Given that rugged masculine underpinning, the fact the band took their name from the Suzuki Mighty Boy – a pint-sized utility vehicle – was a delicious irony. “We named ourselves quite literally Mighty Boys because I lived next door to a car lot that had a ridiculous number of Suzuki Mighty Boys,” Mulligan laughs. “I actually tried to buy one a few years before because I thought it was such a ridiculous name. But I think most people aren’t aware of that particular utility, and aren’t aware of just how un-blokey the car is, so the joke’s probably lost on a lot of people.”
Automotive emasculation aside, Mighty Boys is very much about friendship – the type of platonic bond that comes from playing in a band with friends, and sharing stages with like-minded musicians. “I think part of the reason why I originally wanted to play that original party was because it was amongst friends,” Mulligan says. “I knew everyone would find it funny and original that this particular bunch of people had put together a band for a party. But it didn’t take a long time for us to see that this could become something that would become important to us if we stayed with it.”
Indeed, the very act of being in a band – especially a band devoid of artistic differences or warring egos – had its therapeutic and social benefits. “I think it’s a really great way to stay involved in the community, to be involved with friends, with a common goal working on something,” Mulligan says. “It’s really good for the self, and it didn’t take long for us to realise the benefits that it could make in our lives. And it brought us together as friends – which would’ve been within about 15 minutes of playing that party show.”
It wasn’t long before Mighty Boys secured follow-up gigs, and pretty soon they were playing shows with bands they liked and admired. Along the way, Mighty Boys found their way into the studio to record a seven-track EP – the pun-ishly titled Dole Cheque & Cabana – in 2014. The EP showcased the band’s irreverent sense of humour, including a backhanded celebration of cheesy entertainment show Hey Hey It’s Saturday.
“I don’t even know why we came up with that idea, but people seem to really resonate with iconic images of Australian history, especially embarrassing areas of Australian history,” Mulligan laughs. “And Hey Hey It’s Saturday is really lowest common denominator humour, but at the same time it’s kind of like a joke you pull out of the Christmas cracker – you’re expecting it to be bad, but you enjoy how bad it is.”
This Saturday Mighty Boys will join a cast of local bands, including Bad Vision, Hi-Tec Emotions, Empat Lima and Girl Crazy, in what’s billed as “a celebration of friendship”. The graphic art for the gig is intriguing: alongside such significant friendships as Thelma and Louise and Batman and Robin are more complex associations like Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, and Wayne Carey and Anthony Stevens.
“We purposefully selected images that reflected friendships and different relationships. Some of those relationships involved betrayal, like Anthony Stevens and Wayne Carey, others were in positions of power and exploited that, like Bill Clinton. Others were particularly dangerous, and others were famously amazing relationships, like Thelma and Louise.”
Putting aside the deeper social and psychological meaning represented in the various couplings, Mulligan says the theme of the gig reflects a more mature understanding of the importance of friendship. “As you get older you get a better understanding of the different dynamics you have with different friendships, and how important all of those friendships are, regardless of how strong a particular relationship is. It’s the collection of mates that you have that’s the most important thing. I think the one thing that Mighty Boys all agree on is the importance of friends and the importance of mates.”
So does that mean John Howard was on the money when he went to the 1999 constitutional referendum with a proposal to include a new preamble in the Australian constitution that expressly referred to ‘mateship’.” Mulligan demurs at the prospect of lining up on the side of the former prime minister.
“We’ve always been a band that mocks the Australian identity, and demonstrates really sad or gross or happy or disgusting or funny elements of the Australian identity. So when I hear things like John Howard wanting to put a term like mateship in the constitution, I find that a bit funny.”
BY PATRICK EMERY
