Samwidge is served: Declan Bradbury Mark Spinks and Alex "Sleepy" Morrison. Photo by Calan Stanley
Rejoice, Sydneyites, because Gravel Samwidge are extracting themselves from their Brisbane base and heading down your way for some sonic shenanigans.
For those unfamiliar with Gravel Samwidge, here's the basics: They are Declan Bradbury on bass, James Cassidy on guitar, Alex “Sleepy” Morrison on drums; and band leader Mark Spinks on guitar and vocals.
But before any more, a little heresy. When I was a young lad I absolutely loved The Scientists (first and second versions). It's forgotten now, but the second mark were often scorned and verbally abused outright. They simply didn't fit: noisy, fuzzy, feedback-y. And, especially, all that horrible long hair which, for rock 'n' rollers, had gone the way of the dodo during the late 1970s.
The second mark visited Adelaide several times, and I saw as many of them, and the later reunions as I could. Probably my favourite was the 1987 return to Australia, at a not-very packed Le Rox, where I thought they were utterly brilliant.
That said, Kim Salmon's Surrealists have moved me far more, hit me where it lives and breathes, and I find it curious that The Scientists seem to have greater brand power'than The Surrealists. If any of Kim's bands can be said to have influenced my decisions in real life, it's The Surrealists.
Why do I say all this? Because it's rather a joy to learn that I am not alone, as you will discover a little further down. I will caution that Gravel Samwidge do not sound like any of Kim Salmon's outfits, but actually are one of those bands who sound like their name. There's a thesis to be written comparing bands who sound nothing at all like their name (Parliament, The Police, U2, Mental as Anything, Tubes, Members) to bands who absolutely do, such as Gravel Samwidge.
Some broader context: on the Pyschedelic Baby Mag website, Roman Rathert describes the band as: "more than capable of crafting harsh and abrasive lo-fi masterpieces of dystopian nihilism, they’re just as skilled at a diabolically heavy stews of psychedelic noise that thrash and melt into themselves, before scattering bomb shrapnel to the wind like wounded animals lost in the forest."
If all this doesn't make you sit up and start scrabbling through YouTube and Bandcamp, then perhaps you should become a Def Leppard fan. Perhaps Ed Sheeran is more your thing - or Pseudo Echo?
An earlier Gravel Samwidger at home with you: John McManus, Todd Pettit, Mark Spinks and Paul Curran. Photo by Pat McManus.
I-94 Bar: I notice Gravel Samwidge have a couple of newish tracks up on Bandcamp, “Cheap Regrets”, and “Why Does It Have To Be Like This?” They sound like the songs might have sprung from the same subject matter - did they?
Mark Spinks: Both songs lay dormant for years but we finally decided to finish them ... but in regards to the subject matter ... maybe? “Why Does it Have To be Like This?” is more about how the world is generally fucked, whereas “Cheap Regrets” is more about how you're personally fucked. We’re a happy lot in Samwidge, we always look on the bright side.
I-94 Bar: Mark, it is will some alarm that I realise that it was only two years ago that my band Smallpox Confidential and Fear and Loathing played with you in Adelaide. So much has happened with me that it seems like much longer. I'm sure you'll agree that time is a weird thing - what's been going on with the Samwidge since then? and, has time been weird for you as well?
Mark Spinks: Time flies faster the older you get I have found - but ain’t nothing you can do about it. We've just been recording slowly. We have a lot of new songs - like a ton - but we can’t always get together, with me doing my solo thing Mark’s Paranormal Dysneyland.
Alex (aka Sleepy) is in a few other bands at the moment too - one you would absolutely love Robert is Gerald Keaney & The Gerald Keaneys. Check them out, they are like if Snakefinger got together with an Australian version of Mark E. Smith doing absurdist punk . And Declan also has Bin Licker who are way cooler than we could ever be.
I-94 Bar: Gracious! a few years ago I described Gravel Samwidge as "speaking to me of our frustrating internal world, without once trying to make a song to make you dance or jig along and spill your beer while bellowing the catchphrase in the ear of the unfortunate in front of you." What's going on here? What charges your internal combustion engine?
