Mammal Part 3

Mon 13th Apr, 2009 in Features

Part three of the Mammal WA Fasterlouder tour diary sees the band wrapping up their western tour in Fremantle, supported by The Meaning Of and The Union of the Crazy Monkey People from Outer Space. FL sits in with them pre-gig in at the Newport…

To read part one click HERE
To read part two click HERE
To read the Rosemount gig review, click HERE

Gig 3: Sunday 28/3/09. Newport Hotel, Fremantle.

7.23pm Drummer Zane Rosanoski is leaning against an old Toyota in the Newport’s backstage car park as he chats about seeing the band’s profile grow around Australia. “We were over the road just before; there was this girl with a Mammal t-shirt on, and it’s like … it’s awesome man,” he says. If vocalist Zeke Ox was having this conversation, there’d be a rapid-fire stream of analytical, articulate commentary on the subject, whereas Zane sums it up with natural emphasis, some pauses for thought and sporadic loss for words. “We were talking about, y’know … you see that Mammal t-shirt, and they’ve chosen to put it on. It’s quite humbling man, because these people want to be seen in it,” he continues. “They want to represent, to be part of this club, this culture.”

7.33pm Upstairs in the green room. Zeke and bassist Nick Adams are holding court with a dozen people, with Pete and Zane throwing in the occasional zinger. It’s cramped, noisy and jovial. For the first time on this tour, the green room actually has a fridge – a swanky glass-fronted number – instead of a bunch of eskies on the floor. Mammal have hit the big time.

7.38pm Guitarist and manager Pete Williamson fills us in on the band’s upcoming second live album. Mammal’s first priority when they get back to Victoria will be sifting through the recordings (from a series of recent gigs at Sydney’s Annandale Hotel). “We’ve got all the live tracking back; we just have to figure out which bits we’re going to mix,” says Pete. “So it shouldn’t be far off, probably a couple of months. We still don’t have a title for it though. At the moment the artwork concept is some kind of psychedelic style, like a 1970s gig poster but on CD; we’ll try to use one of those digipaks that don’t have any plastic in – œem – the full environmentally conscious one, so you can burn it if you don’t like it,” he smiles.

7.52pm “The Union of the Crazy Monkey People From Outer Space,” says Zeke admiringly of the opening act’s name. Pete elaborates: “When I wrote that name on the time sheet, I decided to abbreviate it, but it actually has more letters in the abbreviation than our band name does in total,” he says, counting them out with his fingers. “I had to do it in font size 12. Everyone else was in like 48,” Pete concludes.
“These are the high-powered business decisions Pete makes all day,” grins Zeke. “Font sizes and acronyms.”

8.00pm Zeke holds up his red and black – œsockings’ with a look of suspicion. “Have you washed those fucking stocking things yet man?” asks Nick. “Nah,” Zeke responds, launching into a parable. “Charlie Watts from The Rolling Stones was asked – œWhat’s the hardest thing about touring?’ and he said – œdoing laundry’… just actually finding time to fucking get the laundry done.”

8.06pm Pete on organising the tour: “I thought we wouldn’t break even. I really thought we wouldn’t because we invested a lot in café posters, ads in street press and magazines, online advertising – and all that stuff really adds up. Street press is more expensive over here than on the east coast, maybe because it’s smaller and there’s not as much competition or whatever; ads are just more expensive. You have return flights for five of us, accommodation and hire car, agency fees and support band costs; you quickly run up a massive tab,” he explains. “You can turn over 10 or 15 grand in a weekend and walk away with nothing but a great time and a fan base that’s hopefully gonna come back and tell more people for next time.”

Luckily for Mammal, that WA fan base has apparently grown since the Big Day Out, and they’ve ensured that this trip exceed expectations. “We’ve been able to break even and maybe even make a bit of money, which I didn’t think would be possible. It’s been a success.”

8.12pm Zeke, talking with a visitor on the topic of sound engineers: “Jarrad is our sound guy,” he begins. “We lock him in the hotel room and let him out for gigs. You should’ve heard his mix last night man, it was bullshit. So. Fucking. Good. About 20 people after the show just went – œthat mix was awesome, who’s your sound guy?’’
But then he tells of one dissenter with a hidden agenda. “One guy was like – œDude, who did your sound engineering tonight?’ and I pointed and – œJarrad – he’s our sound guy, he’s awesome, hey?’, and he goes – œWell, actually I reckon he’s the weakest link’. I said – œLet me guess; you’re a sound engineer’ and he goes – œYeah’. So I went – œFuck off mate, get your own gig’.”
It seems this sort of sniping is a regular ploy to usurp sound guys with good jobs. “It’s really common in sound engineering because it’s so competitive; it’s hard to get a paid gig,” posits Zeke.

8.22pm Zane is warming up, sticks in hand, tapping out beats on his thighs. Tonight is the first time FL has seen him warming up pre-gig on this tour. “Do you want to know why?” asks Pete, grinning. Zane and Zeke are also chuckling. “Last night they went to the theatre to see Shane Warne The Musical and got back just before we had to play,” he says, interrupted by Zane who cuts the anecdote short – “I played like shit,” he beams. “He wasn’t on his – œA’ game,” jests Pete.

8.31pm Pete, on not using earplugs during gigs: “A lot of bands use in-ear [monitoring], but we play off each other so much that we need to feel that energy and live punch that comes from the volume. So we probably are gonna lose our hearing eventually and have a ringing in our ears and whinge about it to our grandkids, but it’s kind of unavoidable,” he says with no hint of regret.

8.40pm Zeke finishes doing some breathing exercises. Zane is stretching out his shoulders and arms, while Nick touches his toes. They’re talking about the hazards of mixing it with the punters during shows. “That woman who grabbed my balls, she really pinched my left testicle,” says Zeke. “Who are these fucking people?” he asks, much to the mirth of the other guys. “Nut grabbers,” laughs Nick. Pete completes a quick set of push-ups and tells his own injurious tale. “It’s like when I was in Wollongong and I got on the table to do the guitar solo, and that dude just punched me in the nuts,” he recounts, drawing applause from Nick and Zeke. “I don’t know if he meant to do it or if he was just excited about the guitar solo and was like – œyeah!’” says Pete, miming the fan’s arm thrusting into the air. “It’ll be interesting to see if the band gets to the point where people will actually be ripping your clothes off.” Zeke has news for him. “Yeah they will; they already do,” he states. “Like last night, the first time I got down, that group of people up the front just started grabbing me and tearing my clothes.”
Pete wonders if it could overshadow the music. “It’s so … y’know, the showbiz value of it; people can be at the bar having a drink and watching the show or whatever, and then if you get in their face, it gives that showbiz element. They may not get into the tunes; they go – œand then he was walking on the bar…’”
Zeke considers it something to strive further towards. “I think that’s a big part of what we’ll achieve,” he replies. “People will come for entertainment. It’s as simple as that. You’ll go – œI’m not a rock fanatic, but, fuck; Mammal – it’s 20 bucks and I know I’m gonna have a fucking cracker of a night with my mates, full stop. The better we get and the more crazy shit we do…” he trails off. From here the conversation quickly degenerates into plans for flying harness rigs, pyrotechnics and rolling drum cages.

Check out the candid tour pics at the gallery HERE

EXCLUSIVE TO FASTERLOUDER: Enjoy this teaser clip of Mammal’s unreleased new song Tempo and the Groove, filmed live at soundcheck in WA. [
MAMMAL – teaser clip ‘Tempo and the Groove’ from Jeifer Walker on Vimeo.]