Hey Jeremy! Thanks for taking the time to chat to Beat. You’re hitting up Melbourne for a gig at the John Curtin with Dorsal Fins and Louis Spoils. On a scale of one to ten, how goddamn excited are you to play?
Hands down, Dorsal Fins are one of the most exciting new bands I’ve seen live in recent months. So on a scale of one to ten, I’m more excited than the time I thought Raiden was gonna’ pick me to be Earth’s champion in the Mortal Kombat tournament. He ended up going with Liu Kang (again) and in hindsight I’m okay with that ‘cos it frees me up to tour more. In numerical form this translates to a nine.
You’re hard at work on a new album. How’s it shaping up? Any surprises in store for us?
I’ve got four songs mostly recorded and a bunch more written but I’m out of cash for a while so it’s back to professional gambling for the summer until I can afford to get back into the studio. Surprises though: I’ve got a few. It’s a hard juncture point in ways because I want to make so many different kinds of music sonically and yet I want to make something that’s somewhat cohesive. Pending where I go from here some might say “unfocused”, others might say “a mixed bag of pop treasure.”
To the completely uninitiated, how would you describe your music and live show?
The live show incorporates a bunch of material and stretches from the ‘60s revivalist tracks of my debut EP, the new club bangers which are much closer to ‘80s Phil Collins in nature and then of course the power metal classic I wrote for April Fools Stallion Rider. Regardless of the music, I remain your host for the evening, taking you on a quest through existential thought, awkward humour, powerful guitar poses and motivational speaking. My next support act will be a bed of hot coals that we all walk across to get into the venue to prove you are stronger than your fear. As long as your fear was walking over hot coals.
On top of music, you have some other passions which some could consider a little extreme. Apart from a cage diving adventure, what other ridiculously awesome activities have you been involved in? (Side note, this here editor went cage diving recently, and no sharks rocked up. It was a waste of time and money. The view was pretty nice though).
Like I always say, “When there are no sharks in the water, you must become the shark in the water.” It’s science that once you become a shark you can telepathically communicate with other sharks and summon them to a meeting. Other than being a Street Shark there’s not much else to me. A few other bands, a failed TV sitcom called Jammin’ with Dr. Jeremy where I played a doctor who healed his patients with the power of guitar solos and of course, the truffle pig sanctuary I volunteer at where I rescue truffle pigs from capitalist pigs.
Anything else you want to tell us about your gig? Why should punters head along?
Things are changing, I mean, that’s life y’know? But it’ll be the last chance to see the live show in its current form before I release the new single and move the focus to the next release where you’ll find yourself hanging ten on some extreme vapourwaves.
Catch JEREMY NEALE at the John Curtin this Friday November 14.
