Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / Keeping It 'Real Life' With LUKE GOWER From COG

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Keeping It 'Real Life' With LUKE GOWER From COG · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:00
  Oh, how's the day train too bad? Not just working work today,
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  just on a chippy by trades. Yeah, up at the bottom of this
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  massive mountain in mummy actually building this wolf or kind of a deck that goes
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  out onto a natural like a mineral pool. Right. I've been a feen
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  of you guys for bloody since you started, and I never knew you were
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  a chippy, So there you go. Yeah, well I only did that
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  after I went and did my like my full apprenticeship, my sheer age apprenticeship,
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  after we had a bit of a hiatus for a couple of years.
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  It's I've only been fully qualified for a couple of years, but I've always
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  wanted to be chip in and so I just went and did it. So
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  yeah, absolutely absolutely only Fly Music paid. Yeah yeah, yeah, there
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  was too much of a gamble, you know, like when once you start
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  having children, you can't really rely on on that, you know, and
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  you can't you aren't doing gig every every every night of the week. Also,
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  that's right, mate, that's right to the games. Games definitely changed,
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  yeah yeah, yeah, all right, now on that the Vinyl tour,
• 1:15
  this is what you guys that are coming up next. Now, first,
• 1:19
  and foremost, I hope this isn't a play on words this tour U
• 1:23
  no, no, no, you won't be getting you won't be getting me
• 1:26
  up there in Denham to Apparent Games and that that question went well, way
• 1:37
  better than I thought it was going to. So I'm not leaving there.
• 1:40
  But obviously, obviously a few years ago now through Rare Records, you guys
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  released your first two EPs put together through the awesome Rare Records shout out to
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  Doug, and obviously I'm thinking along the lines of maybe the two albums that
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  you guys have don't might be following suit. Would I be close to the
• 2:01
  mark there? Yeah, yeah, yeah, they've already been. I think
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  there's pre and stuff that's already been kind of yeah going on. And that
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  was the kind of thing we always wanted to to do all of it on
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  vinyl. Let me just that was the first cap off the rent was JV
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  one and two, as you said, and then we just sawt you know,
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  let's just do the other ones. You know, everyone everyone seems to
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  love a vinyl you know, mate, you don't have a record player people,
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  and you see people hanging them up and doing stuff with them. So
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  exactly exactly, and and the thing is like and it's a shout out too,
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  because I remember picking up this. So when you guys played two shows
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  in a row, it was a few years ago now at the at the
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  Triffic. Yeah. Yeah, So the quality of these vinyl is unreal,
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  Like it's it's the thickest of thick. Just visiting one, you know,
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  Yeah, it's good because like when you're you know, and I've been lucky
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  enough to get you know, it was a limited press and all that,
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  and there's really obviously there's a nostalgia that goes to the record, you know,
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  and yeah, and it's great to see. Yeah, I was looking
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  back like you got like one of my what do we got? The new
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  normal? Like, man, it's it's coming up twenty years like yeah,
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  I'll sleep out of that ship. Oh, like fucking hell. Just when
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  you think you're still a bit young and then someone tells you that you're like
• 3:37
  no, yeah, yeah, well well yeah you guys. You guys are
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  the band I've seen most ever. Well yeah, of twenty four times and
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  in three or four states. I saw He's in Bunbury once. That was
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  fun. Yeah, And the last time I actually met her and did the
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  same thing. Actually, yeah, I used to love was always a bit
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  close to the heart. Yeah yeah, yeah, you guys played at the
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  I think you guys played at the friggin there was at the show grounds.
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  I think it was there. Yeah, maybe, yeah, I think there
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  was that it was there was a few. Yeah, yeah mate, I
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  remember I saw you guys. Think it was a big day out. Oh
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  god knows going. I remember hearing about yours and you know, the rest
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  is history. So I'm glad you kept coming back for more. Yeah,
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  absolutely, mate, absolutely, So obviously you guys, you know, you've
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  got the two albums, you've got the toy p's and you've slowly sort of
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  so just trickled out the old single last couple of each couple of years.
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  Yeah. Yeah, where are you guys at with all that sort of stuff?
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  Obviously, you know, dropping sort of singles, and you've just got
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  to keep dropping singles every now and then. Look like I think they're thinking
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  behind that was that we know we have we've we've still got a lot of
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  music, Like, we've still had a lot of music that we've written back
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  in the day. And you know, when I say that, it's not
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  they're not songs. They're just kind of things that we like and we explore.
