Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / Not Here To F*!k Spiders With RONNIE SIMMONS From RONNIE SIMMONS AND THE REDBACK SPIDERS

Transcript

Not Here To F*!k Spiders With RONNIE SIMMONS From RONNIE SIMMONS AND THE REDBACK SPIDERS · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Hi. I'm Ronnie Simmons from The Red Back Spiders, Rose
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Tattoo and Richie Ramon and I just recently released our
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: debut single Alone with You. We performed on Sydney Harbor
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: where we shot the music video, and I'm here to
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: talk to you in Heavy magazine. How's it going?
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Awesome? Good? Thank you so much for joining me. So
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: how are you recovering from the weekend?
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: First of all, yeah, it was it was windy and cold,
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: like you know, yes, yeah, I'm deservedly tired, but I'm good.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: That's fair enough. I just want to say too. I
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: was there and it was truly amazing, like the skill
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: you guys had to play despite the wind and the
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: cold and everything. It still sounded really clear, and you
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: guys were so together. It was awesome.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Thanks. It was like one of those things when
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: we were backstage and you could feel the boat rocking.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: We all looked at each other like, all right, this
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: is going to be interesting. But we went through that
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: when we shot the video there too, like the fact
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: one of those amps didn't tip over in an amp
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: didn't fly into the water when we were filming, as
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: you know.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, No, it was so awesome. You guys killed it
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: all right, So we've just got a few questions. So
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: how did Ronnie Simmons and the Red Back Spiders come
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: together as a band.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Well, I'd been living in Hollywood from twenty four end
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: of twenty thirteen to twenty fourteen till the start of
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, and when I moved back when Angry
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Anderson asked me to join Rose Tattoo, I'd been working
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: playing for Richie Ramone from The Ramones and playing guitar
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: and Faster Pussycat. Then Bob Spencer from The Angels left
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Ross Tattoo and Angry called me and said, hey, do
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: you want the gigs. In order to do so, I
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: had to relocate back to Sydney, where I'm from original
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: and when I got back, i'd been working on this
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: album that I made. I started writing it years ago
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: and in between touring and twenty twenty two, I managed
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: to record it in LA. The record was getting mixed,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: and I wanted to put a band together to play
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: these songs because you know, there's very few bands that
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: can tour twelve months out of the year, three sixty
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: five days a year. So you know now that I'm
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: back in Australia. I wanted to put this together as
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: a band. All the guys in the group, we all
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: go way back. And it didn't take too long catching
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: up with because I'd been in Sydney, so I hadn't
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: lived it for ten years. So yeah, you know, in
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: the process of catching up with everyone and reconnecting, it
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: didn't take long until it was like, all right, these
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: are the guys, let's get in a room, and you know,
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: we rehearsed and got it together and now here we are.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: Far out between the Red Back Spiders and Roast Tattoo.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: How do you find time to do anything?
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: I just make time because like when I was in
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: my twenty twenty two, I spent three weeks out of
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: the whole year actually sleeping in my own bed. I
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: was playing in Richie Ramon and Faster pussy Cat and
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Frankie in the studs with Frankie Clark, and I literally
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: went two to two to two to tour and so it's
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: one of those things. I'm used to operating at a
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: high octane level like that. So if anything juggling Roast
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Tattoo in the Red Back Spiders is, you know, it's
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: a little easier because you know, in touring Australia we
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: basically do weekends, whereas you know, I've had ten years
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: of you know, three months at a time on a
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: bus or you know, flying around the world. So this,
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: you know, this it's manageable for me.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, bar, I just cannot imagine. But good job.
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: What are some of your major musical influencers and how
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: have they shaped your sound? Ah?
