Rocking And Rolling With MachPelican And The Gimmies
Tue 12th Jul, 2005 in Features
Mach Pelican are one of our hardest working bands, having played over 700 shows since their inception in Western Australia in 1996. Coming together after being bored by their studies, Toshi8Beat, Atsu and K-Rock fused their mutual love of ‘70s punk to become Mach Pelican.
Since moving to Melbourne, their high-voltage punk rock has become a well regarded, widely loved fixture in the industry. And now, after supporting some of rock’s big guns: from The Donnas to the Lunachicks, Mach Pelican are beginning to throw their support behind bands we’d not normally see tour here.
Mach Pelican’s first venture into tour support was intended to be with Guitar Wolf in support of their last album. However due to Billy Bass Wolf’s sudden passing, the tour was postponed indefinitely. Now, just over 2 months on, Mach Pelican are giving it another shot, this time bringing Japanese rockers, The Gimmies to their spiritual home. After finishing high school and moving to Tokyo, the yet-to-be-formed-Gimmies began to feel boredom set in, so they did the only thing they could think of: they started a band as well.
On the eve of The Gimmies’ first ever Australian tour in support of their latest release Phonic Souls (the CD that should be in every home, according to the band), I had a little chat with the two bands about their tour expectations, The Queers and the future.
The Gimmies have just flown into Melbourne, what are you doing between now and your first gig?
The Gimmies: Eat tasty sandwiches!
Are there any bands you’re planning on checking out while you’re here?
TG: Airbourne, Dimension 12, Sin City, The Cosy Hobos (LucyAllyKat).
With Mach Pelican and The Gimmies heading out on tour together, should we expect some crazy, on the road antics?
TG: Yes, you can expect to see a six pack of Japanese rockers in drunk, showing tattoos and trying to talk to Oz girls. Or even spewing in a toilet.
A few musicians have noted the main difference between Japanese and Australian crowds is that Japanese ones are far more appreciative of the band in front of them. Are you worried about possible crowd reactions?
TG: Not at all. We expect the crowd going crazy with our music and seeing people flying. Bring it on!
The Gimmies have said that Australia is their spiritual home – why has it taken so long to come out here?
TG: Nobody invited us here before.
So should we expect a few more visits after this?
TG: If you want. Maybe you can invite us here next time.
This year, Mach Pelican have made plans to bring out a few bands we normally wouldn’t see down here. Is there a reason for this?
Toshi8Beat: We always want to bring the cool bands who a major promoters won’t give a fuck to. There are so many great bands around and everyone knows it’s hard to set up a tour and make money off it. But I think if we try to work out most of things by ourselves and save money, we can actually do it. There is a lot of efforts considering income, that’s all. I just want to keep trying much as I can.
It’s been a few years since Mach Pelican released Pulsate To The Backbeat, when can we expect a new release?
T: We have been working on a new album and done six demo tracks already. Another seven, eight to go and we will record all of them in October then hopefully single out in December and release a new album in March 2006.
Is there anywhere you can still pick up past Mach Pelican releases?
T: We are setting up a new website now so in a few weeks, we will have a new one with a lot of merchandise section in. You can simply buy online.
Mach Pelican are a pretty hard gigging band, do you ever get sick of it? How do you keep your gigs fresh?
T: We just love to play music, basically. Anywhere we go, we try our best to show our best performance. To keep our gig fresh, we always put some new songs or cover songs in a set so people wont get bored of it, I hope.
And finally, what else is on the cards for Mach Pelican and The Gimmies for the rest of the year?
T: Recording, releasing and touring. More tour plans in my mind such as Electric Eel Shock (Japan), Chixdiggit (Canada), The Queers (US) and Brahman (Japan). Hope I can make all of them happen!
TG: We will go to USA this September for a short tour and we will join a 50,60s RnB cover comp supposed to be released from In-Fidelity but its not confirmed yet.
You can catch The Gimmies in Australia on any of the following dates:
12th July @ The Tote Hotel, Collingwood with The Cosy Hobos (LucyAllyKat), Mach Pelican & Sin City
14th July @ Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne with Giants of Science & Angry Kid
15th July @ Crown & Anchor Hotel, Adelaide with Mach Pelican & Ramonettes
16th July @ The Espy, St Kilda with Mach Pelican, The Specimens, Osterberg + many others
You
said on the 14th Jul, 2005