Cemented in the annals of Australian music history, Regurgitator have enthralled audiences for decades with their effortless energy and cheeky wit. Though legendary of status, their work has always maintained an unwavering genuineness – and when asked how he usually celebrates New Year’s Eve, bassist Ben Ely’s honesty charms again.
“We’ve always played New Year’s Eve, for years and years,” Ely says. “I think maybe last year was the first time I actually stayed home. I went to bed at 8 o’clock and woke up at 6 in the morning, and I felt great. That’s a pretty far-out concept. That’s probably the most rock’n’roll idea out there, isn’t it? Just not doing anything.”
Co-headlining this year’s NYE On The Hill with fellow Brisbane heavyweights Ball Park Music, Regurgitator will be treating adventurers at the rolling hills of South Gippsland with their musical expertise. They’ll lead the charge alongside a variety of acts including Japanese Wallpaper, Gretta Ray, The Teskey Brothers and Gold Class.
2017 marks a big year for Regurgitator, celebrating the 20th anniversary of a little album called Unit. Garnering critical acclaim and huge success, Unit won five ARIAs and went triple platinum. For Ely the anniversary isn’t something he’s been thinking about. “It crept up pretty quickly. I think there was even talk of re-recording it, probably,” he says. “I dunno. We might do something.”
Two decades ago, the album represented a huge stylistic shift, one that went against the very nature of the band. “It was a pretty aggro, violent time and there was a lot of screaming and distortion,” Ely says. “We kind of got into that, a lot of the crowds that we were attracting – generally kind of macho guys, army guys or just tough guys – would come to shows and just want to beat each other up and stuff. It scared us a lot and I guess that’s why we made Unit.
“It was partially that we were kind of into ’80s music. We’d drive around on tour and listen to Cyndi Lauper’s She’s So Unusual or Prince’s Purple Rain, something like that. Just enjoy the funness of it, and laugh about it, but it was silly. I guess we just sat down and had a conscious meeting saying, ‘Oh wow, this is a really big deal, to go this way,’ because a lot of our fans like that heavy guitar stuff and it’s such a departure that we’d probably piss a lot of people off – but we didn’t really care, because we just wanted to do something stupid.”
It’s safe to say that genre and convention will never bind Regurgitator. Their style transcends expectation – unless your gut feeling is to party hard. “If it makes you feel excited, and your adrenaline goes up a bit, then it probably will be a Regurgitator song,” Ely says.
Inspired by a performance at 2017’s Dress Up Attack! – a Sydney-based music festival for children and adults alike – Ely was drawn to the “fun, inclusive and universal” sound. Constantly scouring record labels’ websites looking for new bands – with recent favourites being the likes of Terrible Truths, Moreton and Pleasure Symbols – Ely’s always willing to experience new directions and enjoy the diverse range of music Australia has to offer.
“We had this kind of kid’s punk-rock set, like naughty little fart jokes and bum jokes,” Ely explains. “When you do punk music with that kind of vibe, they seem to really get into it and we thought, ‘Oh yeah, we could do that again, that was kind of fun.’ We’ve kind of written this naughty kids’ punk record – we just haven’t got around to recording it yet – but we hope to in the next while, in the next part of our lives. Our relationship has always felt very juvenile,” Ely continues. “I guess we feel that any song that’s kind of a bit juvenile and silly probably should be a Regurgitator song. I guess writing naughty kids songs isn’t much of a step, really.”