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: Well, I'm very fortunate that my resume now kind of
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: you know, reflects my record collection. Like I've you know,
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: the Ramones, Rose Tattoo, Faster Pussycat. They were all really
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: big influences in me when I was starting out as
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: well as you know I was. I was raised on
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: the easy Beats and the Ossie rock classics, AC DC,
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Rose Tatoo, of course Kiss the Sex Pistols. It's like
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: a mix between Australian rock and punk rock. And it's
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: this record I kind of got back to my roots
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: a bit. I started off like a punk kid growing
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: up in Newtown and you know, factory in ten years
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: of living in Hollywood on the Sunset Street, playing in
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: a band like No Faster Pussycat, as well as touring
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: the world. Would you know Richie Ramone from the Ramones,
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: like one of my biggest influences. You know, you kind
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: of stir all that together and you know, put in
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: my sense of humor and you get the red backspiders.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. Do you often get just based on your look?
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: Do you often get people coming up to you and
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: saying anything about how much you resemble one of the
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: Ramones or anything like that?
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: Oh? Yeah, yeah, like all It was funny when I
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: first met Richie Ramone at Kansas Delhi and Hollywood. He
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: was one of the first people I met there. Yeah,
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: and you know, my manager at the time introduced us
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: and we were sitting there having dinner, and it was
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: just really funny us sitting opposite each other. I could
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: tell her this look on his face of just like yeah,
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: you know. And I was on stage with Rose Tattoo
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: and Adelaide, and you know, Angry was introducing me and
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: someone went, you stole in from the Ramones and you
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: shot me a look like but you know, it's no different.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: You know, if you look back to early photos of
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: you know, even Rose tattooed Mick Cox is someone I
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: look up to. It this look is you know, I
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: kind of looked this way since I was about fourteen.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, wow, gee, that's awesome.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: Maybe maybe a little more tattoos now, that's yeah.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: And what are the differences between Ronnie Simmons and the
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: Red Back Spiders and Rose Tattoo for you music?
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: Black?
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: Sound wise?
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: I guess Sonically, the guitars are definitely influenced by that
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: Australian Albert's Records pub rock sound like you know, Mick Cox,
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: Pete Wells, Malcolm Young, Angus Young, like that real dry,
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: punchy Australian guitar sound. But the songwriting side, I'd say
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: there's a lot more of a punkin scar influence in there.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. And what inspired the name for Ronnie Simmons
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: and the Red Back Spiders.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: That's a good question. Well, at first it was like
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: the record that I recorded just started. It was you know,
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: it was me I had, I produced it myself, Clay
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: Davies engineered It's in Bullets and Octane. My buddy Johnny
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: Martin who's now a guns played bass, and the drums
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: were done by Richie Ramon and Richie's drummer Chris may
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: He rest in Peace, and it was like, okay, I
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: have this record. Then I got the band together and
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: was like, you know, it's like a Jones Jet and
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: the Black Arts kind of thing. I was like, you know,
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: we are a band. We should show that it's a band.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: And I was like, I want something. I want something
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: that sounds Australian that shows on a screen, because you know,
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: I got that in La. Like the amount of times
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: people would think I was from Hollywood. You know, you
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: know the guitarist Los Angeles, long black hair tattoos, rides
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: a motorcycle, plays in the rock band that's most a
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: lost from LA. That's it. Yeah, And then I'd opened
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: my mouth and they'd hear an Australian accent going from
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: around here. But yeah, I was. I was sitting around
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: with Hayden and I was like, it'd be great if
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: we could have something that sounds like it, you know,
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: sounds tough, yeah, and something that says we're not here
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: to fuck spiders like and I say that a lot.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: And it was one of those things I paused and
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: I went red back spiders that hadn't been done with,
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: which we couldn't leave. And then when we realized it
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: was the same initials as Ronnie Simmons, so I can
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: use the logo and it.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: You know, even better.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: I was like, well, it was just it was like
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: the light bulb went off and it was like, all right,
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: that's it.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, that's sick. That's awesome. And can you walk
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: us through the process of songwriting for you, how do
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: you collaborate on new material?
