You’ve barely played at home lately, doing festivals all over the country – Darwin, Tassie, WA, er, Deniliquin. We saw some footage of you playing in the pits of hell? What was with the flamethrowers?
That was Dark MOFO down in Tassie. We closed the Dark MOFO Winter Feast. It was one of the best gigs I’ve ever played. There was no stage and the band was surrounded by the crowd. Spread through the venue were massive flame throwers that would shoot flames 60ft in the air. The heat from them was intense.
Any highlights spring to mind from those other stellar festival lineups? We’re happy to hear which other acts were heinous divas totally awesome.
We have seen so many awesome bands over the last year. The two highlights for me would have to be The Doobie Brothers at Deni Blues And Roots [recently renamed Big Sky Blues & Roots Festival – Ed.] and King Gizzard at Wave Rock Weekender. The Doobie Brothers were hilarious, massive harmonies and guitar solos. We watched them from side of stage, I didn’t even think I was a fan but I knew all the songs.
We hear you’re road-testing some songs for the next album. Last year’s The Hypnotiser really eclipsed 2011’s Wolf. What’s different with the most recent material?
It’s hard to say what’s different this time around. I’m really trying not to lock myself into anything. There’re a couple of songs that are very Last Drinks but there are a couple that are definitely different. I’m about halfway through writing the album. I’m pretty happy with how the songs are coming out. I’m at a stage now where I’d like to try some new stuff on our home crowd, see how it holds up.
You’re renowned for your beautifully wrought story-telling: got a quick one you can share from the new songs?
One night I was waiting for a friend and I walked into the Vic Hotel and there was a dance class happening in there. The scene was amazing but also so unexpected it seemed absurd to me. There must have been about 50 people go-go dancing on a rainy Thursday night. I sat at the bar next to a guy eating chicken wings and watched while I drank a beer. I wrote a song about it. I left out the guy eating chicken wings.
Your upcoming VIC shows are all in really diverse venues: what experiences have you had playing them before?
The great thing about these shows is each of the venues is going to have a very different crowd which will mean we can put on different shows. I’m expecting Howler to have our regular Melbourne crowd, lots of familiar faces up for a party with The Last Drinks. Sooki is a bit more rough and tumble, a little more like a traditional raucous pub gig and Flying Saucer Club is more of a seated affair. It’s the kind of gig where people sit and listen so we can get away with playing some of the slower stuff. But now I’ve said that, who knows what’ll happen?
Catch CASH SAVAGE AND THE LAST DRINKS at Howler on Saturday October 25, Sooki Lounge on Saturday November 1 and Flying Saucer Club on Friday November 7.
