Bodyjar - Q & A

The Naked Dwarf spoke to Cam Baines of Bodyjar at the tail end of the regional tour.

Deeply insightful and serious questions:

What is going on with the punk scene in Australia? Pleasantries and well wishing aside, do you think it’s getting better/worse/indifferent?

I think it’s just changing a bit, just like anything. New bands and sub genres etc, things are pretty emo right now. But there are still heaps of awesome bands coming through like Trial Kennedy and Change of Face, there’s still a big punk scene out there. It can’t be that bad if we can still pull good crowds.

The new album seems to have a few more reflective songs on it. It sounds as though you’re jaded but don’t want to give up hope. What are Bodyjar’s hopes? And what are you jaded about?

I defiantly don’t think we’re jaded. Most of the songs are about relationships, there’s a couple of social issues but mostly just girls basically, and all the bad things that happen in relationships - the drama, infidelity and obsession. Things that really hit you hard at the time, you can turn them into songs easily ‘cause they have a story that folks can relate to, I hope. None of these songs are about being in a band or anything - that would be stupid. Bodyjar’s hopes are to make awesome rock records and keep playing to our audience.

One thing Bodyjar always seem to do is make sure they play as many all/under age gigs as possible. Is this a conscious choice? If so, what’s the reasoning behind it?

It’s getting harder to do them these days but we all grew up going to all ages shows so they’ve always seemed important. When you’re under 18 it pisses you off when bands don’t do them, so we try to make ‘em happy if we can.

You’re not old, but longevity is rare these days…

Quite often Bodyjar get described as “stalwarts” or “veterans”, how does this sit with you?

I still don’t know what a stalwart is, sounds like a sexual disease. But it still feels the same to us, we’re still enthused about playing and recording. Our new drummer is only 21, he brings our average down a few years. I guess it’s a respectful thing to refer to us as veterans, but really ten years ain’t that long. Motorhead have a 32-year history, we’re spring chickens.

You have been around for a while. What have you given back to the ‘music community’ that’s been so appreciative of your talents? (Have you adopted any up and coming bands, Done any mentoring type stuff?)

We’ve helped lots of bands by giving them tours and stuff. I’ve helped a few bands with song writing and stuff, done a few talks on the music industry and stuff to look out for. Just giving bands honest feedback on their demos helps the most, I reckon.

Do you think it’s more essential to stay true to the band and evolve and experiment as you want to, or to keep the fans happy and give them what they want?

I think you’ve got to do both, that’s the trick to keep yourself happy creatively and be able to make that into something the fans will still find interesting.

Completely irrelevant, fans want to know kinda questions:

What’s you favourite Descendants song?

We were discussing this the other day in the van. I reckon my world or coolidge. Grant says clean sheets. They’re all gold, best songs ever written.

Are there any of your songs that you’re sick of playing?

Yeah, lots. We don’t play fall to the ground anymore because we did it to death. Sometimes people ask for songs and we’ll do ‘em if we can, but some we have to learn again, so we just blame Wakker our drummer and say he doesn’t know it yet.

Three bands in Australia that should be massive but aren’t, and why should they be?

I reckon Blue Line Medic should be swimming butt naked in cash, as well as Tiltmeter. But it’s kind of cool that they’re still doing it. I respect them as great songwriters and players, they influence other bands. Also, I think ACDC could be huge with some more exposure.

Bodyjar are playing with Frenzal Rhomb as part of the FReeZACentral Tour. www.freezacentral.vic.gov.au/tour.html

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