Black Cab are enjoying a well deserved season as Melbourne's new 'it' band.
But it's been a long time coming for the duo - singer Andrew Coates and guitarist James Lee. Both have had varying degrees on success with other outfits over the past fifteen years before successfully hitting the nail on it's head with their latest project - Altamont Diary. The debut album is a concept piece that deals with a day in the life of Altamont, California - scene of the infamous free festival organised by the Rolling Stones back in 1969. A festival that has come to represent, in popular culture, the 'dark side of the hippie dream' and the 'end of the 60s' because of the violence and bad vibes that permeated the occasion. Not surprisingly the music on Altamont Diary is dark and heavy - metallic psychedelic - pitched in a similar realm to that explored by Primal Scream. But it also includes pastoral moments including a fantastic cover of the Grateful Dead's 'New Speedway Boogie' - a song written by Jerry Garcia in the aftermath of Altamont. Indeed, Black Cab's Altamont Diary is such a rich concept we had to delve deeper...

Black Cab are the new 'it' band. How does that feel to be feted after so many years of slogging away?
Not sure - we'll be an 'it' band when lots of folks buy our record. Right now we're a 'Looking for it' band coz you can't find the damned thing anywhere. And as for slogging - I've been sitting on my arse for the last 8 years since Foil broke up (or faded away). You know you're slogging again when you're doing poster runs down Brunswick St in 8 degree weather. Anyway - we've got some nice press which is cool. Makes it worthwhile...

You've successfully brought the idea of the concept album back into the fray - what drew you to the idea of a day in the life of Altamont?
I've always thought concept albums we're pretty cool. It's only dodgy onces like The Wall and Tommy (plus some of those '70s Todd Rundgren horrors) that have made it a stinky proposition. Albums with a theme that take you on a journey are often more interesting than a bunch of songs strung together with lots of filler. In our case, the filler continues to tell the story. And Altamont is a rather cool story, so it was juicy to write songs around...

How does an Australian, born in the 60s, relate to such an event?
I've watched Gimme Shelter (Maysles Brothers film about the Stones and Altamont) scores of times, and then lived in San Francisco for two years. SF is still imbued with the spirit of the 60's despite the tech boom/wreck, and the ghosts of that time are still everywhere. Like The Fillmore and Wharfield venues with their collection of orginal posters from the 60's, plus what's left of the Haight Ashbury area (apart from the Gap stores) etc.

Have you ever been to Altamont? Is there no speedway there anymore?
I've driven through the Altamont Hills a few times on the drive down to LA. Highway 5 cuts right though it and it's a shithole. No trees or even vegetation, just brown rolling hills and wind generators that mostly don't work now. In summer the heat is brutal and in winter its freezing at night. Am pretty sure the Speedway is still there.

Have you ever talked to anyone who was at Altamont? Any connections to the event that weren't through the Dead or the Stones etc?
I met a dude who was at Altamont (said the day was an incredible bummer from the moment people arrived) - he's now a psychiatric nurse but before Altamont he was briefly Timothy Leary's bodyguard. Go figure. I also lived round the block from the Frisco Chapter of the Hells Angels, down in a shitty part of SF called the Dog Patch. They don't raise much hell these days - but they always had a couple of vicious pit bulls chained to their house and the chains looked like the'd been stolen from a giant ship. Plus the guy we sourced our album artwork pix from, Arthur Usherton, was also at Altamont taking snaps.

When did the idea of covering the Grateful Dead's 'New Speedway Boogie' come about?
I am not a huge fan of the Dead but Jerry Garcia is very much related to Altamont given he pulled out of the gig on the day, wrote a song about the carnage (New Speedway Boogie), and was great pals with many Angels (including Sonny Barger, the notorious Oakland Chapter President). Seemed like a good fit.

Altamont has been written into folklore as 'the end of the 60s'. Indeed, it's got a bad name. Do you feel you've brought some new light on the subject?
Maybe - if only to recreate somewhat the Fear and Loathing of the day through some new somewhat darker sounds and production. It's so rare to go to gigs where there is an air of fear and danger in the air - they are all so staid nowadays.

What's next - the Isle of Wight album? Sunbury?
We've been pondering that very thing - Isle of Wight and Sunbury didn't get people killed and beaten up like Altamont (which makes it so interesting); maybe that Who concert where people got crushed! Nah - we might give the concept thing a break for the next album!

What kind of visuals do you have for when you play live?
We're planning to project some images from the movie in super slow motion, kind of like you'd see if you were on acid or somesuch. Hopefully that will add to the general sense of Fear and Dread.

You're a two piece on record - how does the line-up differ for live shows? Are you triggering samples or is it all played live or a mixture of both?
We tried to keep the live sound very organic so there is little triggered samples, although Steve Law (from Zen Paradox) contributes heavily with treatments and keyboards. We have some great folks guesting, including Rich Andrew (from Registered Nurse) on drums, Anthony Paine (from High Pass Filter) on bass, and Alex (from Automatic). We also have Glenn guesting on sitar - he played the sitar you hear on Good Drugs.

Has the drum sample in 'It's OK' been used by the Chemical Brothers?
Not sure - I stole that from one of those little dodgy sample CD's, so maybe. Not that big on sampling drums loops, but that song kinda worked.

What do you make of the Primal Scream comparisons?
Not sure - very flattering I guess, but have never actually been a huge fan of theirs.

Tell us about how you put together the 'New Speedway Boogie' video? Where does all that 60s smoking footage come from?

Ah yes - the secrets of the el cheapo film clip! We pinched the images from archive.org, where they host copyright-free footage (in our case - from an anti-drugs doco called The Chemical Tomb: a hilarious documentary about the evils of drug taking that makes you want to go straight out and score)

What do you feel are the differences between this record and your first EP Illinois Chapter?
Looser, more recorded sounds (thanks to Hothouse's awesome Neve console), better production (thanks to Pound Systems' Woody Annison), live drums, sitar dudes, a whacky theme, etc

Does your wife Jackie still wear her thigh high boots?
Jackie and her thigh boots are now sadly a thing of the past, given we now have a bouncing baby boy. But they live on in my fevered memory. I also miss venues offering Free Beer For Nudes - they should bring that back too.

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©2004 Christopher Hollow