Method To The Madness

PC will be the first to tell you that things aren't sacred. Not industry players. Not mothers. Not bandmates. And he has a story or opinion about every one of them. But when you've been established for more than 20 years and you're funny as fuck, it affords you a bit of freedom when it comes to telling it how it is. Time Off has interrupted PC's midweek pizza session, but the bassist isn't fazed. It's Bastardfest time again, and the pride he has for the festival is tangible; understandable considering the leaps and bounds the national event has taken in the past few years. It's a day of metal brought by the people, for the people, and PC is committed to keeping things that way

“It's a real family vibe, and anyone who wants to get to know the Australian metal scene just turn up to one of these Bastardfest shows – you'll get a real big chunk of it in one hit,” he says. “Then, you might not have to go to 20 gigs a year, but then again, it might make you want to go to another 20 local shows. We really want this festival to bring some people out and allow them to go and see some Australian heavy bands killing it. There are festivals like Soundwave that pretty much take a shit on the local scene, so our job is to fill that gap because no one else is supporting it.”

The natural line of questioning that follows this barb opens up a whole can of worms. “I find that all the local bands are keeping their mouths shut; they don't want to upset anyone at Soundwave just in case of that one day they get to play it,” he scoffs. “Me? I've been around for 20 fucking years; I've toured the world and played these festivals overseas – all this kind of shit. I don't give a fuck. Soundwave can suck my fucking arse the way they're treating people, y'know. I don't mind standing up, I don't give a fuck if Soundwave ever put us on – it doesn't bother me. But there's bands like Psycroptic who play these kinds of stages overseas and go head to head with these bands – they'd destroy lots of them. But Soundwave aren't interested in it – it's like they are saying Australian bands aren't worthy, and Australian fans are starting to think that. It would be really good to see Australian bands go head on with these bands that are being touted as the next big thing in metal and people would be able to see what good stuff is coming out of the local scene. Anyway, that's my rant.”

Bastardfest isn't the only thing that has been keeping PC busy, with the Melbourne quintet on the cusp of releasing their first studio album in five years. Titled KVLT (pronounced 'cult'), it's said to be the quickest and hardest record of their brutal career.

“The album comes out soon,” PC remarks. “I can't tell you too much about it yet, but needless to say it's not going to be available for download; it's not going to be available on CD; it's not going to be convenient in any way. It is a complete and utter backlash. We absolutely hate the industry right now – it's fucking bullshit. It's not where we want to be and we don't want to be a part of it. But it's a very interesting concept.”

He assures fans they'll be revealing the details of the album soon and recommends that they keep checking the Blood Duster website for details to appear. “This is the first album we've done with Dave Haley from Psycroptic, so this is the fastest we've ever been able to play, but it's got your typical Blood Duster erratic bullshit, y'know – do one thing, get bored and do the rest. Dave's got absolutely no soul because he's a ginger and you know what they're like – he's a daywalker. Him choosing to play drums; Psycroptic is the perfect band because they don't have any swing, he just goes 'da da da da da da', which is all he's capable of because he's a ginger. It's forced Blood Duster into this weird position where we have to write around him. There's like three gingers in this band now – the rehearsal room fucking stinks.”

It's a bit of a shock to hear the bassist remain tight-lipped about anything, however once the topic shifts to the craziness of Blood Duster shows, PC is off and racing once again. “There has been a hundred fucking moments that are absolutely ridiculous. We had to kick a dude off the stage who was completely naked but he looked like he was trying to take a shit. It was like, 'Yeah, sure – get naked', but then he started squatting down and we started freaking out so he got a swift kick in the back. We've had dudes eating glass while looking at us, like, cutting their mouths open with broken glass, just eating pots – what the fuck is that? Blood Duster fans are a different kind of mental. There's been tons of shit and we've injured ourselves many, many times.

“There was one time, I was playing nude, and the stage was really slippery,” he continues. “I was barefoot and it didn't have any carpet so I was slipping all over the joint. I was kind of fat at the time, a bit of a alcoholic, and I fell flat on my face with this see-through bass, and I look up and I'm just trying to get my fat swollen body off the ground and there's this video camera right on me and I just thought, 'Fuck, this is going to turn up on the net!'

“Another time, when Tony [Forde, vocals] was going down on this chick backstage, her boyfriend was just outside the door wanting to get in, so I was just making excuses while Tony got his thing on. Then Tony's mum came to the door and I thought that was just too fucking good because I knew he was literally a couple of feet inside the door with his face in this chick, so I thought this would be awesome. So, I let her in and she walked in to see Tony just going hard – he had to get up and wipe his face off to say hello. There's been tons of retarded things.”

PC assures that Blood Duster aren't creating music geared to this madness. It just tends to end up that way. “I've got a good sense of the absurd and the ridiculous – the dumber something is, the funnier it is generally,” he smiles. “So, I wouldn't say we are stoking it but we think in the same way as the people that come and see us. The glass eaters and shit – we're definitely among them. If we weren't on the stage we'd be down there with them.”