Old Souls

A high school band in the truest sense, The Cactus Channel are one astonishingly funky bunch. Still teenagers, the band are barely out of school but can shake it up as well, if not better, than any of the big funk bands that Melbourne has recently spawned. This month they follow up on the success of last year's debut Haptics with a new long-player called Wooden Boy, which gyrates to the grind of heavy funk, taking in everything from Lalo Schifrin-esque blaxploitation cinematics to jazzy soul influences.

On the differences between their two albums to date, The Cactus Channel's bass player Henry Jenkins says, “We were still in high school when Haptics came together. It was more of a collection of songs we had amassed over time. The tunes on Wooden Boy were specifically written for the album and we all had a really strong idea of what we wanted to create in terms of sound and atmosphere. It represents the evolution of our sound. Wooden Boy feels darker than our other work. It is definitely a lot better than the first album.”

Confident that this album represents a big step forward for the band, Jenkins continues: “Wooden Boy came together quickly because we were all just out of school and could spend all our days and nights jamming, fuelled only by Stan The Man's souvlakis for sustenance [laughs]. The record is supposed to feel pretty alive and spontaneous. Most songs were done in just a few takes. Although one song took 18 goes to get it right. Sometimes things become evident in the studio that are not so obvious in a rehearsal room.”

The Cactus Channel is still not quite a full-time enterprise for its members, however. “Right now a bunch of us are studying music and other things at university but we do put whatever time we have into making music,” Jenkins explains. “The logistics of getting ten people in a room to make music is a pain, but it's the love of the music that keeps it together, apart from the fact that we are all good friends. I just love the sound that ten people can make and the energy it produces.”

Jenkins cites the importance of old-school funk and soul influences on their music, but admits it was a fellow local soul outfit that showed them the way. “I was so excited to hear The Bamboos for the first time,” he enthuses. “It was hard to imagine that this amazingly funky band was from Melbourne. All of us went to an all-ages gig of theirs in the Fitzroy Gardens. It was such an awesome gig, but I came away knowing that if a bunch of white dudes from Melbourne could be funky then even we could do it.”