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Teaching Old Bulls New Tricks With LINK MEANIE · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I am LINKMENI and I'm from the Meanies obviously given
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: my last name, and we have a bunch of shows
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: come up, hopefully which you have the dates.
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: I do indeed, mate, I've I've had twenty four hours
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: to prepare for this, so i think I've got everything right.
• 0:17
  Speaker 3: Thanks to join us today.
• 0:18
  Speaker 4: Brother, Sorry, thanks for joining us. Not a problem. It's
• 0:22
  Speaker 4: been bloody busy today.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: I've got rehearsal and bad and the house is a
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: pig style so in between interviews I've been cleaning up
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: and haven't stopped.
• 0:32
  Speaker 4: I don't just.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Put like a that screenshot on on the top and
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: then you can't see all on mess so it doesn't
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: really matter.
• 0:39
  Speaker 4: That's that's kind above my pay grade doing backgrounds.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they don't always work, mate, so as you separate,
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: the meetings have been pretty busy of like playing shows
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: and set in the room on fire, and that continues
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: this weekend when you head over Western Australia for three shows.
• 0:57
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's going to be.
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: Had.
• 1:00
  Speaker 4: The body pretty shit.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was just ruining the selling the comfy chair
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: that I had here and I'm just sitting on a
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: drum store on my back's fucking killing.
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: Oh I know.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: I've done so much damage over the years that I
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: knew it had come back and bite me at some stays.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: And it's kind of like once you get into your fifties,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: it's kind of getting were getting more closer to sixty
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: now another.
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: Four years for three years.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, did you find out to do like stretches and
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: stuff now that you never used to do?
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: Just I never do, there's your problem, mate.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: The only time I was ever fit in my life
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: is when I was doing probably the turn of Turn
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: of the millennium, when I was doing Toungu Fu, and
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: I was actually quite fit then and used to stretch
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: and do all that stuff, and yeah, oh god, I'm
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: a catch potato.
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: Now.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: My last time I had the urge the exercise, I
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: laid back down again until the urge past.
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: I got better.
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: So you headed over to the w A.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: Row for the three shows, and one of those shows
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: with Spider Bait, who also played a few more times
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: towards the end of this month.
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: Made like two hands didn't go way back when you.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I mean played some of the earliest shows together.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: Used to be well, still good friends, you know, but
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: I don't see that often. But we used to see
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: a lot more of each other back then. But yeah,
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: we wouldn't be going over the per probably if it
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: wasn't for them taken as it's too expensive, you know.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: And we just have no idea how the shows are
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: going to go.
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: So we know the Spider Bait will not go back,
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: poor people, captive audience. I will see how the side
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: shows go.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: This will test your memory, bro, do you remember the
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: very first time you ever played with Spider Bait like
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: you thought of their show?
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: I reckon it probably would have been at the Tote,
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: I'd imagine. And no, they were great shows, you know,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: like that back then they were just such a kind
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: of such wild shows and and just the just the
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: atmosphere was amazing.
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: It was.
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: Indeed.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: Then after that, I think you got a few more
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: shows coming up. You head to Queensland with Dad Fights
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: for shows at Norton's Music Factory on the thirty first
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: of July, Crag on the first August, and an afternoon
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: show beneath Thive Bar on August the second. Right, You
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: don't see enough afternoon Sunday session gigs anymore, dear.
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: No, so it's rarely now those, isn't it?
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: There used to be great and all the rock against
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: works and all that you used to doing well in
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: Melbourne at least, I'm not sure that in the state,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: but we ah, yes, I miss them now.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: You have to go to work on some Mondays. Now
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: you've got no excuse. Do you got to be playing
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: those shows with Dad fight? As we said, they're an
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: awesome up and coming band, full of attitude and talent, Like,
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: how did you old boats look up with them young puffs?
• 3:56
  Speaker 4: Yeah, well, we did a show with them.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: I think it was at the Brunswick Ballroom and they
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: were great. I don't think their singer was singing. I
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: think that maybe the bass player was singing. That was
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: still great. But yeah, just lovely, lovely people and a
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: good band.
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: I mean, you don't really need any other reason.
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: They can drink beer as well, that'd be a flincher.
