It goes without saying that an interview with Dune Rats will always be memorable. But little did I know how memorable this one would be.
The Aussie rockers have been running amok up and down the country for almost 13 years now. From their rowdy gigs to singles which call out just about everyone under the sun, the band have always had something to say and a distinctly Aussie way of saying it.
Given this, I should probably have come slightly prepared for the pandemonium that ensued upon interviewing them.
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“My plane’s about to leave in about 15 minutes,” lead singer Danny Beus tells me while sipping sachet coffee from a paper cup at the South Coast’s Merimbula Airport. It’s the day of Dune Rats album release and Beus appears to be a wanted man.
In this case, however, it is by airport staff rather than a PR or hair or makeup team. This, I tell him, feels truly rock ‘n’ roll. “Yeah, ‘As he goes to his private Rex jet…’” Beus sniggers.
The trio have just released their fifth studio album If It Sucks, Turn It Up. Notorious for writing hooky, lightweight pop-punk designed for the mosh, their newest effort is no exception.
Comprised of Beus on guitar and lead vocals, BC Michael Marks on drums and backing vocals and Brett Jansch as bassist, Dune Rats created the album after a few disastrous recording sessions in Los Angeles.
“A couple of years ago, we were given some record money for our third album [Hurry Up and Wait] to go to Los Angeles and write a bunch of songs with LA songwriters or whatever.
“We found out pretty quickly that we had a different way of writing. Anyway, we were in this session and the producer was just like, ‘Does this song suck?’ And then Bretty goes, ‘Mate, turn it up. Everything’s great if it’s loud.’ You know when you listen to a song and the louder it gets the more you start to feel it?”
While that song did not make it onto that album or even their last, Real Rare While, the trio managed to find a home for it on their newest outfit. Although they were forging a markedly different sound for their newest record, they wanted to include it to make a bit of a statement.
“We knew that it would come with a lot of people questioning what we are doing, people saying ‘Give us Scott Green’. But BC always made the valid point that if you want to listen to Scott Green, it’s recorded, you can go listen to it. If you want to listen to something fresh, then listen to this. It’s a cheeky first song to have on the record.”
Unlike on their previous records, the band now utilise the mentality of making music they want to hear, which Beus considers fair enough given “I’m the prick that has to play it every night.”
This new direction has even bled out into the band’s cover art. Created by Lee McConnell, it’s the kind of image you can stare at for hours on end and not get bored. The only brief they gave him was “a cliched show that goes wrong”.
The band told him chaotic tales from the road they wanted to be included in the image as easter eggs.
“Like there’s a taxidermy crocodile backscratcher that I bought in Florida, and our tech guy, Bunnyman is in there. We just thought if you’re going to make someone fork up cash for vinyl, it better be worth it.”
Recorded largely at their manager’s farm and at Beus’ house on the South Coast, the album had a similar recording process to most Dune Rats records. About to offer more, Beus pauses and listens to the airport announcements. “Do you know what? I need to go in. Let’s just keep doing the interview there,” Beus says, heading to the gate.
When I ask about the band’s upcoming tour with American punk band FIDLAR, Beus tells me it came about as somewhat of a happy accident.
“We were in South Africa doing shows. They were in the UK doing shows and we just sent them a message, saying ‘Can we come over and play some shows with you?’.So we did, and while sitting in the back room in London we realised we were going to release albums at the same time. We asked them if they wanted to come tour with us and they said yes. So yeah, come along. We’ve got some fun shit planned.”
As our interview comes to a close, I can hear announcements overheard saying Beus’ plane is about to leave. He’s got albums to sell, promo to do and a tour on the horizon. While he might not think it, in my eyes, this is real rock ‘n’ roll.
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