Pinky Beecroft And The WhiteRussians

Sat 18th Oct, 2008 in Features

A musician lies spread-eagled and moaning in a bed. Some people may find this scene strangely alluring, but the reality is far different. Messer Pinky Beecroft (of Machine Gun Fellatio fame) is chatting to FasterLouder via email, with an unnamed computer monkey assisting him. He is spruiking his – œnew’ band, Pinky Beecroft and The White Russians while recovering from an operation. Monkey jokes that Pinky should stop getting stabbed, because while the wound is impressive and should make a good scar, it is hardly conducive to rehearsing.

The White Russians are Nick Stewart (guitars) from George and Elixir, Christian McBride (drums) from Field Day and Ben T (bass), a former Monstars member. The debut album is Somethin’ Somewhere Better, the title reflecting Beecroft’s outlook on life post-MGF. The record was recorded sporadically in a small room in Redfern, Sydney. The group’s four members would travel there from their bases in different parts of Australia to settle for a few days at a time recording new material in the studio. “We recorded everything underground, which lent the proceedings a certain air of…What? Intensity? Illegality? Insanity?”

If the description above sounds strange, it is because the whole process was a self-confessed “weird” one. On his blog, Pinky said he wrote some songs, went into hibernation, freaked out and then threw away some of the recordings. This music included the foundations of an acoustic album, a direction he decided at one point to take. Instead, nine-tenths of an acoustic record now sit and wait for his next attack. Put simply, Beecroft says, “Look, it’s been a very long, convoluted road. But we got there. Wherever ‘there’ is, we got there.”

While recording, this group admits that they mainly listened to their own music, as it is difficult to write and perform while listening to other people’s work. However, there is apparently always room in the studio for music by the Pixies, Ed Kuepper, MGMT and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, as well as specific records like Cold Chisel’s East and Gerling’s Bad Blood!!!. Reflecting on their own opus, Somethin’ Somewhere Better, they describe it as having a “biscuit-y quality to it. And possibly a Scandinavian element. Pinky said the other day it should be described as ‘Odd Rock’.”

Beecroft clearly possesses a penchant for weirdness. Another love – nay, obsession – is Anastacia. In the course of our interview, she was referred to no less than three times. The first time was in response to a question about what book or song you secretly wished you had ghostwritten. While the pair initially questioned why someone would do something like that as they miss out on the subsequent accolades, they are eventually persuaded to admit that they would have killed to write Anastacia’s Left Outside Alone or The Bible.

Later when asked what their future Wikipedia entry would entail, the pair mentions they want to include a PayPal link so people can send them truckloads of cash and that the bio would say that Beecroft wrote Left Outside Alone. The final Anastacia mention – for those playing along – was their desire to shoot an imaginary music video for the band including footage of the blonde bombshell in a tryst with Tina Arena.

It is now clear that Beecroft is quickly succumbing to a drug fugue because he now has a flashback to his earliest musical memory. “Our earliest memory is standing at the airport, waiting for the road cases to appear on the carousel. We’re in pyjamas, and there are grown-ups everywhere, in skin-tight jeans, all of them in emo bands. That’s a very clear memory.”

The band is doing a mini-tour in September and the group reveals that in the course of this, they are hoping to become better at what they do. They also want to continue to do more of this musical thing while wooing the general public. Clearly the musical journey has been a momentous one and their originality is under threat of being copycat-ed. Despite this, FasterLouder asks the final question – what are the quintessential items required to be impersonators of the band?

“Look, it’s very hard to say. Right now, obviously, most people out there in the music business are trying to impersonate us. Some of them believe it’s best done with a straight-up killer backbeat, others go for the rhyming flow. A lot of people insist on impersonating us with a ‘fro, you know? It’s sad because they should try to be original. But at the same time, we’re honoured by the emulation.”

The diatribe is an interesting one, but the final comment sums it up best. “We have a saying in this band: don’t diss our disciples.”