In an era where 'derivative' is a buzz word, the Sand Pebbles are unlike
any other band. Sure, they have their influences, but you can't pin 'em down.
"Flower Punk" is one description of the band, who are getting set
to release their third album Ghost Transmissions on Raoul Records.
To celebrate, the Pebbles are having a live listening party at Fitzroy's Erwin
Rado Theatre on Saturday (with a launch set for July 23rd at the Rob Roy).
The Sand Pebbles do things differently. Asked by Howzat! if the band
would ever tour, bass player Chris Hollow said simply: "No". Chris
was recently acclaimed for his work with St. Kilda by former coach Ken Sheldon.
He later went onto captain Port Melbourne...
How
does doing a big gig, like your gala premiere, compare to playing an AFL match
... the preparation? ... the nerves?
Well, with football you're preparing yourself for getting the living beejesus
smashed out of you and doing likewise to someone else whilst running about
15 kilometres and trying to play at your best despite all the aches and pains
you feel in your body. Crossing your fingers your finely honed instincts will
carry you through. Gigs are no different.
Will you ever tour?
No.
Where
does the Skip Spence song come from? Is he the Moby Grape guy?
Skip Spence is the Moby Grape guy. The one who wrote their best songs then went
on an LSD bender and tried to kill their drummer with an axe. We first heard
'All My Life' a couple of years ago. It was the b-side to a single that Skip
had written for the 'X-Files' before he clocked out of this world. Ben, the
guitarist, actually bought it at Raoul Records who have put Ghost Transmissions
out. And I was marked X in a previous life.
If the Sand Pebbles were a Neighbours
character, who would they be?
Gino Esposito - Lyn Scully's flambouyant hairdresser friend.
Tell us a bit more about 'Ghost Girl'
(my current fave)
It's rock's most haunting song about fidelity. And when you think about it there
aren't many odes to fidelity out there. It started out as a Scientists rock
song before we pared it back to the slow, sitar version that's on the record.
Andrew, what was the story with you
and Jeff Bridges and T-Bone Burnett?
When I was over in LA mixing an album with T-Bone, he invited
me to go out with a 'friend' to see some other mates do their spoken
word thing at a club. On the way to the gig, he stopped off at Santa Monica
- we went into his friend's house, and it turned out to be Jeff Bridges (who
was a top bloke, by the way)! Anyway, at the end of the night, we went back
to T-Bones, got pretty drunk and started writing a song together (there were
a couple of other guys by this time - one was a small fat Italian named Tony
or something). Bridges would keep shouting out lyrical ideas at the top of his
voice, while T-Bone and I tried to keep up with some chords. It turned out,
as Chris noted, quite Dylanesque by the end of the evening - but never saw the
light of day. I vaguely remember 'clown' being in the working title...