SENSIBLE STIFFYS
After completing an intense four-month European Tour, the Sydney Australia three-piece the HARD ONS were in a London studio lately with CAPTAIN SENSIBLE working on a new, as yet untitled, six track EP. Blackie, the guitarist, and affirmed sun worshipper takes a break to soak up the rays of a sudden burst of sunshine and sighs...
"This is bliss. I love the sun and I miss it over here. Australia has such good weather, it's a real outdoor country. We're always at the beach or playing football in cricket. I don't dislike England though, i just don't like the weather much."
Despite Blackie's disdain for the English summertime, the Hard Ons have toured England and Europe three times since 1988. They have steadily built up a following worldwide and have released an assortment of singles and three proper albums, Dickcheese, Love is a Battlefield, and their newest Yummy, plus one other album called The Worst of the Hard Ons, which Blackie doesn't consider a proper LP as it is basically "a collection of demos which the record company wanted us to put out."
"We'd like to come on tour here every year, but last year we got caught up in a lot of things and couldn't make it. We have lots of friends here now. It's at the point where playing in England is like going to Melbourne. Everywhere we go we have friends and know someone.
We have been on the road on this tour for four months and been some places we've never been, like Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Norway, and Finland. Now that it's over, we are working in the studio with Captain Sensible. It's all new stuff that we wrote on the road. He's producing us, but he's also song back up on a few songs, and thrown in a bit of keyboards here and there. This session is for a new EP. We are going to work on a proper full LP when we get home. This is the first time we've ever recorded outside of Australia. It's good meeting people with different ideas."
The last LP they released Yummy was a bit of a disappointment for the band, and Blackie is quick to admit he was not pleased with the end result.
"I'm not happy with it. We really liked the songs a lot but the recording on it is pretty bad. That's why we had to re-record the song 'Dull' and release it later again as a single. We all thought it came out especially pissy on the record, so we had to do it again. There's heaps of difference, it sounds really good the second time around."
Although the band wasn't happy with the finished product, Yummy has been the best seller out of all of their albums. Besides being on Waterfront Records (an indie label in Australia) and Vinyl Solution here in England, they also have major label backing in Australia with Festival Records (home of KYLIE and JIMMY BARNES) to take care of their distribution.
"They do all our press and give everything a push. It's like being on a major label but still being on an independent, as there is more control. We were on a major label years ago and it was crap. They did everything without even considering us so we are pretty sceptical about majors. But Festival Records are great."
The Hard Ons have been together for about 10 years, when Keish (vocals and drums), Ray (bass) and Blackie were all in school together. They chose the name the Hard Ons when they were really young, and they have held on to it ever since they discarded THE DEAD RATS and THE PLEBS as possible lasting monikers. Not surprisingly though the name has raised a few eyebrows over the years...
"People hear our name and immediately assume we are real dumb morons, but we made it up when we were around 16, so it was something we did as a laugh. Moronic people used to protest about our lyrics. Yeah, a lot of them were about sex, but when you are 18 [Blackie is currently 25 so that's going back a few years] is always on your mind. It's how teenagers think. We were pretty blatant about it at the time, and some people couldn't handle it. It is strange, as nowadays society is so permissive. It's really pointless to get upset, as any kid can walk into a newsagent and buy a novel or comic with death and sex in it anyhow."
Their latest release is not about sex however, it is a 12 inch cover version of AC/DC's "Let There be Rock", with the legendary Henry Rollins (ex-BLACK FLAG and current ROLLINS BAND front man).
"We like AC/DC, we've covered them before, and Henry likes them a lot too, so when we were touring Australia together we got into this studio and had some fun. It was really good for us to work with someone with a different vocal range from Keish. That's why the B-side is a song we wrote. You know, AC/DC is a fucking great band, and I hate it when people say AC/DC are crap; it really shits me 'cause AC/DC are a really hot band!!!"
The Hard On's musical style would probably fall closer to 70s fast RAMONES style of music than the hardcore and metal styles off today.
"Our roots lie in punk, I guess. The melodic punk stuff we grew up listening to allowed you to do whatever you wanted. It was just basic, good, heavy music. Nowadays people call punk hardcore, which we used to be called all the time before. But now hardcore seems to be bands like straight edge or NYC style hardcore, and we are not like that at all. When we play live it must be hard to follow the songs if you don't know them, as we like to play really full on without much rest, and we play faster than our albums. I think we are a really good live band."
After they wind up their current recording session the Hard On's are on their way to Finland for some festivals, and then on to Japan for their first tour there, before returning to Australia. Funilly enough the Hard Ons have never visited New Zealand, but they have been to America twice already, which wasn't so easy.
"It's practically impossible to get a permit for America. They're a bunch of bastards over there. Last time we tried to sneak through customs there, it was hairy. After the customs guy had finished checking my things and stamped my passport, he goes, 'Say are you gonna be making any money over here? Don't bullshit me either. The whole band just walked through before you didn't they?' I picked up my guitar and practically raced out of the airport! Next time we are going to have to go on different flights."
There should be a great deal of activity from the band later this year, with A four-song single release, the new six-track EP, and another visit and tour around September. Hopefully they won't have to sneak into England when they next grace our shores.
Marion Garden
Raff Raff
September 1991
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