Mark Spinks: I’m stuck in mid-tempo most of the time, which is the best type of tempo!! The musical influences really come from me first hearing The Scientists do “Solid Gold Hell” or “Psycho Cook Supreme” or “Human Jukebox”. To be honest, I was immediately more interested in those type of songs; back then everyone seemed to be listening to The Ramones or in Australia something like Cosmic Psychos, which I have nothing against but I was trying to do something different and my lack of musical ability probably contributed.
Lyrics-wise, there was probably a lot of cynicism. I couldn’t sing a Ramones song, it would have sounded awful, but the deadpan delivery I could do ... then we started getting comparisons to The Fall every now and then - which was a honour, but I think it had more to do with my vocals than anything else.
I-94 Bar: I'd agree, I don't think you sound anything like The Fall. Seems like a lazy comparison. Was it you describing Gravel Samwidge as "somewhere between jagged post-punk and lackadaisical kitchen table folk". I think that's a pretty good description of what I saw two years ago - but for you, what does it mean in practice?
Mark Spinks: I think that description was my solo stuff Mark’s Paranormal Dysneyland, but it does apply to Samwidge too.
I-94 Bar: I also described Gravel Samwidge as "something very nasty out of Brisbane", although I think you prefer the term "noisy outsider rock". Are you nasty? Do other people think you're nasty? More to the point, perhaps, why do you think you're an "outsider" band?
Mark Spinks: I’m the opposite of nasty. I’m actually the anti-nasty. Other people know I’m a pushover. When I started playing again in Brisbane there was a bunch of awesome bands coming through and we got labeled “Outsider Rock” which is probably very apt. I do feel we have always been outsiders.
Obviously Stu Spasm was a big influence on me as well, and he’s very much an outsider artist, so for Samwidge to do that split single with Stu’s band The Art Gray Noizz Quintet was a big honour for me and also felt very apt. We don’t really sound like anyone else's influences obviously but I feel we have our own outsider art going on. At least I like to think so anyway
I-94 Bar: What's the best thing about playing Gravel Samwidge on stage?
Mark Spinks: Best thing? That’s a question I can’t answer. I have been doing it way too long.
I-94 Bar: One thing which struck me quite forcibly when I saw Gravel Samwidge last is that in the flesh and on the stage, there's an attracting force to the band, it's not something that generally slams in the face, but there's a raw grittiness to the band. Is that hard to get down in the studio?
Mark Spinks: I’m glad you think that, and yes, it’s definitely hard to recreate. Obviously when you record you're often at the mercy of someone else’s interpretation but it is what it is. It’s not like we can afford to pay a squillion dollars to get the sound right.
On the road...somewhere. Paul Curran, Brent Summerton, Mark Spinks and John McManus. Photo by Tim Pratt.
I-94 Bar: I know you've had a practice over the years of working with other people both in and outside the band. I notice your side-band Mark's Paranormal Dysneyland has been a bit busy as well, what all that's about?
Mark Spinks: Mark's Paranormal Dysneyland is just my side project where I like to explore different genres a bit ... and work with other musos. The first album was “Eternal Soundcheck”. Some of the songs I wrote acoustically on the first album. There’s a new album, “4 Acre Vineyard” coming out on vinyl soon on Swashbuckling Hobo Records . I have musos from Laughing Clowns, Screamfeeder, Some Jerks - and of course Michael Plater - helping out on the record.
I-94 Bar: What's it like working with Michael Plater?
Mark Spinks: I have known Michael for a long time so it’s easy: he gets what I’m doing ... and he’s easy to work with. We just recorded a new MPD song the other day where I'm playing piano. Michael came up with a great guitar bit. I just let him do his thing.
I-94 Bar: How on earth do you juggle working with so many people? Isn't logistics a huge issue?
Mark Spinks: No, not really. We're all just friends, so if someone is busy with another project we put it off until they aren't ... it’s like with Michael Plater, we can’t always do MPD with him involved 'cause he’s a machine, busy touring the planet.
I-94 Bar: Could we go back ... way back ... to the beginning. Was there any particular gig or gigs which made you think, 'that's it, I have to do this?'. Or was it a record?
