THE PERCH CREEK FAMILY JUGBAND
By Meg Crawford
People say that you shouldn’t work with friends or family. Camilla Hodgkins, of the Perch Creek Family Jugband, believes otherwise. Comprised of four siblings (Camilla, Christi, Eileen and Lear) and James, Hodgkin’s partner, Perch Creek Family Jugband grew up in the very same Perch Creek of the band’s name and moved to Melbourne a few years ago in pursuit of musical opportunity. Initially, they lived together in a four bedroom house in Preston, although Lear now lives across the road, since having a daughter. So, how does it work when you all (bar one) live together, work together and tour together? “Do work with your brothers and sisters,” emphasises Hodkins, “We don’t always get along, but it’s easy to love them even when they do something to piss you off. Grudges don’t seem to build up and you can let go of stuff. It’s also easier to be open, lay it on the table and be honest.” Perch Creek Family Jugband are currently on tour to promote their glorious second album, Jumping on the Highwire, which was released in March this year. It had an eleven month gestation period, during which it was carefully and lovingly crafted. Hodgkins is duly proud of the effort and excited to talk about it. “The whole process started in April 2013. We wanted to try group songwriting for the first time and come up with a whole album of collaborative songs. Previously, we wrote the songs independently. This time around, we thought, ‘Gosh, let’s see what happens when we do this together.’ So, we rented a beachside holiday house down in Rye and came away with nine songs. It was really productive.” According to Hodgkins, the collaborative process wasn’t always easy. “We approached it in a structured way,” she recalls. “We each did a lot of writing. We’d come up with a
character and write a few paragraphs, then we’d put it in the middle and decide what we’d like. There was a lot of real honesty and bluntness – it would’ve been hard to muster that with other people. There was a lot of, ‘Eileen, that line’s crap.’ She laughs. ‘We’d write a lot of junk, but there’d be some golden lines as well. While there was a lot of criticism, with every idea you put out there, you’d get instant feedback. “It’s a lot different to writing alone in your bedroom by yourself,” Hodgkins continues. “From there, we’d narrow it down to the best possible outcomes. There were definitely times when we had disagreements, but not so much that we couldn’t move forward. They weren’t differences that stymied the idea. They were more guides to working out different options… and we have similar tastes really. Some songs would become a little bit more someone else’s baby, but we’d keep going until we were all happy and had exhausted all possibilities. It took longer, but we got there.” The band recorded and produced their last album, Tall Tales, themselves. On reflection, Hodgkins feels that the band were “too involved.” Determined to have a different experience, this time they worked with their friend and studio engineer Joe Ferguson. They toured
a bit first and then came back to record the bulk of the album with Ferguson at a farmhouse in Melbourne’s north. More touring followed, but whenever the band had time they were back in the studio, ultimately recording two more tracks as well as the over-dubs. “The journey’s been amazing,” Hogkins enthuses, “It surprised even us. It was so productive and it’s opened the door for more collaborative work in the future.” With this album comes a shake up in image. The band are no longer just a jugband – they are a “psychedelic jugband.” “We started thinking about our name and what it conveys. ‘Perch Creek Family Jugband’ sounds a bit oldfashioned. It conjures up pictures of a cute, wholesome family, which stems from the truth. We are brothers and sisters and we did grow up there. We are inspired by skiffle and jugband styles, but I feel we’ve taken a new direction. Some of the new songs are not what people might think – they are a bit psychedelic. Not necessarily in that drug-taking, long-haired way, but more that raw energy kind of way, like Neil Young’s ‘70s
60 SECONDS with ASH FROM THE BEEGLES Define your genre in five words or less: Freak oddball pop diamond cartwheels. What can a punter expect from your live show? Guaranteed boogie times, sequin outfits and not a pretentious snigger all night. What’ve you got to sell CD-wise? We have two EPs available on Bandcamp/at shows for real cheap. One is our debut self-titled EP and the second EP is called Daytime. We are also working on our debut LP titled Sanpaku Eyes. So, someone is walking past as you guys are playing, they then go get a beer and tell their friend about you... what do they say? OH MY GLOB IT’S TYSON SLITHERS!!! HE’S MY HERO!!!
How long have you been gigging and writing? We’ve all been playing in various outfits for 12-17 years, but the two main Beegles have been writing together since mid-high school. What makes a good musician? Sweet guitar faces, risk management skills, amplification, agility, protein, rich parents, high fives, milk crates, introspection and op shops. How do you stop your pre-gig jitters? With vegetables, clean underwear and determination! When’s the gig and with who? On Saturday May 17 we are doing a double EP launch with our good bro Greg Steps. Empat Lima and the Lovely Days are lined up as supports.
Q & A with CHILDREN OF BODOM Tell us about the recording of Halo Of Blood at your in-house studio in Helsinki as well as in Petrax Studio, Hollola, with support from Peter Tägtgren (Hypocrisy, Pain). It was a very relaxed process. It was great not having any time limits, and working with Peter was great as always. He’s a singer too, so he knows how to get his ideas across to me easily. Will we be seeing any video footage for the Halo of Blood touring cycle, or any plans for another lvive DVD or documentary? Nothing set right now but we will put out some footage at some point. What artist or band would COB like to collaborate with or tour with? AC/DC and Men At Work. Of course. What is the favourite COB track between the band and why? Halo Of Blood. Just because it’s mean.
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According to COB what is an important new band to look out for? Lost Society. Being back on Nuclear Blast (where you started) is a type of homecoming. How and why did COB decide to return to Nuclear Blast? The contract with Spinefarm/Universal had expired and Nuclear Blast had come to us with a good offer. What have been some of your favourite moments from previous tours in Australia? We played there many times and some tours even did Perth. All of them are my fave. Hmm. I just loved it from the first day I stepped on the Aussie soil – that was Sydney some years ago! People are laidback and friendly. Weather is gorgeous and so on. Last time a friend of mine took me surfing on our day off, which was awesome and so relaxing during a tour.
DISCUSS WHAT? BEAT.COM.AU/DISCUSSION
rocky ballad-sounding stuff. We wanted to put a word there that shakes the image. It’s not punky, but we’re more energetic than what the name might convey.” As for the album’s title, it comes from a line in one of the tracks, Mother of My Mother. Hodgkins explains the attraction. “It’s not because that song was the lynchpin to the album. We just loved the metaphor and the imagery. This album is a big leap for us. It’s very exciting, because of all of these new songs. That image, the leap, the risktaking resonates with us. Also, we have a circus spirit to the band. There’s a colourful dynamic in what we wear onstage; we have the family thing, we have five strong personalities and we clash and meld all at once. That energy is reflected in the circus imagery of the title.” THE PERCH CREEK FAMILY JUGBAND’s Jumping on the Highwire is out now through Vitamin Records. The album’s launch is at The Hi-Fi on Saturday May 10, with special guests Quarry Mountain Dead Rats and Arthur Penn & The Funky Ten.