Loose Cannons

Pete Kilroy is a firm believer in the mantra: 'When it's no longer fun, walk away'. That's what he did when his old outfit Blame Ringo wasn't really floating his boat anymore, and alongside an all-star cast comprising members of Montpelier and The Boat People, Hey Geronimo was created as a vehicle to promote everything he loved in a live music experience. Almost two years on, Kilroy reflects on the band's not so serious style.

“It comes from me dissecting Blame Ringo and what was wrong with the whole episode and asking myself about what I like about music and what I like about going to shows. And it came out that I liked to go to The Troubadour or The Zoo and seeing a band that was having a good time, and getting boozed and just getting loose,” says Kilroy with a straight face. “And so that's what I tell everyone when they ask what they can expect from the show – come along, get drunk and have a good time. You go see some bands and it's like, 'I don't think I'm gonna have a good time'. And I sort of thought, 'Our band Blame Ringo, do you go and see us and have a good time? Do you like the music?' You might, but you're not having a good time on the night. Montpelier, I didn't have a good time watching them. Some of the songs were good, but I hate going to The Zoo and having to really sit there and think about the music – I'd rather be caught up in it all.

“Plus, lots of Blame Ringo songs didn't have choruses – it was really weird. Me and [Blame Ringo/Hey Geronimo guitarist] Ross [Pearson] were listening to the CD one day and we're like, 'What's wrong with this CD, what's wrong with this record?' The songs don't have choruses – no one can hook onto anything. So Hey Geronimo songs have to have choruses that are catchy to a degree, and they have to be fun to play so you're not going, 'Oh god we've got to play that song – I hate that song'. It's gotta be: 'I love playing this song – it's so much fun to play'. So that's why the show is the way it is; our set just goes at a hundred miles an hour until it finishes.”

Hey Geronimo are good time party guys; they mix popular culture references with acerbic wit, jump around on stage with genuine grins of delight and bring a humour to their sunny style that recalls the Australian masters of '90s pop rock. They also don't mind name-checking their man-crushes in order to get a little closer to them, as Kilroy explains of their latest single, The Dan Kelly Song. 

“I had a dream that Dave McCormack [from Custard] and Dan Kelly were writing songs for the band. And I woke up so excited”, he says with a gasp, “and then I'm like, 'Ugh, it's not true. But it would be good if it was true, and why can't we just write a song like that?' Then we played a gig in Adelaide and some nek minnit young fella who I got to talking about Dan Kelly with, he's like, 'I know him – my first ever gig was supporting Dan Kelly and I've got his phone number'. And I said: 'Give it to me',” Kilroy laughs manically before explaining the point when he took his idolising to the next level. “I accosted him at Black Bear when he played there: 'I've written this song – it's about you!' So he freaked out a bit, understandably.”

Since then, fortunately, Dan Kelly has become a friend of the band.

“He's a weird, cool dude. He's exactly like he is in his songs,” says Kilroy with an admiring tone. “Originally he was going to play on the song and then he freaked out – he had like a panic about it. He was like, 'Dude, it's called The Dan Kelly Song and that would be bad karma'. He felt really weird about it, so he sent us some samples and we've used them. He sent us all the samples from Dan Kelly's Dream; it just didn't fit, but we've put in some bells and whistles and shit that he sent, so technically he's still on there… He likes the song. triple j actually sort of freaked out a bit. They said it sounds too much like a Dan Kelly song; they don't really play him so that's kind of the weird irony of the thing.”

The Dan Kelly Song was co-produced by Sam Cromack of Ball Park Music, no stranger himself to wry lyrical humour, and legendary Brisbane producer Magoo who Kilroy enjoyed grilling for info on his '90s idols.    

“I was reading through Pig City and I was like, 'Hey Magoo, have you ever met Custard?' And as the last syllable left my mouth I realised one of my favourite records is Lovearama which Magoo recorded, and he looked at me as if to say, 'You're a fuckin' idiot'. One of our new songs, there's a line about TISM in it – harking back to when you're discovering music and you're a young person and shit – so I'm like, 'Dude, you know who's awesome? TISM – I love those guys hey, they're amazing'. Turns out he's fuckin' recorded my favourite TISM record too – so he just pops up everywhere. And then in the same breath he tells me he recorded [Operator Please's Just A] Song About Ping Pong, so now I don't know what to think,” he says, scratching his head with a laugh, though clearly chuffed by the rich musical history of his producer. “Magoo's just like, 'Been there, done it mate' – nothing phases him.”

On the road to promote The Dan Kelly Song this month, the lads are co-headlining a national tour alongside Melbourne electo dynamos Strange Talk. 

“They're cool guys – we've known them for a while now and they're awesome. They play different music to us but it's gonna be a real party atmosphere – the modus operandi of both bands is to just have a good time,” the frontman reiterates.

With Hey Geronimo's debut album set to drop in the new year, Kilroy admits that some might be surprised to learn that the good time party guys can write a solemn song, too.

“I think the record hopefully won't turn people off but there will be some more serious stuff – there's two ballads in there,” he reveals. “To be honest they were impossible to ignore. One of the challenges of this tour is to try and work them into the set and keep the vibe. But look, we're not The Hives; there's a little bit of room for being introspective.”