Mark Spinks: Yes, that’s easy! It was the last gig of the Scientists' '”Human Jukebox” tour in Sydney, and also seeing Big Black at Max’s Petersham Inn with Thug supporting, but first, seeing Lubricated Goat at The Palace Hotel in Sydney. Record-wise, t would be first hearing “Machine Gun Etiquette” by The Damned, then “Blood Red River” by the Scientists as a 15-year-old.
I-94 Bar: Looks to me like you've been making music for a long time, Mark. Were Nappy Hackers your first band? What were they like?
Mark Spinks: Yes, Nappy Hackers was my first band. I was lead vocalist so I sang, badly I would assume. Brett [Fitzsimmons] who formed the band went on to play in Midget, and Mark [Guthrie] the bass player played in Nunbait and both had some degree of success. That was when I realised I could not sing Ramones-type rock'n'roll. So the music was more along those lines, a bit like The Exploding White Mice.
I-94 Bar: And, isn't Gravel Samwidge on-course to make your 40-year anniversary - could you tell me how the band formed, and where? And, these men have been with you for a while now - it must be an enduring, powerful bond.
Mark Spinks: I have lost count Robert so, yeah most likely the band formed when myself and Paul Curran, the drummer in Nappy Hackers, decided we wanted to do something more primal. Gravel Samwidge really formed in Sydney in the late ‘80s. Paul and I had moved to Sydney from Townsville to immerse ourselves in the inner city Sydneys scene when places like The Trade Union Club, The Hopetoun Hotel etc were going off.
No band had ever posed for a promotional shot on the staircase of a share house until Gravel Samwidge. Mark Spinks, Brent Summerton, Paul Curran and,
John McManus make history. Photo by Tim Pratt.
We were very young. We used to go back to Townsville from time to time to try to keep away from bad influences (if you get what I mean). And we grabbed my oldest mate John McManus to play drums . That’s how it started, literally between Townsville and Sydney.
But our first gig in Sydney was at a party with Monroes Fur, and Jay Doherty from Nunbait had replaced John on the Samwidge's drums, and from that gig we were playing a show with Lubricated Goat the following weekend. That was the beginnings anyway. I have had a few members through the band but really not as many as you would think. Alex Morrison has been with me for over 15 years, and Declan has been on bass for about four years. Before that the line-up was myself, Alex and Ashley Jenkins; we were together for over a decade
I-94 Bar: Could you also take us through some of the major events in the band's existence?
Mark Spinks: After Sydney we moved to Melbourne in 1990 and played some great shows with bands like Fungus Brains and Venom P Stinger but Jay tragically passed away on a tour to Sydney, so that really halted any progress for a few years. We were trying to behave ourselves so moved back to Townsville, and that’s how we won the very first Triple J Unearthed which was an interesting experience.
Triple J wanted us to tour nationally but Paul and John (who was back in the band again) were not that interested. So we kinda passed that opportunity up. Which was a bit stupid. One of the conditions of winning was that you got to do a show with Silverchair (who were taking off at the time) but their manager (who we knew) banned us from playing with them...and the story we got back was he didn’t want his boys to be corrupted. That’s a true story!
We moved to Brisbane in the late '90s and released a split EP on English label Area 52 Records with bands like San Francisco’s Truman Waters, but just gigged around from time to time. It wasn’t until a new breed of Brisbane bands came through like Kitchen's Floor that we had a new lease of life as the younger crew knew of our history and we started getting a younger fan base (and that’s gone now!).
Records followed on different labels like Medicinal Requirements, Home Brand, Trough, and Complaints. But we are used to failure so it comes naturally. We just enjoy writing and playing music, and if people like it that’s great and if they don’t, well, each to their own ..
I-94 Bar: Could you tell us about the first Gravel Samwidge recording? I know it's up on Bandcamp, but was there a physical release?
Mark Spinks: Unfortunately it never got a physical release but I really want to change that. “The Old Tape” was a collection of recordings which included our first six track EP which we intended to name after one of the songs most likely to get attention, “Couch Potato”, plus a bunch of songs we recorded on an eight-track in Melbourne, like “Nervepowder”.
