n o u s e fo r a n a m e — L e a d e r C h e e ta h
Tell me about that. I just finished recording it and I’m mixing it tomorrow. It’s crazy. I had three days off in Sydney and I wrote five of the songs while I was there. One of the songs on the album is called ‘Devonshire and Crown’, after the intersecting streets. I was sitting at a bar there and that song just came to me. Obviously I had to leave to write it, because if you want to write lyrics you have to go to a place that’s not playing music already.
I think the question that everybody wants an answer to is how is Matt’s gall bladder? It’s good! Well, it’s been removed, so it’s completely gone. Actually, he just got out of the hospital about a month ago. He was in for about five months off and on starting in December. I don’t know what it’s like to be in that much pain. From what he told me it was horrible. But he’s healthy and ready for tour, so that’s good news. What was the response to your recent acoustic solo tour with Joey Cape? It was great. The acoustic thing is always hit or miss, you never know what the reaction will be. For instance, one of our biggest markets in the world is Japan, but when we went over there it was kind of a flop. We found out later that it was because, musically, they like songs with a strong beat; it’s not a lyrically-driven society as far as music goes. But when we did it in Australia and in Europe it was well received. How have people responded to your acoustic punk/folk hybrid in general? The initial response was basically people thinking it was a No Use For A Name demo. Then people who really listened to the record saw it as a kind of departure – something you couldn’t reproduce as NUFAN – and I agree with that completely because that’s what I was aiming for. I didn’t want it to be a one-time thing, so immediately I started writing songs for a new record. Funnily enough, I started writing when I had some time off in Sydney on the last tour, and now the record will be coming out in September.
Is the acoustic stuff more lyrically driven for you? Absolutely. And I think that doing the acoustic thing has led me back to a place where I see lyrics as really important. They always have been, but prior to going out with an acoustic guitar, I was always a melody-first kind of guy. But now I’m shifting to writing lyrics first and I’m transferring that over to NUFAN right now.
What’s In A Name? After 25 years in the business, No Use For A Name stand on the top rung of the punk rock ladder. As the band plans to head back to Australia, MAX QUINN talks to vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Tony Sly about his recent acoustic shows, bassist Matt Riddle’s hospital visit, and writing songs for a new album.
Tell me what you’ve been doing recently. Last night was the final night of a nineshow tour with The Middle East — way too much drinking and too many good times — I’m feeling a little hazy this morning.
It sounds like a really organic process. Right! As soon as The Sunspot Letters was finished we just kept writing and stockpiling. I think we’ve all gone through some major internal stuff in our lives, and I was at this stage where any time something would go wrong, I’d look at the universe and think: ‘Okay, you owe me one now. You owe me a song for going through this shit!’ And quite often it works.
How has the new material been received? It’s been great, actually! The new songs have gone down really well. The only older tracks we’ve been playing have been ‘Blood Lines’ and ‘Fly Golden Arrow Part One’, but the new stuff, on the whole, has probably been received better. Is that surprising for you? I guess yes and no. It seems like, with the new songs, by the time you get to the
Pulling Songs From The Sky Adelaide’s finest indie-pop quartet, Leader Cheetah, are set to debut their brand new album, Lotus Skies, this month through EMI. The morning after a nine-stop tour with label-mates, The Middle East, front-man Dan Crannitch caught up with MAX QUINN to talk about the band’s sophomore effort.
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No Use For A Name performs at the Coolangatta Hotel on Sunday July 24, and the Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle, on Wednesday July 27.
This album has a much broader sound and I think it’s well-balanced.
Is the last show on a tour like that one naturally more special? Yeah. We will be playing with them again at Splendour, but they’re lovely people and we’ve built up a really solid friendship. Being labelmates and having toured with them before, it feels like we have a bit of a family together.
second chorus most people kind of get it. The songs are quite simple in one sense; they’re very melody driven. As long as you’re pulling it off live and it sounds good, it doesn’t take too long for people to catch on.
How has it been for you writing and performing in that format and now coming back to writing for NUFAN? Well, I’ve only written a couple of songs for the new record, but I’ve noticed that the lyrics are written in a similar vein to the acoustic stuff. They’re punk songs, but the lyrics are still in this simple, realist form. Just telling the truth, you know? Being super-honest and changing nothing except the names in the stories.
I think the songs on this new album are maybe even more melodic than on the first one. Is that a fair thing to say? Definitely, I’d say so. I guess it’s just my progression as a songwriter. Hopefully you can hear it as well. It wasn’t a forced album
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— everything just came naturally. We were trying to stockpile a whole lot of songs and whittle them down. We did put a lot of energy and effort into writing and recording, but it wasn’t over-thought or a huge departure from the first album: it was a continuation.
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So I take it that some of these songs have been brewing for a little while? Yeah. When I think about it, it’s a 30/70 split between 2009 and 2010. Four or five of them came together in the last few weeks coming up to recording: ‘None Shall Pass’, ‘Crawling Up A Landslide’ and ‘Golden Age’, in particular. And it’s almost like, ‘fuck, we’ve got all this stuff we don’t want anymore!’, but you can’t turn the songwriting tap off. We thought these new ones were pretty good, so we had to put another bunch on the backburner. But that’s great when it’s really fresh; it’s a really exciting feeling to have new stuff to go in to record. An easy one to finish. I’m thinking about growing a beard. What do you think? I think you’ve just got to go with whatever feels natural, man! I’m a bit of a fan of some well-sculpted facial hair myself. I’m of the firm belief that it can make any man look better. Leader Cheetah perform at the CBD Hotel, Newcastle, on Saturday September 10. Lotus Skies is out July 15 through EMI.
reverb magazine issue #060 — July 2011 17