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: I'm assuming they can. I didn't.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: I don't know if I had much of a drink
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: with them that night, but we had a probably a
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: couple backstage. Yeah, I'm looking forward that getting a single out.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: It's going to be fun.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, You've got a seven inch split single that both
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: the You bands have contributed one track to you so
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: that doesn't come out to it just before the trow
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: does it.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: I think it might actually be available on artists first.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: I think I was told to say, right, they.
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: Have to send me little notes, just remember to.
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: Touch up about your song on there there? What what's
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: it called?
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: Blacklist? And it's actually an old song that we recorded
• 5:05
  Speaker 4: on an overseas release that you wouldn't be able to
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: get anymore, I don't think. And we never played it live,
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: and I always.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: Thought it was a really good song and wanted to
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: do it live, So I thought if I put it
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: on this single, because we didn't have time to kind
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: of actually get in the studio, so I thought if
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: we put on there, that might force the hand of
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: the band to start to learn it.
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: And you have to play live at least anyway.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: You guys have been around for ages man done pretty
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: much everything there is to be done in the industry.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: But how do you go ready, you get on the
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: road with some young fellas like Dad fight like do
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: you get the channel at all? You know?
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: Like do you feel like you've got to take them
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: under your wing?
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: And I feel like young people are way more advanced,
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: and we try, we try to kind of like we
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: use some black magic on too and try to sap
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: their youthful energy and leave them a drained husk and
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: we walk out of there kind of.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they hand up wheel and yeah, out in a
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: wheelchair and they're still on it. Come on, come on,
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: you just touched on us a little bit, right. But
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: it's been sixty years, did you guys have dropped that album?
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: So is there any broad plans corrected by that in
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: the near future?
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: Yeah?
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: This six years, isn't it, because well we yeah, we
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: did release it and then COVID stuck everything up, so
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: we kind of re released I think a couple of
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: years later.
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah, well there was no where to.
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: Play love you thinking?
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, uh, with we've got the idea of just we
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: released Zamboni and with the B side, what was it?
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: I agree?
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: So we'll do another four or five singles and when
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: we've got enough for an album, we're just going to
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: put it out like that nice low stress way to
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: you know, record an album.
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: That's the way it should be made. Shouldn't any stress
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: involved in music at all?
• 7:02
  Speaker 4: Not? The stage of the main is it's all about leisure, leisure, leisure.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: But Lesia is quite postumde I like it. She would
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: have got after that.
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: And then October you're.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: Off to listen more for Betty Bill five to be
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: held over second, third, and fourth of October. Right, there's
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: a stack of bands over three days, man, And and
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: then last year's gig.
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: It's going to be a fucking cracker.
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: A lot going on. Yeah, it's about time quiet.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we've got some stuff quite a bit going on
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: early next year too, which is good, already booked.
• 7:40
  Speaker 4: Yeah, well I certainly need the money.
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: So.
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: It's going to be a great part of k wait
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: to do all that.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: Then the guys put on festival too. They putting you
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: up at their places. I was with franken Bok last
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: year and they put the stuff at their place. And
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: if they are, I'm.
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: Going to get I'm going to give you a little warning.
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: If they are, they've got a massive fucking snake that
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: thinks it's human.
• 8:03
  Speaker 4: We probably won't be staying there.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I nearly the other ends I didn't was because
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: the snaker was between me and the exit.
• 8:10
  Speaker 4: But I get so that's just a pet, is it.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: It's it's not a pet, but it just comes around
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: and hangs out with him and ship and.
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: I'm terrified.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: They were saying, I don't be surprised if I jumped
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: in bed with you and the curls up. And yeah,
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: I was fucking shipping bricks the whole time, so I
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: thought i'd give your heads up if you were staying there.
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: Oh my god, thanks for that too, Keen about that.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: Fuck?
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: No, you guys actually turn forty as a band in
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: a couple of years.
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: Man, Yeah, touching up any ideas.
• 8:43
  Speaker 4: On what to do with that. I don't kill ourselves.
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: That's one way to end it.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: I guess it happened off nicely. Yeah, I'm too early
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: to tell this stage, but I'm sure there'll be a
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: big party. I'm sure we'll have a private party and
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: a yeah, a public event.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: Probably should have said that she is making people for
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: the next two years, asking if you.
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: Invite, it will just be for the band members.
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: There is some near dunis. Don't end with that, as
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: you say made.