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: Usually it starts with a lyric, like you know, a
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: lot of these songs are written in transit, either you know,
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: sitting on the tour bus, lying on the lying in
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: the bunk on my tour bus, or sitting in a
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: plane seat, or just staring out the window watching the
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: road fly by, and you know, I just kind of
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: make my thoughts rhyme, and then after that I get
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: a guitar in my hand and figure out a melody
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: that matches the lyric, and then I'll put the chords
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: under it, and yeah, you know, I always try and
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: start with a chorus because then you can kind of
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: know what your verses are going to be about. But
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: it doesn't always go that way. Some of these songs.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: It's like you have ages of verse lyrics and you're
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: sitting there going how do I sum this up in
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: a way that has a hook and is catchy. Yeah.
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: So yeah, then I'll go to my computer and I'll
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: lay down a rough guitar part. I'll program the drums
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: I like having. You know, there's certain bits thatt accent
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: riffs or support lyrics like you know, the the melody
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: is definitely the focus for me. And then I'll demo it,
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: give it to the band and take it from there.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: So it's all you like it's at.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: This point in time, yes, yeah, because this record was
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: done before I even moved back here, so it's just
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: been a process of you know, mixing it, mastering it
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: and getting it ready in amongst my roast tattoos schedule. Yeah,
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: so you know what happens down the track because you
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: know the other bandmates, like like Hayden, it's on guitar
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: and o Chip, Tommy Hills. Like me and Hayden especially,
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: we go way back and he's a phenomenal songwriter. So
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: you know, the future's unwritten some of those songs. So
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: you know, album two who knows, But at this point
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: in time, it was on.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: Me a good job. How do you decide on the
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: themes and messages in your songs?
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: It's more a matter of the deciding whether I want
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: to share what I've written after it's getting done. It's
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: the thought pops into my head and I'll go, you know,
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: how can I make this rhyme? And it's trying to
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: usually put a positive spin on sometimes things that it
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: might not have been so positive, Like it's very rare
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: that I'll sit down and write a very cheery song
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: at it's called like you take the music away and
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: if you read the lyrics just without the melody, it's like, man, somebody,
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: these are kind of dark. But it's you know, that's
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: that's the process. It's like the negative and spin it
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: into a positive and if I can make it rhyme
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: and you know, get a chuckle along the way, and
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: you know.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: That's And can you tell us about your latest release?
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: What was the inspiration behind it? And how is the
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: recording process.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: Alone with you? It's like a rock and roll touring
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: love song really like that was written in transit, like
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: I said in the two of Us in the van
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: on the plane, and it's kind of making that lifestyle
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: rhyme and relate because you know, if being a touring
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: musician hard, and it's one of those things like I said,
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: you know, in Australia, you're doing weekends and you know
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: you're back during the week when you know, touring the
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: States and the rest of the world, like I've done
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: tours where you're gone for months on end, you know,
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: trying to maintain a relationship with anyone, yeah, be it
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: romantic or even with your family, Like you just might
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: as well take out your phone and type I miss
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: you too, because that's basically it. It's just you know,
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: you know where I am there, Sweden's great, miss you too, Yeah,
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: And it's you know, it's not so much complaining, it's
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: more just giving a perspective on that lifestyle that I've
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: been living for quite a while now. And I wanted
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: to you know, sum that up in a way that
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: was somewhat poetic and but honest and raw. And the
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: recording process, like I said, I was on the road
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: for forty nine weeks out of twenty twenty two, so
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: it was like I had all the songs demoed on
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: my laptop, like you know, I basically produced. Their record
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: was basically produced before we went into the studio, like
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: I'd extensively figured everything out myself. You know, a few
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: things that happened in the moment and changed as we went,
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: but it was it was very much like this is
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: what I wanted to be. Like I was, you know,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: in a bar with Richie Ramonan One night we went
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: to a gig and I told him about it and
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: he's like, oh, I'll play drums on this stuff, man,
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: how are you? He's like, how many songs you got?
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: I'm like fifteen? He went far out, man. So you know,
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: we agreed that he'd do some of them and Chris,
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: his drummer, do the rest because Richie splits his time
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: between playing the drums and then fronting the band up
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: the front. Yeah, so he can the audience. So when
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: he goes to the front, Chris moy would step in
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: on the kit. And so yeah, we went in, laid
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: down the drums, I had the demos I had, We
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: used his guides and then did all the guitars, and
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: then I had to jump on a plane and basically
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: fly back here and then you know, Johnny Martin Wine
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: put down the base and it's just been coming together since.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: So it happened very very quickly.