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  And for the most part, mate, like our lives have just dramatically
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  kind of changed over those times that we used to be touring and we've only
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  got limited amount of time I suppose to do things, so you know,
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  and and and in saying that, but I think, you know, like
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  what we're talking about before the games kind of changed. It's like people aren't
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  really buying most people aren't buying albums. They don't they just don't buy albums.
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  They just they just buy hear a song and then they go and down.
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  So and so you know, it's not that's not to say that I
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  don't want to or we don't want to do another album. I feel really
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  strongly about doing another album. I think we've got one one more onus at
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  least. But it's just a it's just a time thing, mane. It's
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  a time. It's a time thing. You know, children, you know,
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  partners work, It's hard exactly, That's it's just life. And that's
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  kind of obviously those things take a preference for for all of us over over
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  COG and you know, for us to do another man, we're like it's
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  like, you know, three perfectionists in a band. You know, it's
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  enough trying to It's hard enough, like agreeing on things, you know,
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  let alone kind of getting the time to kind of do it, but to
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  take us to take us a year to actually try and do something like that.
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  And that's and we don't have to be getting paid like some kind of
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  wage while we're doing it. You can't kind of you know, it's hard
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  to kind of work for Monday to Friday and then just go to a studio
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  and turn on the song machine, the songmaking machine. You know, it
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  doesn't work that way. You know. I like to be not fully fully
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  immersed in it, mate, you know what I mean and going for it.
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  And you know, I don't know, man, Like I'm not saying
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  no, but I'm saying it's It's definitely something I'd love to do, and
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  there's definitely enough material and I think, you know, I do think if
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  we did, we we'd be doing it in the next couple of years,
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  you know, because I definitely don't want to be one of those dudes that's
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  like sixty five saying that, oh this is the best stuff we've ever You
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  on't near that from me because it's just fucking mate, they know, for
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  well, it's not the best stuff. It never is. No, well
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  that's right, it's pretty pretty rare. Maybe I'll try and break them mild
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  her. Yeah, yeah, yeah, And you know, I hung up
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  the boots. Was in heavy metal bands for twenty three years and I just
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  I got to a point I want to I'm done. Well I'm done for
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  a while. That's you know. But it only takes like a little song,
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  I little thing, the kind of you know, every time I play
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  live, mate, I mean, I just love that fucking feeling, you
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  know, I just always have And yeah, well yeah, well, speaking
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  of being immersed, that's sort of that's the live that's the live cog show.
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  You you guys engage like a few others and in my opinion, in
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  my very biased opinion, but it's a fan a b a big part of
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  it, you know, to go out there and treat you know, twenty
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  people at fucking the Young Cherry festivals are the same as you know, two
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  thousand people at the Trifford. It's the same. It's the same thing for
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  me, you know, like obviously you get different feelings from different crowds and
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  stuff. But I'm going in there with the same intention. Yeah, and
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  that was you know, that was kind of like words. I think even
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  when I first started off off off a lot of people, you know,
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  just just going there and fucking hammer it, you know, getting there and
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  give it some curry. Yeah, yeah, exactly exactly mate. And yeah,
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  I like, obviously things have slowed down as far as the amount that
• 9:20
  Coke's doing and all that. But do you find like, like though you're
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  not touring as much and all that, there is a there is a bit
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  of legacy stuff going. I think when people go to a cold show,
• 9:33
  they know what to expect, right, And do you feel like from those
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  days where you're touring all the time to now, does it feel because it's
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  a little bit not as constant. Yeah, it's like it's like having a
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  Coca cola, right, yeah, or you have a city, you know,
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  and you don't smoke for a long time. He's, oh god,
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  that's good. Does it's not a feel like that? It is good to
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  be back out doing this for a week or so and then getting back to
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  life. I love it. Before I've always loved playing live and I thought
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  that was our kind of you know, one of our strong suits, if
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  you will. And it's just always been something I think COG's been good at,
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  like and you know, and people have enjoyed coming to those shows and
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  and you know, so yeah, I get a great feeling when I come
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  and play live, but I wish I could do it more of these days.
