The band reflect on their decade-long journey, influences and Halloween album release.
Attending a St Morris Sinners gig is more than your average gig – it’s an immersive experience. Known for their wild performances, the band sweeps the audience into the frenetic energy and freedom created by their stage presence.
Their insightful and sometimes absurd lyrics allow listeners to reflect on the flaws in Australian culture – flaws they expose in a raucous and funny way, using humour as a tool to break through our natural defensiveness and see clearly for a moment.
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With their new album, Nightmares, released today by French label Beast Records, prepare to partake in a journey of music inspired by the seven deadly sins.
Formed in 2011, St Morris Sinners came together after lead singer Stephen and his high school friends played in short-lived, ‘rowdy’ bands. As these early projects fizzled out, St Morris Sinners emerged, quickly building a reputation in Adelaide’s live music scene.
Over the next few years, different members came in and out of the group, giving their input, leaving their mark and helping create the long-lasting and evolving band, with its unmistakable vibe.
Stephen credits the band’s longevity to their ability to collaborate and the fact that punk as a foundational genre allows the band an attitude of freedom to explore new concepts and ideas.
“I think what makes the band quite special is that everyone has their own influences. Everyone comes from a different musical background, and it all blends together in this unique way.” This melting pot of ideas, he says, is what gives the band its distinctive sound and keeps the creative energy alive.
St Morris Sinners draw from an energetic combination of punk, blues and garage influences. The feeling of gritty rawness is particularly strong throughout the lyrics. Stephen, whose storytelling is influenced by greats like singer-songwriter Patti Smith and writer Helen Garner, brings an almost literary quality to their songs. Each track explores human nature with a sense of humour, rebellion and introspection.
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“I wouldn’t really consider myself fully a musician. I just bring lyrics and see what happens with everyone else,” he tells me. At 12 or 13, watching his older brother in a play was the moment Stephen knew that was what he wanted to do: “It blew up inside me, the creative excitement.”
This early spark pushed him into performing, eventually leading him to form a band with his high school friend who remains the guitarist of St Morris Sinners.
With a decade behind them, the band is now gearing up for the release of their latest album Nightmares, a concept work inspired by the seven deadly sins. This offering comes after exploring some more personal songwriting in past albums as well as looking at the Australian identity, particularly showcased in songs like Gentificaltion Blues where they honed in on the growing trend.
“I just thought it’d be funny to write a song about a pressing issue in Australia, which is gentrification, something I’ve seen since I left high school really tear up communities and price out people.”
In addition to this humorous nod to the dark side of our nation, for Nightmares, Stephen said he wanted to go back to writing character-based songs.
“I thought it would be interesting to do a whole concept album that’s set in the fictional town of St. Morris and create these folklore nightmarish tales. The Seven Deadly Sins then became the foundational theme. ”
Stephen said that each sin – lust, pride, greed, envy, gluttony and so on – became the basis of the songwriting and storytelling. This cinematic album was created with a new iteration of St Morris Sinners, featuring Lyndon Gray on bass, Django Rowe on guitar and Miles Farnan on drums and percussion.
“It came out amazingly. We all jelled together in a completely different way. The great thing about the band is it’s always reinventing itself with different lineups. I thought that it was so fun for me and Django to work with these two new people.”
Nightmares is out now, the perfect soundtrack to Halloween. St Morris Sinners will be launching the album in both Melbourne and Adelaide, at the Northcote Social Club for Social Sanctuary in Melbourne on February 10, and at the Grace Emily in Adelaide on December 27.
Take up the invitation to get lost in the raw energy of St Morris Sinners live, and journey through the fictional realms of their collective imagination – it’s an opportunity not to be missed.
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This article was made in partnership with St Morris Sinners.