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: Whose idea was it to debut it on a boat
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: in Sydney? Harbor yours, I'm guessing.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. I was saying that on the night, like
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: people are like, how do you like? I get a
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: real kick out of doing things that make people go
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: what did you do this? Yeah?
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: Literally awesome would I didn't think I would ever see
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: a band play on a boat in the middle of
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: Sydney Harbor and there it was awesome. And the song
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: as well, by the way, everyone should check out. It's
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: really catchy and it's just amazing. My friend April and
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: night we play it on repeat alone with you. It's
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: it's really great. It's awesome, awesome.
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Yeah, because it was I met the owner
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: of the ship I did I did the year and
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: we got chat. It turned out to be a huge
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: assy rock family loves Rose Tatoo, and you know, I
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: was just like, oh cool, and I mentioned that I'm
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: I've got a new single coming out and I do
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: a music video and he was like, you can do
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: it here. So it was like all right. So once
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: we shot the video on the boat and they do
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: events on the boat, it was just like, well, let's
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: make the video and the launch like an immersive experience
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: where then people that come get to experience what we
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: did in the music video, and so yeah, that's how
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: it kind of all came.
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: Together so awesome. Are there any songs on the album
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: that have a special meaning or story behind them?
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: Oh? Pretty much all of them. It's like like, you know,
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: like I've covered Alone with you, you'd think I'd learn.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: It's probably my favorite lyrically. And you know, I, like
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: I said, I grew up a little punk kid in
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: like the inner West of Sydney, like you know, punk
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: squats and punk gigs around Newtowns and Peter's and like
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: early two thousands and all the guys I grew up with,
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: you know, I was the Ramonesi kind of punk, you know,
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: a mohawk. And there was just one guy that had
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: a stick and poke tattoo that was like the length
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: of his arm, and it said, you'd think I'd learn,
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: And he must have done it himself with like a
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: safety pin and a viro It was like it was
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: so bad that I've never forgotten it. And I was like,
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: that's hilarious. I gotta get out of that. Yes, in
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: my you know, in my travels and over the years,
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: like being a big advocate, like you know, I love
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: there a moment. But you know there there are certain
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: people along the way that can look down their nose
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: at three chord, but you know, oh they only know
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: three chords. You know, it's simple and someone that's done it,
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: and me and Richie have discussed this a lot, the
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: drumming style and the guitar style. It's like, yeah, a
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: lot of musicians can do it for three minutes, but
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: you can't do it for an hour and twenty minutes
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: every single night. It requires a lot of focused stamina
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: and energy. And you know, keeping it simple doesn't mean
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: it's stupid, and complicated doesn't mean it's fun. I'd learned
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: they're you know, they're the lyrics, and it was kind
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: of like I've been through a breakup of years ago,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: and it was like when I was writing the song,
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: it was like I kind of combined the two sentiments
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: of like, you know that view of this music I love,
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: that's you know, viewed as simple, and me going, well,
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: you know, complicated doesn't mean fun. And so there's a
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: lot on tondre in there. And you know, I was
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: very fortunate one of my mentors and closest friends was
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Paul Zine of The Screaming jets, and we used to
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: write together a lot, and you know, up until he
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: passed away, we'd keep in touch and when I was
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: in the States, be sending each other songs, and he
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: always pushed me to write my own songs and we'd discuss, like,
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: you know, the joys of getting a double on tendre,
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: a triple on tndre or quite on tendre into a lyric.
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: So there's a lot of things in there that you know,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to give it away. That's for the
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: listener to figure out.
