2012 has been an eventful year for River of Snakes. Having established a solid reputation in Melbourne on the back of the band’s potent live shows, River of Snakes has invested time, effort and punk rock energy north of the Barassi Line, with shows in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong. “We had this great gigs Newcastle. We have these two fans who absolutely love us. But we’ve had two gigs there, and both times these fans have got so pissed that they got kicked out, and had to watch from outside,” Sanchez says. “And then there were these two guys wrestling each other, who got kicked out as well – this was a genuine fight, headlocks. This is what we do to people!”
Earlier in the year, Gabrielle left after a particular tumultuous show in Sydney. “We were given this full bottle of vodka on our rider. We didn’t know what to do, so we decided to drink it all before the show,” Sanchez says. “It ended up being a great, messy set, but maybe that was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Dante,” Rose laughs. “Dante pretty well quit half way through the last song, and Raul ended up on the drums and we made up our own song, rolled on the ground – it was just mayhem!” Thankfully, the debacle left some punters with a favourable impression. “Last week when we were up in Sydney this guy came up to us and said ‘why don’t you just get as pissed as you did last time,” Sanchez laughs, “but we didn’t even get a rider for that show, so we couldn’t.”
This Saturday night at the Northcote Social Club River of Snakes launch their new 7”, a teaser for the band’s debut album slated for release early next year. The 7” features two tracks, an original, Drink, and a cover of Bikini Kill’s Rebel Girl. A ‘graduate’ of Collingwood’s famed Rock’n’Roll High School, Rose first came across Bikini Kill’s feminist-punk anthem as an impressionable teenager. “When I was in Year 10, a girl at school went to study in Seattle, and she came back with all these cool records, and she made this mix tape, and some of it was Bikini Kill, ” Rose says. When Bikini Kill came to Australia in the mid 1990s, Rose snuck into the Corner Hotel to see them, before the security personnel herded her out. “We sat there on the carpet right next to them until we were kicked out,” Rose laughs.
Sanchez was similarly immediately impressed when he first heard the song, and made a mental note to return to the track in the future. “I remember hearing it and thinking it’d be a great song to cover – I think I mentioned it to the band when we first started, and then I forgot about it. And then Elissa brought it up, and reminded me that I’d suggested we cover it.” The fact that Sanchez finds himself reciting a feminist anthem doesn’t worry him in the slightest. “It’s kind of cool for a guy to sing those things – I feel that way. The song definitely relates – I admire female musicians, like all musicians” he says. Rose says having a male voice in the song ensures it’s not a linear interpretation. “I’d only cover it with a guy singing,” she says. “Without that, it’d be just too generic. For me, it says more with a guy.”
Sanchez and Rose agree that the presence of a new drummer (Glenn Evans from Fangs) has had an impact on the band’s music. “It’s hard to say anything too much without it sounding wrong, but it’s definitely more solid in some respects now,” Rose says. “When we changed drummers we had to go right back to basics and then flesh the songs out – so we hope our new drummer sticks around,” Sanchez laughs. “The new music is definitely evolving,” Rose says. For his part, Sanchez is keen to spread the attention from himself to his band mates. “I want to write more dual vocal tracks, so Elissa sings more often. I’d rather not be the front man,” Sanchez says. “But Glenn doesn’t want to sing. In fact, he didn’t even want to do the interview – he’s too enigmatic for that sort of thing,” Sanchez laughs.
BY PATRICK EMERY
