Swellnet Dispatch Ben Brown Interview
In: Swellnet Dispatch 1 Comments Mon 1st Feb '10
Tags: ben brown , hellmenn , stuart paterson , pcc boards , monster sessions
Next month The Hellmenn, the fuzzed-up punk band from Sydney's Northern Beaches, are getting back together to play a benefit gig, Monster Session, raising money for MS research. It's the first time they've played together in fifteen years. I had a quick chat with lead singer Ben Brown about surfing, skateboards and upsetting Alby Falzon...
Stuart Nettle: First
you ripped off MP's famous cutty for album art, then used 'Mourning
of the Earth' for an album name: is Alby Falzon aware of the
Hellmenn's history of plagiarism?
Ben Brown: When we
released Mourning of the Earth - witty hippy activists! - in
about 1990, the Manly Daily ran a picture of the cover and G Wayne
Thomas, who sang the original film title track, saw it and contacted
Alby who in turn contacted our record label. My spineless mates at
Waterfront Records then flicked it on to me, but once we contacted
Alby and let him know we were a bunch of punk kids from Manly taking
the piss he thought it was cool.
That MP photo was
always a personal favorite. My older brother had the LP of the
soundtrack to Morning of the Earth and that pic takes up the
whole center of the gatefold sleeve. Awesome..
SN: Are you still
surfing these days?
BB: Yep, still
surfing at Manly, North Steyne... sometimes Curly or Longy if I'm
feeling adventurous.
SN: Still skating?
BB: Only skate with
my two little boys these days. Tick tacks out in the back yard. Once
they hit five we'll all get back into vert skating...
SN: Have the
Hellmenn got back together before Monster Session, or is this just a
one-off gig?
BB: No, we haven't
played for fifteen years. We thought we never would play again, but
saw a lot of mates still jamming and having fun and we were asked to
play various shows. You Am I asked us to open a show for them at the
Annandale late last year, but we couldn't get our shit together in
time for that. Hopefully we'll be organized for Monster Sessions.
SN: Your first
album, Herbal Lunacy, had a distinctly hardcore, Black
Flag-inspired, feel but then you fellas hit the anchors and went all
herbal around the time of Mourning of the Earth: was that a
reflection of age catching up, or other factors catching on?
BB: We played a lot
of shows in those days, and it gets boring doing the same thing all
the time. We liked to try different stuff and I suppose we just
didn't want to keep making the same record over and over again. But I
would have to say I like the first few records the best, there is a
lot of energy, beer and madness in them. A retrospective CD of all of
our stuff including those first two manic EP's is coming out soon on
Melbourne label, Missing Link.
SN: Do you ever wish
you just kept playing four-to-the-floor hardcore? Especially
considering that Nirvana sort of opened a door to that sound later.
BB: No, all the
records we made were just a reflection of where we were at as a band.
We didn't want to start playing a contrived sound to try and appeal
to certain markets or whatever. You have to try other things to enjoy
it. Just playing the same stuff all the time gets very monotonous.
SN: So you didn't
consider tweaking your sound and hitching a ride on the Sub Pop
express?
BB: We were signed
to a major label and got flown around and stayed in better hotels and
that sort of thing around that time, we got to play on the first two
Big Day Outs - for us that was good enough. In retrospect I don't
know if we could have been a 'real' band, we were a pretty out of it
bunch of freaks.
SN: Have you kept in
contact with the music scene much through the years?
BB: I do through
friends and work - I still design rock posters and promo stuff for
music - I just did three posters for Pearl Jam's recent tour, and a
poster and tee-shirt for You Am I, but I don't get to as many shows
as I'd like. I tend to crank the iTunes and drink in the studio after
work with my art cronies. But yeah, still in touch with a lot of
music stuff generally.
SN: What bands were
you listening to back in the day, say when you were recording Herbal
Lunacy?
BB: A mix of
Hendrix, Black Flag, Bad Brains, Hard Ons, Radio Birdman, Joy
Division, The Replacements, Celibate Rifles, Minor Threat, Bored!,
Descendants, Massappeal, Splatterheads, Space Juniors, Sonic Youth,
Crosby Stills Nash and Young... a pretty wildly mixed bag of stuff.
SN: And what music
are you listening to these days?
BB: The same stuff,
plus Black Mountain, Brandt Bjork, Queens of the Stoneage, The
Drones, Jay Reatard rest in peace, The Runaways, 50 Lions... all
sorts of stuff, iTunes on shuffle while we work.
SN: What are we
gonna get at Monster Sessions?
BB: Mostly the
harder louder stuff. Maybe that Stooges cover [Surf & Destroy -
the Hellmenn's bastardised version of the Stooges classic] or an MC5
cover... we haven't even practiced yet...
SN: I ride Stuart
Paterson's PCC boards and I hear you fellas used to have a bit of a
working relationship, what was the deal there?
BB: Pato was our
mixing guy for years. He came on tour with us and stuff like that. He
had his own band - the Yard Animals - which played with us a few
times. Last year he made a board that I painted to be auctioned at
Monster Sessions show and it was a great board. He shaped it as a
80's - 90's model. It had fantastic thickness and was reminicent of a
Simon Anderson Energy board in their heyday crossed with an Al
Merrick / Curren model. It was awsome... but now its probly hanging
on a wall with a couple of skulls drawn on it. I often ride an old
McCoy single fin from the late 70's when the waves are small and
should get Pato to shape me the ultimate hybrid... his boards are
great.
SN: I've also heard
there was a bit of a north of the harbour vs. south of the harbour
rivalry. Care to elaborate?
BB: Ha! Only when
the Manly Sea Eagles were smashing those hapless Cronulla sharks!
Monster Session is on Saturday 13th March at Sydney University Manning Bar. The lineup so far is:
THE MEANIES
HELLMENN
DEPRESSION
HAPPY HATE ME NOTS
LUNARCIDE
THROWDOWN
NUNBAIT
THE HARD-ONS
FROZEN DOBERMAN
DAREDEVIL
TWEEZER
THE CELIBATE RIFLES
THE LIME SPIDERS
You can buy tickets here
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