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: But yeah, that's awesome, and I think it's really creative
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: and smart if you're able to not just do one
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: double on tendre, but you know, just and really think
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: about your lyrics and when you've written them down and
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: then go, okay, how can I make this, you know,
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: even more elevated and change things? And yeah, really cool.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: That's exactly it. Like, you know, it's like the famous
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: screaming another always the lyric. You know, if I knew
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: what I know and if I'd said what I meant,
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: and it's at face value, it's so simple, but then
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: it's like a slow burn. You're walking away in a
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: minute ly you're like wait a minute, yeah, that's really clever,
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: and things like that, where you know, the first listen
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: of the song, you might just go, okay, you know
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: that was that rhyme, and then you listen to it
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: again and again and it's like, you know, you're discovering
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: easter eggs and you know, like, oh wow, that does
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: that mean that? And you know, love that?
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: And how do you feel your music has evolved since
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: you first started? Are there any significant significant changes in
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: your style or approach?
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: Yes and no, Like, definitely, Like when I started out,
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: I was I was barely fifteen years old, and my
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: bandmates were you know, pretty pretty older than me, and
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: I was very green, Like I got a lot of
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: experience very quickly performing in pubs and getting in front
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: of people, but as far as songwriting is concerned, like,
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: I hadn't had that much life experience to really make rhyme.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: So you know, you know, I think therefore I am,
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: and you only know what you know, you know, And
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: so over the years, gaining more experience in the craft,
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: not just you know, performing, but touring, working in the studio,
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: seeing the world, working with people, having things happen in
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: life like that, definitely elevated the process. And now I've
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: done my ten thousand hours and you know, I definitely
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: have a lot more focus in knowing what will work
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: and what won't work and how to get there. But
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: like I said, this record's a real return to my roots.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: It's kind of fun. It's kind of like going back
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: to where I started, but now with this new tool set.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, awesome. And is there a particular performance that's
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: been most memorable to you? And it doesn't have to
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: be with Ronnie Simmons and the Red Back Spiders. It
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: Community Growth Tattoo and yeah, why was that a memorable experience?
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: Oh, there's been multiple ones like and they'll never forget,
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: Like like playing the Bower Electric with richer own on
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: the Lower East Side of New York City, right next
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: door to where CBGB's used to be. That was really
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: really cool. Monty Melnick, who was the famous Ramones tour
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: manager for their career, introduced us like I got you know,
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: me and Chris moy were sitting backstage watching them talk
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: about the old days before we went on, and I
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: was like, this is in And also, like I did,
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: I played on Broadway with Faster pussy Cat. That was
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: really cool, like we you know, we were trinning with
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: La Guns and Tom Kiefer and pulling pulling into Times
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: Square on a two of us. You know, it's something
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: I remember just seeing there going. Not many people get
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: to do this in their life. This is pretty special
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: and crowd were amazing. Yeah. But also, you know, like
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: my first show with the Red Back Spiders, you know,
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: because I'm I'm known mainly for being a guitarist, which is,
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: you know, been my bread and butter for so long,
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: and in this end I'm up the front singing, so
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: it's nice to know that they're you know, there are
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: still first for me. And that was that was really
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: really really fun, memorable, especially to have such a positive
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: reaction in my in the spirit of hometown. Definitely my
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: first show with Rose Tattoo, Like, yeah, play how do RSL?
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: On Oxford Street and you know, back in our teenage years,
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: Oxford Street was kind of like one of the hangouts.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: So did come full. So the pa blew up in
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: the second song because we were so loud, and then
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: it go on. It was like it was a real
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: rock and roll trial by fire. It was cool.
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, oh my gosh, the experience is I'd love
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: to get into your head and say, oh, I'm sure
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: there's lots. How what it is the connection with your
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: audience during life shows? And do you ensure that you
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: maintain that connection?
