Coming Back To Life

Fucking around with side projects. Sorting through personal stuff. Living life. The members of Bodyjar haven't exactly been idle for the past eight years, but with the release of their first full-length since 2005's eponymous effort, the focus has come back on what the guys are best at – being a band.

“When we went back and did those reunion shows for No Touch Red, I think we really learnt a lot about ourselves as a band and what we're good at,” explains frontman Cam Baines. “We went off in a few weird directions in 2005 on that self-titled album. I think what we're really good at is just writing good simple punk songs with good melodies and lyrics, and not trying to create a new genre. So we stuck to the simple stuff this time and I reckon it paid off.”

Supporting all-time heroes Descendents in February also helped the Melbourne four find the fire within. “They were such a massive influence on us, they produced two of our records, [and] I used to write them letters and that when I was a kid. Twenty years later we're playing with them – we couldn't say no,” he gushes. “And just playing with those guys and just seeing... y'know they don't do it full-time, and they had a massive break like we did and they came back, and we just thought, 'If those guys can do it on their own terms then we should try and do what they do'.”

Baines says Role Model couldn't have been created if the band didn't step away from Bodyjar; however, the record was never going to be an outing for old time's sake. The quartet weren't willing to record again unless they had the songs: fast, energetic, catchy. They had to make a full-length that was better than the others, while still meeting expectations from a salivating fanbase by paying homage to their past. It was a balancing act, but with Tom Larkin in the producer's chair the band found immediate focus.

“He smashed the songs into form,” Baines recalls, calling the Shihad drummer a fantastic music arranger. “They were basic sketches and he polished them up. He was really handy to have around; once we got him in there it really happened quick.”

In the past, such objective ears could have been disregarded, but these days Baines is far more chilled in the studio. He remembers with a smile the menacing presence he once was when a Bodyjar album was being recorded. “I used to go in and just give producers so much shit,” he reveals. “I used to write down EQ settings so they couldn't change them, and I was just a control freak at the start – I was really badly behaved, I'd never do that now. I used to go in and go, 'That's the guitar sound don't fucking change it', and I'd write it down and just micromanage every little fucking thing and not let anyone have their say. But when you're young and you're just obsessed and driven that's what happens.”

Because a relationship was already there thanks to time shared on the road during Bodyjar and Shihad's festival salad days of the early '00S, an honest record was always going to be the end result.

“They were always a band we wanted to tour with but we never got asked to do it or they didn't want to tour with us or something. [Tom] said they were scared because we were so good! They didn't want to go on after us,” he toys, cackling at the statement. “We're a different style of music I guess, but they were the one big rock band that we all thought was cool, we all agreed that [1999's] The General Electric was a fucking classic – it's such a good album, so well recorded. We wanted to sound a bit like that back then but we couldn't do it.”

Thankfully they still can't. They still sound like Bodyjar. And whether you're enjoying the gleeful speed and whimsical lyrics of Fairytales or the Joey Cape (Lagwagon) and Stephen Egerton (Descendents)-assisted Hope Was Leaving, there's no shaking the positive vibes of your new favourite Role Model.

“I was talking to Tom about it and he was saying he thinks it's got a really good intent,” finishes Baines. “Everyone is doing it for the right reasons and just to make good songs and create a good vibe; we all want to enjoy it, it's not about money or stuff like that, it's just about getting that creative stuff out and onto a CD and just enjoying that part of our lives again.”