No Mean Feat

1 October 2014 | 1:08 pm | Bryget Chrisfield

"We never stopped playin’, so it isn’t just old bastards in the crowd.”

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Two members of The Meanies sit at a wobbly table outside a Fitzroy pub, frontman Link McLennan (gin and tonic) and bass player Wally Kempton (Carlton Draught). McLennan sports a vintage leather jacket (“It was 15 bucks at the op shop, pretty rapt!”). “I’m a bit late with the staying current thing, but that’s been The Meanies way,” he jests.   

The Meanies are about to embark on their 25th anniversary tour and re-releases will be put out on five different labels to mark the occasion: “One in England, one in Spain and three in Australia,” Kempton clarifies. “I rang up Tym [from Tym Records] and I said, ‘Hey, Meanies turn 25 this year, do you wanna do a similar thing that you did with Hard-Ons [30th anniversary]?’ and he goes, ‘Could I? That’d be awesome.’”

“They got a skateboard, though,” McLennan points out. Kempton says, “So are we!” McLennan gasps excitedly.

Collating all The Meanies releases/memorabilia has proven problematic. “Ringo’s got some stuff,” Kempton announces, referring to The Meanies drummer, Mark Hobbs. “Apparently 15 years ago I gave Ringo a whole bunch of very important bits and pieces and said, ‘Can you mind these ‘cause they’re safer with you than me,’ and then I promptly forgot about it! He reminded me about it last week.”

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McLennan tells that the band put fliers up advertising for a drummer and Hobbs (“this fresh-faced uni student”) turned up: “We used to make him wear a wig on stage ‘cause he was the only member without long hair.”

“Oh, the good old days,” Kempton reminisces. “All adopt the surname Meanie, wear denim and leather jackets, and do Ramones covers and then complain about being compared to the Ramones, ha ha ha.”

McLennan reckons the atmosphere inside pubs was “more volatile” back in the day, adding, “Crowds got nicer, which I’m happy with ‘cause there was a lotta cunts around.” If you intend to be part of The Meanies crowd these days, McLennan promises, “It’s not a huge nostalgia-fest, we do get plenty of younger people coming.” Kempton adds, “We never stopped playin’, so it isn’t just old bastards in the crowd.”

The Meanies did go on hiatus for about three years, though. “We lost a lot of crowd from when we first got back together, for the first three or four years, ‘cause I stupidly decided I wanted to play guitar,” McLennan reflects. “It put a lot of people off and it’s kind of only in the last few years people have realised that we’re actually doing better shows than we used to do: I sing better – I still get very drunk, but I don’t drink a bottle of [Jim] Beam before the show... They’re still wild shows, but a little bit more, like, professional.”