Those first six songs on the Old Tape were recorded on a 16-track reel to reel and I still have the reel. It was originally intended to be going on Black Eye Records - at least that’s what we were hoping and dreaming and Guy (Maddison), who was in Lubricated Goat and Monroe’s Fur at the time, said he could wrangle it for us. But John Foy was winding the Black Eye label down.
The song “Leatherface” starts with “Franklin’s Demise” from the film “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, and we used a sample of that film's infamous dinner table scene instead of a guitar break. From our understanding, we were the first band to sample anything from “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. I think a few bands did it in the 90’s but not before us!!
I really want to remix and remaster that reel and do a physical copy of that six-track because it damn well deserves it!! That’s history right there!! I believe the reel has to be baked first so if you know of anyone interested, Robert ?
I-94 Bar: Dare I ask, what else is in the vault?
Mark Spinks: Just recording more songs and releasing more music. We are also just releasing songs straight to digital platforms. There’s just so many songs waiting in the wings ...
I-94 Bar: Because you've done so very many gigs over the years, could you tell us about some of the more extraordinary events at those shows? (I am of course thinking of that early gig where the skinheads turned up)
Mark Spinks: Yeah, that gig was in Brisbane which was infamous for having a bunch of skinheads that used to loiter around the Queen Street Mall. The gig was just off the mall so all these skinheads turned up. For some unknown reason they liked us and one skinhead wanted to get up and sing with me. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. It got a bit awkward and then a bit dangerous
Another gig was when we played with Venom P Stinger in Melbourne at an afternoon show, and Dugald the singer was so wasted he was carrying around a paper bag full of all manner of illicit substances and some prescription substances. He was so wasted Jim and Al gaffa-taped him to the a stool and the microphone stand - and he didn’t miss a bit. Unfortunately, back in those days cameras were not on everyone’s person ...
I-94 Bar: I know some of the bands you've played with have left lasting impressions and created long-term friendships. Just how far back do you go with The Paul Kidney Experience?
Mark Spinks: Way, way back Paul Kidney was one of the first people I met in Sydney; Paul was playing in the phenomenal Southern Fried Kidneys and living with Tex Perkins on King Street, Newtown. And then of course playing in Monroe’s Fur and Kiss My Poodles Donkey. Paul has always been a big supporter of Gravel Samwidge - on the last few Samwidge tours to Melbourne he's been guesting on sax.
Alex "Sleepy" Morrison, Mark Spinks ,and Ash Jenkins. Photo by Misty McCloud.
I-94 Bar: Was guitar your first instrument?
Mark Spinks: Yes, it was. I am self-taught (you can probably tell) ...
I-94 Bar: What's your preferred rig?
Mark Spinks: Either a Vox Valve Amp or a solid state Vintage Twin Yamaha or the one I’m using now, a Fender Twin. I like a clean bright sound and use pedals for gain ...
I-94 Bar: Favourite pedals?
Mark Spinks: A Hotcake pedal with a pre-amp boost pedal. I believe Eddie Raynor from Split Enz developed the Hotcake ..? [ED: Right band, wrong chap. It was Paul Crowther, Enz's drummer]
I-94 Bar: Which guitar has given you the most joy to play?
Mark Spinks: The one I’m using now, the Japanese Fender Strat. It goes well with the Hotcake - still gives you the crunch but you can still hear the off chords. Tthey're not drowned out by too much distortion. I like the spaces in between tunings
I-94 Bar: What's in the pipeline for Gravel Samwidge?
Mark Spinks: We just want to record more, tour a bit more...but my dream would be to play in New York with Stu’s band The Art Gray Noizz Quintet. They're keen to have us - but I doubt the USA would let me in. Another dream is to play France. So many people over the years have said the French would love Gravel Samwidge.
Gravel Samwidge plays the The 185 Bar in Marrickville on FridayAugust 14, MoshPit Bar in St Peters (matinee show) on Saturday August 15 the Link and Pin in Woy Woy on Sunday, August 16. MoshPit tickets are here.
Supports for The 185 Bar are Delusions of Grandeur and NOF. Shark Arm and (Robert Brokenmouth's band) Molly Fet Circuit, and Pallet are supporting at MoshPit. Shark Arm and Molly Fet Circuit are the afternoon undercard at the Link and Pin.