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  I kind of froth on my kids being able to come and see because
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  they none of them had really actually knew that about me. It looks like
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  for a while for a long time. Yeah, and then we had that
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  to it that you were talking about with the two shows and just sold out
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  in fucking seconds. It was really weird. It was like the band was
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  bigger than ever it had ever happened, Like it was really bizarre. And
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  then they came to a flat was their first show, like coming there just
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  like what, who the fuck are you? You're the dude covered in saw
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  dust that comes home and being floor actually at the front. What a contrast?
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  Like, why are they asking you to sign something? You're a loser?
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  It was good to look cool, good to look cool for an hour
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  and then and then now I'm back back to back to the floor. XO.
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  They get both wells, Yeah they get but they appreciate it. I
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  could. I could see that they appreciated it. Got to spark you know,
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  maybe a bit of musical war and musical interesting side into them, which
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  is fantastic. Yeah. Yeah, they're They're a great marker of time.
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  Children. I have to myself, yep. And I remember all those years
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  ago. I think Flynn wrote, oh you guys write bird a feather and
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  if that's I'm not mistaken, that is about that sort of contrast having children,
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  that's about my nation and kind of you know, trying to explain to
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  them kind of certain things when you're going away for my nine months, I
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  think we were away in the Straights for and trying to explain that to a
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  to a kid, you know, why are you going in corners? That's
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  you know, it can be fucking it can be hard. Yeah, it's
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  like you torn torn between the two. Yeah, explained. There a lot
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  of musics in that in that boat. Yeh yeah, a lot of people,
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  you know. Yeah, Well i'll give you, I'll give you the
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  scoop. But I don't want to don't want to do this too much because
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  I know you're a humble dude, and you're a humble bunch of guys.
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  But that song was pretty pretty prolific for myself and my wife actually upping and
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  moving to Queensland all those years ago, and we had two girls, six
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  and three and I was touring around in a band. We were no one
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  knew who we were. We cut an album and it was away every weekend.
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  And you know, I remember, hear that song is gone. I
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  trust this band or trust what Flinn's saying. And you know you love the
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  tunes. You're like, you know what. It sparked a watch. It
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  was part of the thought my wife Kat and I we always that song.
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  Yeah, well remember that song was still freaking listened to it. But that's
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  cool. Had an impact. Yeah, that's a pair of music, mate,
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  And I know, I know some people are a bit funny with hearing
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  that sort of stuff, but I just throw it out and that's what it
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  does. And that's the sort of effect that colg has had on a lot
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  of people. I know. It's like yeah, yeah after that. When
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  I was younger, I think, mate, because you know, I get
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  letters in the male and they are pretty in depth letters. Yeah, like
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  a suicide kind of you know, fucking you know, full life changing kind
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  of letters and I was always you know, fucking sucking a bomb while I
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  was reading is this for real? Like this is like is this this fucking
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  I can't believe this? But yeah, you know you realize and actually,
• 14:00
  you know, people people do draw a lot from from from music and their
• 14:05
  favorite bands. And yeah, it took me a bit, took me back
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  a bit, you know what I mean. Yeah, And you know,
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  Australia has got a lot of things, some good, some bad, like
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  every country, but we have a we have a limited selection of great bands
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  because of the population and how frigging hard it is to tour this country.
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  But you know, that makes absolute sense that that's the sort of effect that
• 14:33
  you guys have had on people. And you know, that's why I'm going
• 14:35
  going back to the legacy stuff, and it's you guys are an important part
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  of Australian music and for those who come and see you, we know that.
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  And it's yeah, yeah, it's it's cool that you guys just like
• 14:50
  your tour over around now. Fuck, they're coming out, they're build it
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  again. Sweet, they're keep and going. Understand you've got to go sometimes
• 15:05
  sometimes yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Well it is it's like you're
• 15:13
  almost like it's a completely different life. I understand the dad part and the
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  working part, and it's like I remember those times finishing work and like all
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  right, the van literally parked at the back and we're going on to it.
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  Yeah yeah, yeah, the best of both worlds. But I just
• 15:39
  feel lucky and fortunate that people like yourself still come and still support us and
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  still come and enjoy themselves at a show, you know. And if I
• 15:48
  can keep doing it for as long as I can keep doing it for and
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  yeah, we'll still want to come and listen to it, well I'll come
• 15:56
  and give it to them. Moon. Yeah. Yeah, I've got a
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  little one for you. Your brother. He blew my mind about five six
• 16:02
  years ago, you know, because we've got there's a lot of mutual friends,
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  like a wise known Zeke from Mammal and you know, just coming from
• 16:10
  Expectorian, so you know, everyone's bloody down there, the blood Duster boy,
• 16:12
  every one, you know, the King Parrot boys, all those guys,
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  you know. And I just remember I had I befriended Flynn, and
• 16:21
  Flynn and I were talking on and off for years and I said, oh,
• 16:25
  by the way, mate, a weird favor. I've got these two
• 16:27
  just visiting CDs and I hadn't actually met him in person. I met yourself
• 16:33
  and Lucius and when you guys played him bendy go back in the day.
