So what’s Bugdust’s secret? Well, rather than submitting to the embittering pressures of commercial formula, patience has allowed the four-piece to preserve their love for heavy riffing to this day.
“Over the years we’ve backed off from the relentless drive and need to climb the heights of so called ‘popularity’,” says guitarist Shannon Trottman. “We now play and write music mainly for ourselves – and the awesome people that listen and turn up to shows.”
This Friday night, Bugdust will take over the Prince of Wales Public Bar in St Kilda. Something else that’s been vital for perpetuating the band’s multi-decade existence is the very city they live in. The strength of Melbourne’s live music scene shouldn’t be overlooked; there’s not many places in the world where acts can maintain a solid following based off of nothing other than a good old-fashioned live show.
“Melbourne has always been a very healthy city for bands to develop and flock together,” Trottman says. “Not only do we have numerous venues, decent live music laws, a swag of styles you can go see on any given night and talent oozing from all corners, we also have a real sense of camaraderie. Melbourne musicians really look after each other, show support and build friendships. There’s no room for ego. We’re all on the same page trying to get our music out there, secretly grateful that we play in a city that allows it.”
While the city’s music community remains prosperous, during Bugdust’s tenure stacks of Melbourne venues have come and gone. It’s always disappointing to witness a favourite venue get shut down, such as The Palace Theatre earlier this year. However, the ongoing commitment from local musicians, punters, venue managers and those in high places ensures that plenty of live hotspots keep on emerging.
“While it seems we’ve lost a few stages over time, we’ve also sprouted new fantastic venues,” Trottman agrees. “It has been horrible to see the demise of venues like The Palace, Duke of Windsor, Station Tavern and The Arthouse, to name a few. Fortunately venues like The Prince of Wales, Cherry Bar, The Espy and Yah Yah’s stand strong and wave the live music flag proudly.”
Bugdust have primarily made their name courtesy of a hard-hitting live show, which they’ve taken all over the country, but along the way they’ve also released two LPs. Trottman says this relatively limited productivity is partly due to having “grown a little older and started families, careers, and businesses,” but it also stems from a disinclination to hurry things along purely for the sake of it. “We’re in no hurry,” he says, “so the songs fall into place in their own time.”
The band’s first LP, Welcome to the City of Snakes, was recorded in El Paso, Texas during Bugdust’s inaugural overseas jaunt back in 2005. As well as the recording, this trip saw the band make a raucous mess out of some grimy New York clubs. But more than anything it affirmed for them the unique pulse of Melbourne’s music scene.
“For a small population, compared to cities in the USA, we have a lot going on here in Melbourne. The sheer amount of venues alone guarantees that. At last count on Wikipedia Melbourne has 140 live music venues. That is amazing.”
After an extended wait, album number two, Beyond Blues, landedin 2011. So now that it’s three years later, could the creative juices be flowing again? Well, typically, there’s no great rush, but that doesn’t mean the band haven’t been busy.
“As the elements of our sound have evolved so have the songwriting approaches,” Trottman explains. “These days we tend to really enjoy jamming our arses off and getting lost in the spontaneous unknown. We record most things live in rehearsal rooms and naturally watch them twist and turn into songs. We often have hours and hours of jams to make sense of so that can keep us busy for months. Some things come together out of the blue and are stage-worthy that same night. We just go with the flow.”
Patching together fragments of recorded jams to form coherent songs sounds like an arduous procedure. Trottman says it’s not exactly a case of tearing their hair out in order to find the ‘new sound’, or fine-tuning things so as to be invincible to criticism. Rather, the mission is simple: to make the best damn music possible.
“Like most musicians we’re always excited about new songs to record, whether they be old ideas finally taking form or something new. The end result is to get these songs recorded, immortalised and potentially on stage.
“Whilst elements of the style have evolved naturally over the years, there’s always been one constant: the music has always been punchy as fuck. It just happens. When we play, our music hits hard. As a whole I believe Bugdust represents something raw, powerful and perfectly imperfect.”
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