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: You've got your other band bag full of bees who
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: recently dropped your new stingle couple so for a mad
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: and was about about the thing.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: Uh, Basically that band started with just me and a
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: backing track car and I was playing guitar, but it
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: was it wasn't as convincing as I would have liked,
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: and I ended up getting Matt in the band originally
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: with the backing tracks and me and his partner joined
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: on key guitar at the time with the backing tracks,
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: but they just kept stuffing up the backing track.
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: So I cracked the ships and broke the.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: Band up, and then like a year later we I
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: don't know who Roaster subject, but we decided to get
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: it going as a proper band. We got one of
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: their friends, Chip Waldale on bass, so now we're actually
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: a proper band without backing tracks, and so you know,
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: if we fuck up, it's our fault.
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: And you're gonna have to find another reason to quit.
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: This time, I've got it excuses.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: But we're going to yeah launch the Odd Couple at
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: the Toade in Melbourne on the sixteenth of July, so
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: that's going to be good. With my brother's band who
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: used to be the singer and songwriter Snout. His new band,
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: Heed of the Squandered Millions are going to be playing
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: doing a double single launch and we've got Captain Beep
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: Boop on opening up, which is going to be really interesting.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: They play on like telephones or something. It's some weird
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: ass kind of I've seen look it up Captain Beep boop.
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: All right, well for sure it's interesting. Yeah.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: No, along with that new single, you've got another one
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: you drop too, called Fever Dream not Money Go. So
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: they're part of a new album you've got coming out.
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: Yeah, we've got the album. We've already got the test pressing.
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: I'm not sure.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: I think because of timing issues, maybe later this year
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: or even early next year.
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: I'm just a cheer.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: Squad are quite a busy record label and they want
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: to sort of obviously give the right amount of attention
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: to all their records. So I'll just have to see
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: how that goes.
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: Why that's sick with you? Then? As an artist, So
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: you put your heart and soul into this album and
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: it is.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: Finished and ready go, Like, I know, shit happens, you
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: can't do anything about it. But is it frustrating, like
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: you think that might not come out till next year
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: or do you've got it ready to go now?
• 11:35
  Speaker 5: Ah?
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: But you know, I'm pretty pragmatic about things and philosophical
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: about things nowadays, and I just like go with the fly.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: I just I just have so much fun doing Bagful
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: of Bees that nothing could put a damp on such
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: a great bunch of guys. And you know, I love them,
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: love playing with them, and it's so much fun. Whereas
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: the mean is are a bunch of pricks. No, I
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: still enjoy doing that's fun. I love them as well.
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: Do you remember the first time you ever heard one
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: of your songs played on radio?
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: And what song was it? And where were you?
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: I think I was in an unemployment program.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: I was probably about sixteen, sixteen seventeen, I think in
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: my first band, the Hybrid, which was just kind of
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: like a I guess for one of one of the
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: better descriptions sixties influence, kind of like just poppy your
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: garage sort of stuff. And we got our demo tape
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: played on Neil Rogers Show or something like that and
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: on Yeah or on one of other PBS or Triple
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: R someone's show.
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: And remember hearing it at work and just like, oh,
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: that's me.
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: Should it be dippy? Different? When I guess you're seeing.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: In the studio one minute and the next Mentors player
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: and at you three speakers, you'd be like, it's a bit.
• 12:53
  Speaker 4: Of a thrill.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: I got to say that that sort of just goes
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: downhill from there.
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: Thrill just read for him. Well, if you're hear on
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: the radio now, it's just like, yeah, of course it is.
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: You know, as we say, the meanings have got a
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: hell of a lot of stuff on. So where's the
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: best place people can keep up to date with it
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: and get themselves tickets?
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: I guess the Meni's website is probably the best place
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: to go.
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: I'm not damn, they didn't give you that information.
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: Now, I was just thinking you're looking for your post it.
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: I am the worst. I kind of stressed him.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: You've got to give whoever's doing the interview all the information.
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: That's why I try to copy it all down just
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: in case.
• 13:40
  Speaker 5: Yeah so or uh cheers squad. Many of you after
• 13:46
  Speaker 5: records and stuff and many stuff artists first for like
• 13:50
  Speaker 5: merchant stuff.
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: You know, very nice.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: Orry, brother, I won't be the Queensland shows is I'm
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: going to be over at Whacking. I gonna held up
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: be heading down through our FISTI bill for sure they
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: up and we'll have several beers.
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: All right, mate. The look forward to it.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: H