When one thinks of the Hoodoo Gurus, it’s not unusual for your mind to be immediately cast to ‘What’s My Scene?’: perhaps the band’s best-known song and a certified classic across the barbeque, jukebox, karaoke bar and footy field. It served as the lead single to the Gurus’ third studio album, Blow Your Cool!, which celebrated its 30th anniversary back in May.
While the album itself went Gold and charted in the top five, lead guitarist Brad Shepherd is strikingly honest about where the band was at the time of its recording. For such a big, major-chord rock record, Blow Your Cool! had the band almost do exactly that.
“At that point, I felt like we’d already established ourselves,” reflects Shepherd. “People might have seen it as a make-or-break thing, but if that was ever a component it was on the record label side of things. We struggled quite a bit with that record while we were making it. We didn’t really see eye to eye with our producer, Mark Opitz – I think perhaps he may have had a briefing with the label about their vision for the record as opposed to our own. We were definitely in different places in terms of what we wanted out of making the album. In many regards, I think what you see on the record that followed [1989’s Magnum Cum Louder] was more of the direction we wanted to go in. At the end of the day, Blow Your Cool! was a very polished and highly-produced album. It’s some people’s favourite Gurus record, and I get that; but for us, it was creatively conflicted.”
Despite this crystal-clear recollection, Shepherd insists he doesn’t dwell on the darker side of the album too much. As far as he’s concerned, what matters most is having those songs reclaimed each and every night they happen to be on the setlist. Regardless of their recorded output, Shepherd prides the Hoodoo Gurus on being a live band – and, decades after their formation, still one of the best on the circuit. “We’ve obviously been playing songs from the album for all of those 30 years since it came out,” he says.
That’s the heart and soul of what we do – the glorious, ebullient energy of rock & roll.
“I’m much more familiar with their live versions now, which are more in tune with what we like to do as a band. They’re a lot more rough around the edges… with a few mistakes here and there, of course.” Shepherd laughs, before continuing: “There’s no Steve Vais in this band. [There’s] essentially a punk-rock ethos in what we do. That’s no secret – I was in The Fun Things, Dave was in The Victims and both Rick [Grossman, bassist] and Kingsy [Mark Kingsmill, former drummer] were in their fair share of punk bands. To this day, those influences are still pretty evident when we play. That’s the heart and soul of what we do – the glorious, ebullient energy of rock & roll.”
Having recently brought this energy to remote and regional areas on the You-Do Gurus tour, alongside fellow stalwarts You Am I, the Gurus are soon to head out once again with their old sparring partners – as well as Perth’s Jebediah and Melbourne-via-Geelong’s Adalita – on the big-swinging Fist Full Of Rock tour. Shepherd holds fond memories of the very first time he got to see You Am I in action, which would spark a friendship that has lasted some 25-years-and-change between the two bands. “I don’t actually remember meeting Tim [Rogers], but I do remember seeing You Am I for the first time,” he says.
I can tell you, as God as my witness… [You Am I] mopped the floor with Nirvana.
“They were supporting Nirvana at Selina’s in Coogee Bay – it must have been ’92. I can tell you, as God as my witness… they mopped the floor with Nirvana. They made them look like a bunch of milksops. You Am I felt like an atomic bomb had just dropped on the stage. They just set the place on fire. No doubt they’ll be trying the same tactics with us on this tour we’re going on!” Shepherd also recalls being equally impressed by his first encounters with both Jebediah and Adalita’s former band, Magic Dirt.
“I remember Magic Dirt opening up for us at Deakin University, outside of Geelong. Not long after, we played with Jebediah at an outdoor show at the University of Perth. I remember, in particular, that they reminded me of Redd Kross – which, really, could only be a good thing. Both acts were bands that we’d run into time and time again as we toured around the country. They’re all good mates, so having all of us on the same tour is going to feel just like old times. None of us have done this kind of run in quite some time.”
The Fist Full of Rock tour is a fatal four-way that’s bound to see bodies writhing, guitars turned up to 11 and countless voices lost from all-night sing-alongs. Despite being the senior act of the festivities, Shepherd and his Gurus co-horts are as raring to go as ever. “We’re all professional acts, but we’re also very competitive,” he says. “All bets are off once we’ve got a guitar slung over our shoulders. You Am I will attempt to obliterate any chance that we have of redeeming ourselves, and we simply won’t allow for that to happen. Rock will be the winner on the night!”
Fist Full Of Rock – featuring the Hoodoo Gurus, You Am I, Jebediah and Adalita – smashes into the Enmore Theatre on Thursday August 31.