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  And I said to him, you know, I learned. I learned from
• 16:42
  an old footy player, Mark Jacko Jackson. You know. The worst that
• 16:47
  someone can say is no, you know. And I messaged Flynn. I
• 16:52
  said, mate, I don't have your signature on these CDs. And he's
• 16:56
  like, well, we'll send them to me. So he did, so
• 16:57
  I didn't he bloody send them back? Girls? What bloody ban does that?
• 17:03
  That's great? Great? So well, yeah, there you go,
• 17:15
  mate. This is bullshit. This is bullshit mate. Well now well I'll
• 17:23
  let you go soon. You're I'm sure you're a very busy man with the
• 17:29
  son and all that or the yes son yep, two boys, two boys,
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  one girl. Cool. Cool. Now. The question I always like
• 17:37
  to ask when I get an opportunity to solve someone like yourself, after all
• 17:41
  these years, everything you've done, what's your what's your favorite memory, just
• 17:45
  off the top of your head, what's your favorite memory of COG. I
• 17:52
  think I think there's no particular, like one memory. I think if it's
• 17:56
  the memory of just kind of jumping in in the troop carrier out the front
• 18:03
  of mum and Dad's house in von day. Yeah, and and you know
• 18:07
  we'd meet there. It was kind of a ground zero, if you will.
• 18:10
  And you know, just that feeling of kind of going on the road,
• 18:14
  and you know, I miss that. I missed that with my because
• 18:17
  you know, we're all friends, but we're all you know, well,
• 18:19
  I'll be two managers. You know. He's the godfather of my children,
• 18:23
  you know what I mean. He's been my best mate. Most of the
• 18:27
  crew that we've got, you know, have been with us for for the
• 18:33
  entirety of the band, you know, so you know that's kind of testament
• 18:37
  to the to the to the kind to the band as well, in in
• 18:41
  a fucking weird way, you know, like and it's just that, you
• 18:45
  know, I miss that feeling. You know, obviously when I do it,
• 18:48
  you know, it's a bit more, it's a bit more kind of
• 18:49
  you know, there's three weekends and then I go back to work in between,
• 18:52
  and it's not certainly the same. You know, we said, like
• 18:56
  thirty shows in forty five days or something. You know, it was it
• 19:00
  was full on it was. It was awesome, now you know it was.
• 19:03
  It was fucking super cool and just you know, friend, you've got
• 19:07
  no worries, no nothing, It's just you and your mates, you all
• 19:11
  thees you've never been before. Like you know, I'm fucking playing music can
• 19:17
  do and what you love and yeah, excellent. I a lot of free
• 19:22
  alcohol and free Yeah, yeah, that's that's that's what That's what I kind
• 19:29
  of thinks my favorite. That's a cool, cool answer. Yeah, very
• 19:33
  very very down to answer. Yeah, I guess nowadays it's just it's more
• 19:37
  about more sparing and you just enjoy it when you're on the road. Yeah,
• 19:41
  I do, I do, I do. I just take it as
• 19:44
  it comes. And yeah, as I said to you, I just feel
• 19:48
  lucky and that I can still do it. People still want to hear it,
• 19:51
  so figure out that's cool enough for me? Sure? Sure do you
• 19:56
  guys have vital mate, And it's so good that you are still playing.
• 19:57
  I know you had a bit of time off there, but it's just we're
• 20:02
  all wrapped. We're all I don't speak for others usually, but I will
• 20:04
  with everyone is going to listen to this, and yeah, mate, so
• 20:07
  bloody much. You appreciate it. Absolute absolute pleasure mate. I appreciate your
• 20:12
  time. And yeah, I'll let you go, all right, Legend Simon,
• 20:17
  thanks a lot, man, I'll go to you. I'll see you
• 20:18
  at a show. We'll do mate, I'll come up and say hi.
• 20:21
  Yeah, catch him bite