Exhaustion are Australian three piece Duncan Blachford (Snawklor, Cross Brothers), Jensen Tjhung (Deaf Wish, Lower Plenty) and Per Bystrom (Ooga Boogas, Leather Towel). Their debut 'Future Eaters' on Aarght! just started streaming last week on Mess+Noise and is fast becoming a favourite in this parts. These eight new songs play out prowling guitars, howling vocals, crashing rhythms and gulping bass transmitted through a wall of murky fuzz and distortion. It all comes together in a way that brings bands like Les Rallizes Denudes and Fuckin' Flyin' Aheads to mind whilst testing the limits of where that paranoid/brooding free-noise sound can go. I got to talk to Duncan to find out more about the record, here's what he had to say...
Most of us are just
finding out about Exhaustion now through this record out on Aarght! Being
a relatively new band, I wanted to ask if there’s a goal/message in this project
that you wanted to tell us about…
If I had a
goal it would be to destroy, or attain peace with, the world and the mundane
nature of a working life. As a band, our goal is to create music we're proud
of. We're happy with this record, we can retire now.
When I was googling
to learn a bit more about the band I only found 2 search results for
Exhaustion… it’s a great name, surprised no one’s ever really used it – how was
it picked?
It was very
literal, a feeling of pure exhaustion. Typographically, I like it, when its
treated right its monumental. Exhaustion and détournement, that's all that is
left in this world.
How did recruiting
Jensen Tihung and Per Bystrom for the band come about?
Per heard
some of my early solo recordings (Drunk Hands)
and offered to drum if I wanted to start a band. It didn’t happen till now. He
carts round all this scrap metal with his kit, a one man swedish Pussy Galore.
You did a tour of the
US in 2008 was this as Exhaustion? How did those shows go?
That was
another band I played drums in. At the time, it was four friends and an asshole
soundguy, on the road for nine weeks. Played most nights, driving around North
America, crashing on couches and in cheap motels. It was fantastic. I felt at
home being on the move.
I was listening to
one of your other bands Snawklor – the songs I heard sounded pretty ethereal,
did you ever think you’d start a band like Exhaustion that was the polar
opposite with this big damaged-rock sound?
Nathan Gray
and Dylan Martorell
started Snawklor a
decade ago, doing extremely quiet electroacoustic music. They’re both great
artists and improvisers, their art and music bleed into each other. I joined
more recreantly on drums and my background is definitely in damaged rock, but
I've always been drawn to more exploratory music too. I'd started fooling round
with freeform percussion, no beats, I brought that approach to Snawklor. We
have done a lot of shows but no proper recording as a trio. Sometimes we sound
closer to Lightning Bolt or the Boredoms, sometimes ethereal free jazz and
psychic exotica.
To my ears at least I
can hear bits of Les Rallizes Denudes, Liquorball and Fuckin’ Flyin’ Aheads on
‘Future Eaters’, because in one way or another they all have this
mesmerizing/paranoid/noisy approach – do you listen to those bands at all?
What was the first
type of music that made an impression on you?
Hendrix and Black Sabbath. Hendrix especially. When I was about six, I saw Sex Pistols on TV one night and it scared the shit out of me. In my teens I was watching The Year That Punk Broke with no knowledge of that unmentionable youth cultural revolution of the '90s. Seeing Sonic Youth play Schizophrenia hit a chord, I grew up around a lot of schizophrenic activity, it was great seeing that captured in music.
Do you prefer playing
or recording?
You gotta be playing when you're recording, so I prefer playing.
What was the setup
for the recording of ‘Future Eaters’?
An 8-track
reel to reel of Jensen's. Six mics. Three on the drums, one on the bass, and
one on the guitar. Vocals later. Very rough and ready set up, but Jensen has a
way. Did it at his place, above a psychologist’s practice. It was a renegade
recording in that we thought we might get away with a 7” before neighbours shut
us down. We managed to come out with this record. Almost all first takes, it
was a super easy all firing session. Done. Bang.
Can you talk about
“Your Memory Don’t Want You”, that one’s been one of my favs since streaming
the record….
I recorded
a demo of it years ago as Drunk Hands, a noisy instrumental version played on a
fuzzed out acoustic. I brought it back to the fold with Exhaustion. Most of
these songs relate to very personal experiences, put across in a broader way.
Its about black outs, memory and our relationships with consciousness.
Over here in the UK
music chain HMV just went into administration, now record buying is online or
via indie shops that have managed to survive…I was wondering what the current
state of record stores is in Australia?
Sounds very similar to what is happening here. It’s
shrinking all the time, with a few notable exceptions. Only a few stores are
lucky and smart enough to keep afloat. Small record stores that sell coffee and
awesome food are probably the way to go, here's looking at you Wooly Bully
You have your
own label Endless Melt – I was wondering what you’ve found to be the biggest
challenge with running a label these days?
It’s a
micro label of marginal music, a labour of love. It often costs me money to
sell something. Luckily I don't do much business or I'd have to shut it down.
How do you manage to
sustain being in bands and doing a label?
I work. I spent a long time on the dole living the dream of
a rock n roll youth, but everything is so expensive now and the dole hasn’t
really increased. I have a family now too. It'd be very hard to get by without
a job.
How would you spend
your ideal day off?
I would do nothing at all. Ideally, I would do
everything I wanted to do.
Your new album is
coming out imminently – what else do you have planned for 2013?
Jensen has
an artist residency in Sydney for a few months come late March. Hopefully we'll
do a show up there. We're all a bit older now, touring isn’t a priority,
more a holiday. We all have several bands, jobs, Per and me have families.
We'll roll with the punches. I predict we'll have a new album recorded by the
end of the year, release it by early next year, and a 7" in between. Put a
fiver on it.
A question I
always finish on “I’m full of dust and guitars” – Syd Barrett, if you were
sliced in half what would be inside?
Blood, guts and the ghosts of a million forgotten lives.
'Future Eaters' is limited 250 copies - available at Goner
Update since the interview, wooly bully is now on its last legs
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