Two decades on from the release of Guide To Better Living, Grinspoon are getting the band back together for a mammoth Australian tour to celebrate the album’s 20th anniversary.
“We were originally just going to do three shows, maybe one Corner [Hotel] or 170 Russell, one Oxford Arts Factory and maybe one at The Zoo,” says frontman Phil Jamieson. “Just tiny venues similar to Guide To Better Living when it was around at the time, you know, like punk rock venues.
“The original idea was to have this really small, intimate thing and fans of the record could come and experience it like it was in ‘97. I guess it snowballed,” he says.
Shows sold out rapidly, which saw Grinspoon adding dates to the already extensive tour. The band are now set to play 31 shows across June through to September. While Jamieson is excited to get back on the road with Grinspoon, he admits they have their work cut out for them. “I think it’s going to be difficult because a lot of it’s really fast and I’m yelling a lot,” he says. “There’s a lot of teen angst going on. I wrote some funny songs when I was 18.
“Your first record is usually your most honest, and by any means this is definitely true on this record. It’s just a bunch of stoners from Lismore at their best, having a bit of fun. While the songwriting is maybe a little bit infantile in some areas, in other areas we really tried to stretch ourselves as well. I think that’s part of its appeal, if I can be self-referential.”
To celebrate the anniversary, Grinspoon are also releasing a limited edition red double vinyl and deluxe edition CD of the album, which expands the original 16 track album to 49, including previously unheard songs, remixes, b-sides and live recordings.
“We had little b-sides that were remixed by Paul Mac, or I think his name was Groove Terminator back in the day, so they did a lot of remixes for us on the b-side and then we’ve got a bunch of live stuff, like sessions and live at Falls, etc,” says Jamieson.
“There’s a 30-40 page booklet that comes with the deluxe edition, which I took control of a bit more because it was fun compiling that. Nowadays everyone streams so it’s definitely a nice thing to hold in your hand while you’re listening to it. There’s a bunch of old photos and everyone wrote a little essay on that time.
“It made me really fond of it because we spent most of ‘98-‘99 touring in the States, so there’s heaps of that tour world. It was nice trawling through, just questionable haircuts and fashion and sunglasses. It’s adorable just how young we were in many ways.”
In terms of preparing for the tour, Jamieson jokes, “It’s like a bunch of four really old guys arguing about the rider.
“Over the past few years I’ve done a fair bit of solo stuff and that’s been good but it’s been lonely, I’m driving myself and I’m by myself so I guess what I miss most about being on the road with Grinspoon is the comradery and the company and the friendships and the laughs really, and we do laugh a lot,” he says.
Whether we can expect to see new music from Grinspoon in the future remains up in the air. “I think I’ve got to get through this tour and see if I’m still on speaking terms with the band and then we’ll see,” says Jamieson. “We’ve done seven records and it has to be really, really, really, really, really good. It becomes difficult after seven albums to do something really, really good but I’m all up for it if it’s banging. So let’s see.”