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: How do you? Oh, it's definitely is It's very important,
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: like I, you know, to not get on stage and
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: bring it so to speak that I I relate it
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: to like a drama getting on stage and not bringing
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: their symbols. It's like you you know, it's a part
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: of it. And I definitely love being up there. Like
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: people ask me how you're nervous, It's like the twenty
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: three hours leading up to getting on the stage is
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: the chaos. It's like once it's like I know that
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: I'm comfortable up there, like you know that I can handle.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: It's all the other variables that are that are stressful. Definitely.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: Like my attitude is if people have taken money out
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: of their pocket to come and see me, I want
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: to give them their money's worth. Yeah, yeah, it's And
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: I said that on stage at the launch. It's like
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: if it wasn't for you guys, we wouldn't be here,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: Like I'd be playing a no. One. That's really really important.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: That's awesome to hear. Where do you say the band
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: in the next five to ten years.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: That's a really really good question, because Angry has put
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: an expiry date on Rose Tattoo at fifty years. He
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: wants to do nineteen seventy six to twenty twenty six. Okay,
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: So until then, I'm you know, I am a tap
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: I'm a full band member, and I'm based back here,
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: having you know, lived in the States for ten years.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: Everyone's asking me, you know, so what are you going
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: to do when you go? I don't have a crystal ball,
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: I say to a lot of people, what are you
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: doing in two years? You don't know? Yeah, you know right.
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: Ideally I'd like to build something authentic, credible and stylish
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: that I can caninu you to do. Yeah. Where I'll
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: be based I don't know yet, But ideally I'd like
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: to build the Red Backspiders into a legitimate touring app
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: that you know, I can sustain and keep making records
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: and too of it. Yeah.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And do you have any advice for aspiring musicians
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: who are trying to make a name for themselves in
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: the industry?
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: Definitely, love what you do first and foremost, love what
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: you do and define, define what's success to you, Like
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: when you're starting out, it can it can almost be
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: very daunting on you know what direction to go in,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: what steps to take, whatever your instrument is, whether it's
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: playing guitar, bassed, drum, singing anything. Learn your craft inside
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: and out, like learn the rule book so you know
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: which parts of the rule book to burn, Like when
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: your instrument almost almost becomes a part of you and
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: you know that that's what you want. But it's not easy,
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: Like you have to have thick skin. People will tell
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: you to get a real job, and you know, and
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: you've got to do what you've got to do to
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: survive and move forward. But keep your eyes on the
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: prize and understand, don't take advice from people that haven't
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: done what you want to do. Like but you don't.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: You don't ask a house painter on advice on how
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: to service your cart, So why would I take advice
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: from an investment banker on how to be a professional musician?
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: Exactly?
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: And you know, of course, you know, people might instill
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: this advice in you from a caring place, you know,
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: but it's definitely definitely important to remain focused and really
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: love it because it's not going to be easy. High
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: highs and low lowers like I mentioned in the song,
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: and if you really really love it and you want
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: to be in it for the long haul, especially if
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: you know, if you want to be a rock musician,
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: the keywords are authenticity and legacy. Legacy. If you want
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: to be a singer and like one of the voice
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: or like one of those pop show, that's a different
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: kettle of fish and I can't comment on that, that's
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: not my As far as being a credible rock or
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: a punk musician, be yourself as well, because if you're
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: going to put on a festart and try and be
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: someone else and it takes off, you can have to
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: be that person every day.
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: That's it.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: If it's not real.
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: The biggest mistake a lot of people make is thinking
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: the general public is stupid. And I'm sure everyone's heard
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: a musician well most people, well okay, well who's smarter
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: than who? Like you've launched your single expecting it to
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: be huge, and when that doesn't happen, you know, it's
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: one of those things. And I think a lot of
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: that comes down to people can tell whether it's a
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: conscious like this is inauthentic or this isn't real. You know,
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: something just doesn't sit right. They can pick up on that,
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: so you know, you know it sounds corny but yourself.
