Hoodoo Gurus

Wed 11th Nov, 2009 in Features

It’s 11.15am on a Friday, and Brad Shepherd has only just woken up. That’s a little bit rock – œn roll, isn’t it? “It s unprecedented in recent years, but I actually got a sleep in last night. I’m still snapping out of it so forgive me if I stumble!”

Shepherd is guitarist for one of Australia’s seminal rock groups The Hoodoo Gurus. They’re your quintessential Aussie band. “Is that what they say about us? How vulgar!” Shepherd jokes. “Actually I suppose if we are viewed as a – œquintessential Aussie band’ that’s a good thing. I just think of us as a rock – œn roll band. That’s all we tried to do: Write good songs, play rock – œn roll and give it our all. Give people their money’s worth. So if that seems quintessentially Aussie then I’m all for it.”

Le Hoodoo Gurus formed in Sydney in 1981. They released successful debut single Leilani, then two members dropped out and two came in (including Shepherd). Over the next few years the band dropped the – œLe’, released Stoneage Romeos, Mars Needs Guitars! and Blow Your Cool! to critical acclaim. Maybe it was their love of exclamation points, but somewhere in there they also managed to crack the notoriously difficult American market.

The success wasn’t necessarily expected. “We thought it was a remote possibility that we might be able to get a recording contract when the band first started,” says Shepherd. “I just did it ‘cause it was a lot of fun.”

What set the Gurus apart from other bands of that era, and this one, was their unique sound. While they drew on many influences – Shepherd laughs that the opening riff of Leilani is nicked straight from Suzie Quatro – the sheer number of them meant that the final sound was something new.

“Well, I just wish that more new young bands these days would do that, instead of going through dad’s old record collection and finding a copy of Joy Division’s Closer or Exile On Mainstreet and going, – œThat’s it! That’s what we’ve got to sound like!’ I don’t listen to a whole lot of new stuff. I’ve reached sort of a point of diminishing returns, where I go, – œWell, that just reminds me of The Fall or some sort of post-punk act from 1979.’ It’s too easy to pick what the influence is.”

Despite his strong feelings about music today, there are still modern sounds that Shepherd enjoys. “I do like Jack Ladder’s approach, because even going in that direction is kind of strange, and I’m all for strangeness. A skinny white guy singing in that voice and playing that sort of music, it catches me off guard. So I dunno, maybe it has that sort of – œ60s feel or influence to it, but it catches me off guard at least. That’s what you want from music; to be surprised. You need something to hook you in.”

On the sleeve of the vinyl Stoneage Romeos, a small note in the bottom right corner states: “If you enjoy this album, please help the band. Get your friends to buy a copy, not tape yours.”

It had never crossed my mind that pirating was a problem then. Now that it’s so much easier, popular and controversial, I assume Shepherd still feels the same way. “Of course I do. You’d hardly expect the plumber to come round to your house and fix your pipes for free. Like you’re entitled. It’s how I make my living so if people think they can just take it for free, then that impacts on me directly.”

Musing for a moment, Shepherd continues, “It’s funny though. As much of a concern as it was for us, good things actually came from people copying the records. We managed to tour Brazil twice really based on Brazilian surfers becoming aware of the Hoodoo Gurus and buying bootleg albums in Bali or copying friends’ copies on a tape. So I guess it’s not all that bad.”

Summer’s on its way and as the temperature warms up every man and his dog puts on a festival. “Our tour manager tells me that there are actually more festivals in Australia than days of the year. Things are changing aren’t they? Whilst it’s probably not a good time to get a foothold, what with the Hopetoun – a venerable institution in Australia – closing. But if you can get to the point where you can be on a festival, there’s plenty of work!”

The Hoodoo Gurus are playing the Day At The Park Festival at Cronulla this weekend, along with You Am I, The Beautiful Girls, Ash Grunwald, Kate Miller Heidke, Bertie Blackman and others. It’s one of the many glorious outdoor celebrations of tunes this season.

“Part of the reason we agreed to do this festival was that it was a smaller community-based festival. They’ve had some troubling times out in the Shire the last couple of years. It might be naïve of me to even go down this path, but I hope there might be some healing going on with that. I think it’s a great idea to do a smaller festival around there. We’ve had a long association with the Cronulla Sharks. Dave’s supported the team for like the last 30 years and we’ve done benefits for the club itself. So it’ll be great for us to go down there and play at Shark Park.”

This is the first we’ve heard from the Gurus in a while, but it certainly won’t be the last. Their new album is on its way for next year. Holding it back during the Christmas period of So Fresh and Twelfth Man releases, the album is in the studio having the final touches put on by Ed Stasium, producer of Crank and Kinky.

“We now have the time to do the microscopic tinkering and to turn the bass guitar up .3 of a decibel and that sort of thing. We’ll be touring the album in 2010. We don’t expect to be at home much at all next year. We’re so happy with the album. It sounds exactly like the Hoodoo Gurus and yet some of the material is really uncharted territory for us. So I’m pretty confident that people will be pleasantly surprised.”

Hoodoo Gurus headline A Day At The Park at Toyota Stadium in Cronulla this Saturday 14 November, proudly presented by FasterLouder. Check out the playing times and site map.