musicians from the same area where The Sonics were founded: Tacoma, Washington, a port city in America’s north west. Lind cannot speak their praises high enough, noting they have blended into the fold of the band exceptionally. “The thing that’s important about these two guys is that they’ve both grown up knowing and loving The Sonics’ music,” he says.
“I don’t wanna embarrass Jake too much, but he once told me that when he was about nine or ten years old, he was buying Sonics albums and going to the clothing stores to try and find the outfits we were wearing on the cover – he even wanted to dress like us! As for Evan, he knows exactly the kind of guitar sound that we use and the really dominant playing style that’s required to get it. Growing up in Tacoma, he grew up with The Sonics too. We’ve used him a lot in the past – if Larry couldn’t do a show, then Evan would step up and do it. It’s just on a slightly more permanent basis now.”
Of course, The Sonics are a band that has truly stood the test of time; they’ve never once split up or cashed in on a lucrative reunion tour. The band’s classics – ‘Psycho’, ‘Have Love Will Travel’, ‘Cinderella’ and ‘The Witch’, among others – not only hold up to this day, but speak for themselves as mainstays in the rock‘n’roll pantheon. “We play the songs exactly as we’ve always played them,” says Lind of smashing out the tunes a half century on from their original incarnation. “We’re very, very careful to make sure that there’s no change whatsoever on that front. With that said, there’s probably a bit of new energy in the air with these two guys on board – we’ve been having so much fun playing with them. If you’re going to work in such close proximity with people, it helps if they’re great people along with being great musicians.”
The Sonics are set to return to Australia through late September into early October, centred around an appearance at Wollongong’s Yours And Owls festival. Lind is particularly excited to return Down Under, largely because of a figure exceptionally dear to The Sonics’ camp.
“Our favourite guy in the world is our tour manager Matty, and he’s from Sydney,” he says. “He’s a 100 per cent Aussie bloke – you can hear it the second he bursts into the room with a, ‘G’day!’ He’s chomping at the bit to get us to Australia. We just got an email from him this morning, telling us what a great tour it’s going to be. We had such a great time coming out previously and playing with the Hoodoo Gurus – if we’re in the same city at the same time, I’m hoping that we can get Dave [Faulkner] up onstage to sing with us.” He leaves with an open invitation to the band’s Australian fans: “Come have a beer with The Sonics!”
The Sonics play Manning Bar on Friday September 30; then Yours And Owls Festival, Stuart Park, Wollongong Saturday October 1 – Sunday October 2, with Bec Sandridge, Chastity Belt and many more.