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, for sure. Okay, last two questions, I'll go
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: through these quickly. Dream collaboration with any artists that.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: Are alive, Angry Anderson and Rose. I couldn't be more
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: proud to be a member of the Tarts. We've got
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: some really cool stuff that's been going on behind the
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: curtain that I can't talk about yet, but it's very,
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: very cool. And I've known Angry since a base Bird
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: first started out, and he's always been been very paternal
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: to me and very encouraging. And you know, he said,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: you know, what do you want to do? And I
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: want I want to be a guitarist in your band. Yeah, now,
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: you know, but it's that that's definitely a dream come through.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: Last question, what changes would you like to see in
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: the Australian live music landscape if any And you've played
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: around the world, anything we could adopt here.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: Global Like, you know, we're in a recession, inflation through
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: the roof life costs more so the first thing to
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: go is luxury things like entertainment and going out like
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: but having said that, I'd love to see more of
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: a throwback to When I hear the guys tell stories
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: about Rose Tattoo and ac DC and Angels and all
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: of the golden days of Australian pub rock, I go
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: like fin and I wish I could have been there.
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: But a lot of that had to do with, you know,
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: and I got the tail end of, you know, pre
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: social media. When I started out in bands, where if
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: you wanted to meet up with people, you went to
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: a gig, like you know, it was like that was
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: that was the melting pot. Now with you know, you
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: can order a pizza off uber eat, so you can
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: order a person off Kinder and then you don't have
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: to go out and meet anyone. And I definitely think
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: that has influenced the climate that you know, that that
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: freedom of choice. So it's one of those things that
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: I'd love to see a resurgence in nightlife and especially
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: for so rock and become a really healthy scene again
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: as far as Australia is concerned, Like top poppy syndrome
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: is a thing, and it was funny when I first
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: moved to the States and I explained it to one
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: of my friends there and his attitude was that's the
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: dumbest thing I ever hurt and walked away and I
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: was like, it's actually a thing. Yes, I think Australia
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: could do with less of the you know, so, who
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: do you think you are? Like, what are you really
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: going to do? Mate? And more the man. I hope
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: you go all the way and kick ass man the
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: shots you don't take and if you succeed, then I
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: can see you're my friend rock guard dude. Yeah, And
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: that comes from a genuine, really genuine place, and I
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: experienced that in the American dream out there, and I
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: think that's a really positive thing that we could do
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: with more of here. But I'm hoping my influence on
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: the scene now that I'm back and you know, I've
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: got this vessel now, I'm hoping I can bring some
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: of that to your table.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, what you said is true. I really would
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: love to see more support for love music artists and
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: especially the punk rock sort of as well. I just
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: feel like there's a lack of encouragement at the moment,
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: but hopefully that can change.
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: So yeah, and that's it. And the reality with the
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: industry is it's like there's where there's smoke, there's fire,
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: Like if something takes off and people get into it everyone,
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: you know, then you get the people, oh I love this.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, I've played this to you before and
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: you never cared about it. But the reality is we
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: want we want, you know, you want people to listen
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: to you. You want people to check get out, and
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: hopefully there will be a tipping point where, you know,
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: people realize that being sung to by a robot and
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: AI generated songs isn't real. It's a pendulum swing, you know,
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: like you know, I think we're going to see that
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: with social media as well. There will be a snap
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: back with a culture that goes, you know what, this
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: isn't for me. I want to go out and I
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: want to experience things, you know, and I've experienced that touring,
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: especially with Richie Ramone. Like you're playing shows in South America.
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: There's kids that are you know, climbing over security guards
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: to get on stage and do backflips into the crowd,
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: and you know, as opposed to you know, you go
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: to some venues here and you've got a lot of
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: people just with their arms folded staring at you, and yeah, exactly,
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: and you know, I'm I'm not telling you people how
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: to enjoy their night or how to enjoy the performance,
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: but it's one of those things that it's to witness
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: that and then come back and witness that. It's like,
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: hopefully by saying, you know, people just get into it
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: more and totally.
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: When's the next time we can catch the Red Back
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: Spiders life.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: That's a very very good question. We're in the process
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: of locking in some two days for Queensland, Victoria and
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: the Sydney show as we speak, and they will be
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: live on our website, Ronnie Simmons and the Redbackspiders dot
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: Com hopefully this week.
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: Brilliant. Okay, well, thank you so much for hanging out
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: with us. It's been amazing to hear about everything. Ronnie Simmons, Bredbackspiders.
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: Ronnie, thank you very much. All Right,