In the beginning Go-Go Sapien was known as The Great Apes, formed in 2006 via links in Melbourne’s expatriate Taswegian community. On the eve of releasing the band’s debut album in 2009,The Great Apes were contacted by a Sydney band sharing the same name. The band’s description took a decidedly Darwinian turn when it morphed into Go-Go Sapien. “When we had to find a new name, I went through one or two hundred variation on the ape/monkey thing, but couldn’t come up anything, so we ended up going the evolutionary trail,” Hindmarsh laughs.
While the change of name was forced upon the band, it led, subconsciously at least, to a review of the band’s modus operandi. “In a way it was a new start,” Hindmarsh says. “We had a bit of a re-think.” Having started out with an electro-surf style in Hindmarsh’s mind, the band had “changed a bit, as these things tend to”.
One of the influences that crept into Go-Go Sapien was the sonic style of the classic science-fiction films of the 1950s and 1960s. Hindmarsh gleefully admits to being something of a sci-fi nerd. “I love Soilent Green, Planet Of The Apes, stuff like that,” he says. “I suppose I’m a bit of a nerd in that respect. And I also really like surf music. I suppose I wanted the band to be a bit left-of-centre,” Hindmarsh laughs.
Hindmarsh had written the songs for Go-Go Sapien’s new album, This Body Is Wrong For Us, before the idea of a film came to him. “I write most of the songs, and do the demos at home, and then I bring the songs to the band, sometimes with an idea of the other parts,” Hindmarsh says. Once he’d refined his initial nocturnal cinematic concept, Hindmarsh set about assembling the cast who would eventually populate the 47-minute film released in concert with the new album.
Comprising such local luminaries as Dave Graney, Kim Salmon, Van Walker, Liz Stringer and Linda Johnston (The Dacios), This Body Is Wrong For Us tells the story of a Melbourne suburb drowning in the unrelenting noise of Go-Go Sapien’s new record. Along the way there’s sci-fi schlock, B-grade shoot-outs and Cal Walker driving his battered white Holden panel van while wearing a Planet Of The Apes mask (which looks decidedly like the masks featured on the cover of The Dacios’ Monkey Business album).
Hindmarsh approached performers such as Dave Graney and Kim Salmon with some trepidation, only to be pleasantly surprised with their willingness to take part in the project. “I’d met Dave a couple of times, and on a whim I asked him and Kim if they wanted to be part of it. I’d expected them not to get back to me, but they got back to me straight away and said they were keen to be part of it,” Hindmarsh says.
Despite the film’s avowedly amateur aesthetic, Hindmarsh says it took the best part of 18 months to complete the film, most of which time was spent in the editing suite. “It took basically a day per scene to make, and there was a maximum of about two weeks’ filming,” Hindmarsh says. “It was really just a matter of getting people together at one time.” Hindmarsh says he deliberately wanted to avoid making an obvious connection between the music and the cinematic imagery. “I made a conscious decision not to marry the music with the vision,” he says. “I more wanted synchronicity through happy incidents.”
Not surprisingly, Hindmarsh has had his fair share of moments when, like the characters in his film, he’s been confronted by an unrelenting sonic attack. “There are often times at the rehearsal space when the music comes on at once and you can’t escape,” he laughs. Or there are the times when a neighbourhood party goes horribly wrong. “We were having a party at our house playing Roy Orbison, and one of the neighbours didn’t like it,” Hindmarsh says. “So he stuck a speaker on the fence and played his music really loud – I think it was Andrea Bocelli,” Hindmarsh laughs.
Hindmarsh describes the music on This Body Is Wrong For Us as “a bit more nasty” than the band’s first record. What hasn’t changed, however, is Go-Go Sapien’s predilection for dressing up on stage, with each member adorned in a white outfit. Lead guitarist Cal Walker has long embraced the costume idea, regularly donning a kaftan for maximum effect. “Cal tends to wear more outrageous outfits,” Hindmarsh says. “There was one gig when he removed his kaftan to reveal a white nappy. And it’s that nappy I wear on my head – occasionally I get flash backs, which is pretty bad,” he laughs.
