Spiderbait

To celebrate their hit-laden career, legendary Aussie rockers Spiderbait have announced a one-off show at Forum Melbourne on November 9, and some additional shows in December combined with another exciting announcement for long-time fans that the show will be paired with a brand new, limited edition seven inch vinyl box set of singles, SPIDERBAIT – SINGLES and will be available exclusively at the show. Hi Fi Way spoke to Kram about the box set and what lies ahead for Spiderbait.

How busy has it been behind the scenes for Spiderbait?
It’s been nuts! The next couple of years are going to be pretty insane and the last couple of years with shows, we played to ten thousand people at Bribie Island which was amazing, we are in a really happy space. The three of us have been playing together for so many years and we’re looking forward to doing these singles shows. We thought it would be interesting to look back before we can go forward.

Any talk of getting a gold watch for years of service in the band?
We would have to give that to ourselves brother! It is very much a DIY business here but I think we deserve one.

What was the thinking behind the seven inch vinyl singles box set Spiderbait – Singles? Did it feel like the right thing to do between albums?
I was thinking about this, first and foremost it’s just a cool thing to do. We thought it was a cool, fun thing to do. It doesn’t have anything to do with tying the fans overs or anything but I can understand what you mean. Also, we’re doing it for ourselves because we love vinyl so much. I think in this concept the way people listen to music with their playlists and everything on Spotify and algorithmic expectation of taste it is nice to just have some music in your hand that really exist when you put it on, you put the record on and there it is. There’s much more of a connection to how music used to be and should be. Also it is a chance for us to look at our whole series of songs, I keep saying this like a diary, looking at them all chronologically it’s like wow that’s my life. We are really fascinated by that concept. It is very much a meaningful project for us.

Did you want to avoid a greatest hits style CD, which you already have done and have it more as a collectors piece to go on the mantle with all the other Spiderbait vinyl?
I just love the seven inch, I’ve been back in to albums in a big way for a long while with a big vinyl collection. Our younger fans are big vinyl fans and are developing their own vinyl collections and singles is like going further back. My mum used to collect singles and it is a really cool space to inhabit. For me it is the best way for all those songs to be together more than just a greatest hits CD or a greatest hits playlist. For them to have their own space on those seven inches I really like it as an idea.

Hopefully seven inch vinyl comes back as it doesn’t seem as popular as it used to be?
You’re probably right, I love it, it’s great for fans as well and I am very sentimental about the days of vinyl. It is also for the artwork as well and I think things sound great on vinyl to.

Do the memories start flooding back when you think about pulling these songs together for this project?
Absolutely, it’s weird because Circle K was released in 1990, that’s a long time ago, almost thirty years ago and the world was very different, so different. Melbourne was incredibly different and just to think of yourself as that young kid in that song and he is now sitting here talking to you on the phone is a weird trip for me personally. All three of us have that feeling that it has been an interesting and incredible ride for us. Basically it is our whole lives and this is who we are. That is one of the nice things as you get older and look back to make some sense of your life more than what you could at the time it was actually happening. In terms of the sentimentality there’s definitely moments in those songs where they trigger certain emotions which is really special.

Is it something hard to get your head around that Spiderbait is such an important band to so many people? I couldn’t imagine a summer without Spiderbait playing somewhere.
I last show for the Hotter Than Hell in Adelaide was off chops, it was like playing at the Big Day Out. It was such a massive crowd, thousands of people and it does really spin us out because one of the great things about being in the band and not having a line up change when you look over it is the same two people next to you that you grew up with. You can all really share in that space, that really helps that you have managed to share those experiences with two other people.

It gives you great confidence as a band and its one thing that people love the band but you must be doing something right if you have managed to last this long and become a part of Australian cultural folk law, which is what we have become now, it is such a trip for us since we first started as a band in Melbourne. We would have never expected that we would be in an exhibition at the Arts Centre in Melbourne next to Nick Cave and Paul Kelly. It makes us feel really proud and we’re really comfortable to be really proud of that now. I think we were a bit uncomfortable with that stuff and success in the early days being small town kids and being able to cope with it that well. These days we are a lot more at ease and really proud of each other and happy to be able to do it.

With this small run of dates has it been hard managing fan expectations about not extending the tour more broadly?
We understand, a few people have asked me about this, there definitely is the option of doing more shows in different places if it is successful and we’re happy but we did want to start out with this idea of a one off show. Just to make it a special thing for our fans in city where we started and take it from there. There is no real expectation in any direction but we felt it was the right thing to do. We haven’t played at The Forum for a long time so playing there will be a special moment so after that we’ll see.

Last time we spoke you said that the new Spiderbait album will blow our minds. Is that still the case?
It is coming along really good, we haven’t written for a while and it is still in the early stages. We’re having a really good time and it feels like a really good space for people and ourselves to do some new material. In some ways this singles project is another way to look at the past before we move on to the future. We’re not too good at looking to far ahead, maybe that’s why we have lasted so long. We’re in this space of doing this and see what happens in the future.

Interview By Rob Lyon

Catch Spiderbait at the following shows…

More shows have been announced for…